Responsive Grants

This process is closed for 2020.

General Operating Support (GOS)

General Operating Support is defined as a grant made to further the general mission and work of an organization, rather than for a specific purpose or project. General Operating Support gives nonprofits flexibility to direct their spending where it is needed most and allows greater focus on achieving an organization’s mission.

ELIGIBLITY

  • Applicants must be serving people within the Community Foundation's twenty-town region.
  • Applicants must be incorporated for at least five years.
  • Applicants must have received a responsive grant from either The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven or the Valley Community Foundation.
  • Applicants must have a published giveGreater.org® profile.
  • An organization cannot apply if it has a current GOS grant that ends later than October 2020

Additional documents needed to complete your application:

Capital Project

For capital projects such as building repairs, renovations, acquisitions, or equipment purchases.

ELIGIBILITY

  • Applicants must be serving people within the Community Foundation's twenty-town region.
  • Applicants must be incorporated for at least five years.
  • Applicants must have received a Responsive Grant from either The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven or the Valley Community Foundation.
  • Applicants must have a published giveGreater.org® profile.

Additional documents needed to complete your application:

2020 Process Overview

Our grantseeker webinar provides a full overview of our grant process for 2020.

Watch here

The responsive grants application process is open to all requests for organizational support and projects that serve our twenty-town region.

During the first phase applications are reviewed by staff and community reviewers under grant staff guidance. Reviewers are recruited from the region across gender, age, ethnicity and background and may include past grantees, donors, representatives from area funders, subject matter experts, volunteers from our Neighborhood Leadership Program and New Haven Healthy Start Program and other community representatives.

Each confidential application is reviewed by three people; a scoring metric (see samples below) is used to create a common framework from which decisions to move applications forward are made, and an average of all three scores determines an application’s overall score. Final decisions as to which applications move forward to the second stage are made by the Board with staff recommendations. After the first phase review, applicants are either moved forward to the second stage or denied.

In the second stage, professional reviewers and staff analyze each application; analysis includes a site visit, document review and interviews with the applicant. Staff presents analysis and recommendations to the Board for discussion and a final decision. Notification of award or denial is sent by July. Upon notification of awards, grant recipients are asked to sign an agreement delineating the terms of condition of the grant and payment plan.

For more information, please contact Grants Manager Denise Canning, 203-777-7076.