community Impact funding
We invest where the community needs us the most, but we don't do it alone. We rely on a diverse team of dedicated Addison County citizens to review and evaluate applications and make program funding recommendations to our volunteer Board of Directors. Our funding priorities are Health, Education, and Financial Stability.
We make 3-year funding commitments (dependent on the success of our annual fundraising efforts) and focus each year on one of our three priority areas. In March 2023, we will begin to accept applications from nonprofits working to enhance Education in Addison County (Financial Stability in 2024, Health in 2025).
Have questions about your existing grant or application? Contact our Executive Director, Helena Van Voorst.
Not a CIF Recipient, but wondering how you can apply?
If you are a nonprofit that serves Addison County residents and your mission aligns with an area of need related to Health, Education, or Financial Stability (see detailed lists below), we want to hear from you! Please email Helena Van Voorst so we can get to know each other!
HEALTH programs must address one or more of the following:
- Mental health
- Physical health
- Dental health
- Emotional well-being
- Substance misuse prevention, treatment, and/or recovery
- Living independent and safe lives
- Access to timely and affordable quality healthcare
- Health education and supporting healthy choices
EDUCATION programs must address one or more of the following:
- Equipping families to support the social-emotional needs of their children
- Ensuring that children and youth are ready to learn
- Children and youth are at or exceed grade-level learning
- Children and youth have the skills and competencies to succeed
- Youth graduate from high school or equivalent
- Youth and young adults have skills, knowledge, and behaviors for higher education or employment
- Children and youth make healthy living choices and/or have healthy relationships
- Continuing education for adults
FINANCIAL STABILITY programs must address one or more of the following:
- Job skills and/or placement
- Permanent, safe, and affordable housing
- Food security
Free Resources & Support
At the heart of our mission is a commitment to do everything we can to ensure that our local non-profits are strong, healthy, and prepared to accomplish great things. Whether your organization or program currently receives Community Impact Funding from us or not, we're here to help.
We're happy to share the following tools and resources we've found helpful in our own work. You're welcome to use them as is or adapt them for your organization's needs. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a time to meet with one of our staff, please email our Director!
Addison County Racial Equity Learning Community
Addison County Racial Equity Learning Community is made up of local non-profit leaders committed to coming together to support each other to address and dismantle systemic racism both within our organizations and within our communities. We will examine our practices and norms and share resources and ideas to increase our personal cultural competency and that of our organizations. Collectively we will increase our understanding of the issues of race and ethnicity, racial equity, and systemic racism with a goal of creating more inclusive and impactful organizations across the county. All are welcome to join us, see this page for upcoming events, and sign up for the newsletter.
Learn United: A Nonprofit Seminar Series
Working with partners like Sarah Audet of Hedgehog + Fox Collaborative, we continue to learn together with our county partners by offering free seminars on various topics and challenges that are relevant to nonprofits. Visit our Learn United page for upcoming seminars.
Board Development
- We use this Board Composition Worksheet to both learn more about our current Board members and inform our recruitment efforts. We created ours in Google Forms which allows us to export the results of the survey into a Google Sheet for quick and easy analysis.
- Before we have an in-person interview with a Board candidate, we ask them to complete this short UWAC Board Candidate Survey. We also ask our candidates to send us their professional and/or volunteer resumes. This information is shared with the Governance Committee so they can consider the skills, experience, and perspective each candidate offers as well as the current needs/goals of our organization.
- We currently have 4 Board Committees (the Board may form ad-hoc committees as needed). The Board affirms/adjusts the scope of work for each committee at our annual Board Retreat. Download our Board Committee Descriptions.
- It's important to know who is responsible for what! We use The Basic Roles of Boards & Staff from our friends at United Way of Greater Houston to help us define Board vs Director roles.
- A Board Member Self Assessment is a helpful tool for your volunteers to reflect on their engagement as a Board member. We include this self-assessment in our annual retreat advanced reading materials, but do not ask our volunteers to return their results to us.
A Sampling of Nonprofit Blogs and Websites We Love (and Why We Love Them)
- Andy Robinson: Vermont-based non-profit consultant, author, and trainer with a sense of humor. We're especially fond of his easy-to-ready books on fundraising and Board development.
- Bloomerang: More free fundraising webinars, templates, guides, and blog posts!
- Blue Avocado: Online magazine fueled by a bi-monthly newsletter designed to provide practical, tactical tips and tools to nonprofit leaders.
- BoardSource: Rich with templates, sample tools, and useful articles/blog posts, BoardSource is a one-stop-shop for all things nonprofit governance and Board & staff leadership-related.
- Joan Garry: Another non-profit consultant that will make you laugh and make you a better non-profit leader. Her Leadership Lab is a great way to connect with other people in our field from around the world and her Guide to Nonprofit Leadership is a must-read!
- National Council of Nonprofits: Trusted resource and proven advocate for America’s charitable nonprofits. Connecting the policy dots across all levels and branches of government, the Council of Nonprofits keeps nonprofits informed and empowered to create a positive public policy environment that best supports nonprofits in advancing their missions.
- Network for Good: Free fundraising webinars, templates, guides, and blog posts.
- Nonprofit AF: Because sometimes laughter is the best medicine (and this site proves you can laugh and learn at the same time).
- Penelope Burk: Best known for her focus on donor-centered fundraising, Penelope Burke’s blog is a great resource for anyone looking to grow their fundraising program.
We'd love to know what non-profit blogs/sites you enjoy. Email us your favorites!
