Community Funds Grants

We welcome applications from grant partners who are ready to accept significant and strategic investments to support their missions.

Organizations are encouraged to submit a grant application for the amount they need, whether that's $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 or $30,000. We have a total of $335,108 available for Community Funds grants in 2025.

• Nonprofit, educational, governmental, and Tribal entities across Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau Counties are eligible to apply by submitting an online application.
• Previous grant partners can reapply for a Community Funds grant.
• Grant awards may include unrestricted general operating support.
• Consideration is given for grant awards that can have a larger impact for the grant partner; provide a significant community benefit; and/or can leverage other funding sources.
• In 2025, we will be prioritizing requests that address housing and mental health and well-being, however, our grants will not be limited to these focus areas.
• Grant requests that are informed by data on the Community Development Regional Scorecard and/or address a community issue that appears on the Scorecard are prioritized in the review process.

• Standarized grant application processes are used to increase access to potential grant partners, including proactively sharing opportunities with new partners that have not been traditionally funded.
• Pre-applications are accepted May 15 through June 6 at 11:59 pm. The pre-application is intended to reduce the amount of time spent applying and provide a quicker decision about the status of your application.
• An initial review and due diligence of the pre-applications will be conducted by a team from the Community Foundation between June 9-20.
• By June 23, all applicants will be notified. Those selected will be invited to complete the full application.
• Full applications are due by July 14 at 11:59pm.
• Applications are then reviewed by the Community Foundation's Grantmaking Committee.
• Grant awards will be made in September.

We are using four areas for prioritization and score based on how well the funding request aligns with each area:

1. Areas of Greatest Need: We prioritize grant partnerships with organizations that work toward economic, societal, or environmental outcomes identified on the NWMI Community Development Scorecard, with a particular focus on organizations addressing housing and mental health and well-being.
2. Inclusivity and Accessibility:  We strive to support partners that reflect the diversity of our communities and center those with lived experience within the organization. We prioritize grant partnerships that benefit communities that are disproportionately impacted, have historically been marginalized or underserved, or face unique or more barriers.
3. Partnerships and Collaboration: We consider how organizations are partnering and collaborating in ways to support their work and goals. Coordinating work and fostering partnerships often means there are stronger relationships and increased community benefits. We recognize that organizations have varied capacity and different needs for partnership and collaboration to accomplish their goals.
4. Capacity: We partner with organizations of varied sizes and seek to support organizations that are both new and those are long-standing. Relative to the organization’s maturity, we consider each organization’s capacity to ensure their current and future success.