“Assuming that COVID-19 will be a part of our lives for the next two years, what would allow your organization to thrive in 2021?”
That’s the question posed to local nonprofits by the Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, as it gears up to give $100,000 in COVID-19 grants to local nonprofits.
“As Bartholomew County’s nonprofits have worked tirelessly to provide immediate relief during the COVID-19 pandemic to those who need it most, the efforts have not come without high costs to the network,” the Heritage Fund said in a recent press release. “Organizations have been burdened with decreases in revenue at the same time that they have seen an increase for their services.”
Heritage Fund’s COVID-19 Organizational Resiliency Grant Program is intended to help nonprofits meet “organizational needs identified in response to the pandemic” and ensure that these organizations remain sustainable and resilient.
Kyle Hendricks, manager of community impact at the Heritage Fund, said that the program started as a series of discussions and surveys to see how COVID-19 was affecting community organizations.
Hendricks said that issues discussed included difficulty meeting budgets, low revenue, lack of fundraising and an increased need for technology and online services.
“We see that there is a need for organizational support as we continue to look forward into how COVID-19 will affect our lives,” he said. “We think that this is a good start to helping organizations build resiliency in the face of the pandemic.”
The total funding for the grant program is $100,000.
“We’re asking organizations to consider requests around the $10,000 level,” said Hendricks. He added, however, that the Heritage Fund is also willing to consider applications outside of that range.
Hendricks also stressed that all Bartholomew County nonprofits are eligible, regardless of their area of focus.
These nonprofits are to request funding for “organizational needs.” These needs may include, but are not limited to:
–Adaptive technology and facility needs
–Training for adaptive services
–Organizational consulting
Organizations are also welcome to ask about funding for other areas of need outside of these suggested categories, as long as the need is prompted by COVID-19 and “focuses on long-term organizational resilience.”
The grant program will not fund the following:
–Short-term technology needs or technology needs unrelated to COVID-19 adaptation
–Employee salaries
–Revenue or fundraising gaps
–Immediate relief needs of service populations
Hendricks said grant applications will be accepted and approved on a rolling basis through Dec. 31, or when the program reaches the $100,000 cap.
The grant program is a competitive process, he said.
“Our grant committee will take a look at each request and evaluate it, based on the funding priorities of Heritage Fund, the needs in the community and the individual information that we get from each request,” Hendricks said.
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More information about the COVID-19 Organizational Resiliency Grants Program is available at www.heritagefundbc.org/covid-19-grants-program/.
All applications and questions should be submitted to Kyle Hendricks, manager of community impact. Hendricks can be reached at 812-376-7772 and [email protected].
Grant applications will be accepted and approved on a rolling basis through Dec. 31 or when the program reaches the $100,000 cap.
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