Change is coming to Steuben County Community Foundation grant guidelines, with the goal of helping local nonprofits continue to dream big. These changes were motivated by the results of facilitated discussions with the local nonprofit community. The SCCF board looked at national and regional community foundations to review their processes for grantmaking and identify updates that would resonate with the needs of Steuben County nonprofits.

After a year of strategic planning, the SCCF board of directors voted to approve the new guidelines, which will apply to all grantmaking at SCCF as of July 1, 2020. In addition to more detailed guidance on eligibility, a key change in the new guidelines is the addition of a new cycle called Impact Grants, which will offer multi-year support and larger investments in programs that are innovative, collaborative, and sustainable.

To prepare nonprofits for these changes, SCCF’s Spring 2020 Nonprofit Capacity Building series is focused on workshops that will improve their applications. Nonprofits who wish to apply for an Impact Grant must send a representative of their organization to at least two of the five workshops offered by SCCF from February through June. These guidelines will be presented along with special panelist discussions at SCCF’s first workshop of the series on February 12, 2020 from 11:30-1:30 at Club Z in Trine University’s MTI Center. Steuben County nonprofits are required to RSVP and lunch will be available. Additional workshop dates and RSVP links are available at steubenfoundation.org/nonprofit-events.

Grant guidelines can be downloaded on the SCCF website at steubenfoundation.org/grants.