Great Lakes Commission:  Great Lakes Emerging Champions Mini-Grant Program

Deadline:  July 31, 2017

Webpage:  http://www.glc.org/wp-content/uploads/Emerging-Champions-RFP.pdf

The Great Lakes Commission is awarding up to $20,000 for green infrastructure projects in small- to medium-sized communities to improve water quality, manage stormwater, and enhance community well-being.  To be eligible, communities must have less than 500,000 people (all TCWP Member Communities meet this criteria).  Eligible projects include green infrastructure pilot installations, removing institutional or policy barriers, educational programming, developing partnerships with other agencies, community green infrastructure planning efforts, and others.  If awarded a mini-grant, recipients become part of the Great Lakes Green Infrastructure Champions Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Network.  Applications are scored based on the following criteria:  Problem statement, project objectives, activities, and deliverables (25 pts), Stakeholder support (20 pts), Performance capability and experience (20 pts), Performance metrics (20 pts), Project timeline (5 pts), Budget (10 pts), and Financial match (+5 pts) .  Matching is not required, but bonus points provided to applicants who can demonstrate financial or in-kind match.

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GAR Foundation Grants

Deadline:  August 1, 2017

Webpage:  http://garfoundation.org/

The GAR Foundation’s grants focus on four areas:  education, basic needs and independence, civic enhancement, and arts and culture.  Educational grants are available for projects that ensure literacy proficiency by third grade and math proficiency by eighth grade, increase the percentage of students completing high school and the percentage continuing onto post-secondary education, and improve the retention and completion of post-secondary students.  Basic needs grant projects should be tailored towards creating healthy, empowered communities and empowering vulnerable people or populations by leveraging resources.    Civic enhancement grants are provided for projects that enhance the economic strength of downtown Akron and Northeast Ohio, protect and increase public access to green space in Akron and Summit County through collaborative efforts, and foster Akron community pride and civic engagement.  Grants provided for arts and culture projects are focused on supporting arts and culture in Summit County.

To be funded through a GAR grant, your organization must be a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and your project/organization should benefit Summit County.  Strong requests for funding provide insight into how future funding requirements will be met, collaborate with other local groups, respond to community needs, and reflect innovative goals and strategies. If your organization has never applied for a GAR grant before, the Letter of Inquiry (LOI) must be submitted by July 10, 2017 for the August 1 deadline.

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Neighborhood Connections Grants

Deadline:  August 11, 2017

Webpage:  http://www.neighborhoodgrants.org/

Neighborhood Connections offers small grants ($500-$5,000) to groups of residents in Cleveland and East Cleveland to do projects that improve the quality of life of their communities.  Grants are intended to spur small, grassroots community projects. Grants may be used for a wide variety of activities and projects, and groups are encouraged to think in new ways about what will work in their communities and with whom they might partner.  Groups are not eligible to apply for funding if they were funded in the round immediately prior. No group may receive two grants within a one-year time period.

Grants range from $500 to $5,000. Grant recipients must secure a dollar-for-dollar match equal to the amount requested from Neighborhood Connections. The match can be in the form of cash, volunteer labor, or donated goods or services.  Any resident-led or community group is eligible to apply, including those that aren’t an official nonprofit organization.  Grant duration is up to one year.

Grant applications should include letters of support from community partners whose cooperation or involvement is necessary to the project’s success. In addition, letters of commitment from governmental agencies or schools should be included when appropriate. For example, if the project involves public property, the governmental agency associated with the property should include a letter of support for the project and a commitment to provide whatever service is required to accomplish the project.

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NEORSD 2018 Member Community Infrastructure Program

Deadline:  August 14, 2017

Webpage: https://www.neorsd.org/mcip

The Member Community Infrastructure Program (MCIP) provides funding for local communities for projects addressing water quality and quantity issues associated with sewer infrastructure.  These issues should negatively affect human health and the environment.  NEORSD will reimburse up to 75% of project costs for projects with previous NEORSD approval of design and construction.  These reimbursements will be provided through either grants or community operating leases as determined by NEORSD.

Eligible projects include:

  • Projects to mitigate separate sewer overflows (SSOs) and illicit discharges
  • Projects to mitigate inflow and infiltration (I/I) problems
  • Projects to remove/eliminate failing home sewage treatment systems (HSTS), as confirmed by the jurisdictional Board of Health
  • Projects that improve local sewer system level of service by reducing local flooding and backups
  • Projects to manage stormwater flow that improve combined/sanitary level of service by reducing volume, flow rate, or pollutant load of stormwater

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Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Project Support Grants

Deadline:  August 24, 2017

Webpage: http://www.cacgrants.org/grant-programs/project-support/

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture provides two project support grants (Project Support [PS] I and II) to provide financial support for projects occurring in Cuyahoga County within the 2018 calendar year.  Past recipients have included community development corporations, social service agencies and a variety of other 501c3 organizations providing arts and cultural programming.

To be eligible for either of these grants, the applicant must be a 501(c)(3) organization with a permanent/viable base in Cuyahoga County for at least one year.  In addition, the applicant must have produced or presented arts and/or cultural program(s) open to the public within the previous two years.  In addition, the eligibility check for this grant period must be submitted by 4:30 pm on July 20, 2017.

PS I grants can be as much as $30,000, while PS II grants max out at $5,000.  A 1-1 match is required for both grants.  PS II grant receipts can use in-kind support for up to 25% of this match.  More in-depth guidelines and instructions can be found for each grant on the website above.