Community Needs Grant applications due June 9

Delaware nonprofits are invited to apply for general operating grants of $10,000 from the Community Needs Grants Program at the Delaware Community Foundation.

The program is part of the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, a partnership of DCF and Philanthropy Delaware. In this round, the program – which has awarded more than $3.6 million in pandemic-related grants – will fund a mix of small and mid-sized organizations serving Delaware communities. Priority consideration will be given to smaller organizations and those with a board of directors that represents the diversity and demographics of the clients and communities they serve.

To apply, go to delcf.org/covid-grants.  The deadline is 5 p.m., Wednesday, June 9. Recipients will be announced in July.

To be eligible, the the organization must have had a 2020 operating budget for the fiscal or calendar year of at least $25,000, but not more than $750,000. The organization must be actively providing services and must be a 501(c)(3) public charity in good standing with the IRS. The full 100 percent of the requested amount must benefit Delaware communities.

Organizations are not eligible to apply for this round if they received a general operating grant in the March 2021 round.

Organizations are eligible to apply even if they previously received funding from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund from March 2020 to September 2020.

The following types of nonprofit organizations are not eligible for this program: Sports clubs, leagues or facilities; public or tuition-based educational institutions; fundraising entities for programs and organizations that are primarily supported through government funding; endowments; and religious organizations for their sectarian purposes. Projects that serve the entire community, regardless of religious affiliation, are eligible to apply. 

The Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund was established in March 2020 to address the state’s emerging and evolving needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It has awarded $3.6 million to more than 150 Delaware nonprofits so far through its Community Needs Grants Program and Vision Grants Program.

The fund includes generous gifts from the Longwood Foundation, Barclays, New Castle County, Welfare Foundation, CSC, Crestlea Foundation, Fund for Women, Highmark, Jessie Ball Du Pont Fund, Laffey-McHugh, Discover, DCF, DuPont, Gates Foundation, Jeff and Rhonda Banning Foundation, Comenity Bank, M&T, WSFS Bank, Fulton Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, TD Bank, Capital One and others. The fund also includes gifts from more than 275 individual donors.

The DCF also has waived all administrative fees for this fund, so 100 percent of the funds are going to organizations helping people in need.

The Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund is part of the Delaware COVID-19 Emergency Response Initiative, a nonprofit collaborative response to the coronavirus pandemic. The DCF, Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement, Philanthropy Delaware and United Way of Delaware are partnering to coordinate charitable resources to maximize impact statewide during this crisis.

To contribute, go to delcf.org/covid19-fund.