Grants for Nonprofit Organizations

The Community Foundation has announced three competitive nonprofit grant programs made possible by contributions to the Better Together Fund: Leadership Grants, Capacity Building Grants and Strategic Collaboration Grants.

  • Leadership Grants are centered around equity and support opportunities that create “tidal waves” of impact around community needs, challenges and opportunities.
  • Capacity Building Grants seek to strengthen an organization’s effectiveness. Funding is provided for strategic initiatives in areas related to governance or management. 

  • Strategic Collaboration Grants provide funding for coalition development/strategic alignments around a community issue or priority. They are available for organizations interested in exploring the implementation of strategic alignment and mergers between organizations.

Interested applicants are encouraged to reach out to the Community Impact team to discuss project goals and alignment prior to applying. Please contact Trisha Hayes to schedule a conversation.

Funding needs not aligned with our competitive grant programs that meet our focus on creating impact for Greater Des Moines may be a fit for our GIVEdsm portal. Visit GIVEdsm to get started.

 

Leadership Grants

The Community Foundation plays a key role in providing significant funding to projects that improve quality of life in Greater Des Moines. The Leadership Grant program awards grants to launch or scale up initiatives positioned to strengthen our community in seven key focus areas drawn from community priorities, collected here. We focus our grantmaking on organizations serving Greater Des Moines, and our Better Together philosophy embraces projects that leverage the strengths of diverse stakeholders.

Leadership Grant Details & Cycle: 

  • Review 2022 Leadership Grant Guidelines and Instructions.
  • Leadership Grants are centered around equity and support projects that have the potential to create significant impact on community issues and opportunities.
  • Grant Cycle 2: Letter of Intent due (October 3 at 4pm), Finalists notified (approximately October 14); Full application due (November 7 at noon); Grants approved (December 8)

Capacity Building Grants

Capacity Building Grants seek to strengthen an organization’s effectiveness. We provide funding for strategic initiatives in areas related to governance or management.  

Capacity Building Grant Details & Cycle: 

Strategic Collaboration Grant

Strategic Collaboration Grants provide funding for coalition development/strategic alignments around a community issue or priority. They are available for organizations interested in exploring the implementation of strategic alignment and mergers between organizations.

Strategic Collaboration Grant Details & Cycle: