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Capacity Building Grant

Capacity Building Grant Program

United Way of Broome County is committed to strengthening the capacity of local nonprofits to address the ever-evolving challenges and opportunities facing our community. To this end, United Way of Broome County has established the Capacity Building Grant Program as a means to provide financial resources, either individually or in concert with other funders, to strengthen the ability of community partners to effectively and efficiently respond to these challenges and opportunities. The Capacity Building Grant Program provides funding to support and strengthen local not-for-profit agencies through capacity building and capital projects.

Eligible organizations must align with one or more of the following:

  1. Healthy Communities
  2. Youth Opportunity
  3. Financial Security
  4. Basic Needs

This grant opportunity will support two main activities:

  • Capacity Building Projects that improve the governance, management, or program service capacity of the organization in alignment with one or more of the following dimensions: Operations and Governance Capacity; Human Resources Capacity; Information Technology Capacity; and/or Shared Services.

 

  • Capital Projects that involve development and implementation of capital improvement plans. An eligible expense must have a useful life of at least three years. Applicants may include personnel costs when they are directly related to providing labor for the completion of the project.

The full Request for Proposal for the 2025-2026 Capacity Building grant can be viewed here.

Application Requirements

ELIGIBILITY

All applicants must meet and provide evidence of the following requirements:

• Be a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization
• Be incorporated or chartered under appropriate federal, state, or local statutes
• Abide by federal and state laws regarding non-discrimination
• Have an active, locally based, volunteer Board of Directors that meets regularly, makes policy decisions, and holds election of officers
• Have an administrative structure with defined lines of responsibility, a mission statement, and bylaws
• Be financially stable and perform a regular budgeting process
• Have current license, certification, and permits if applicable

FUNDING PERIOD

Funding awarded to applicants shall be used for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026.

FUNDING REQUEST

Organizations may only submit a funding request for one project within this grant area. The total amount requested from the United Way of Broome County for all work related to the project must not exceed $15,000. Exceptions may be considered in consultation with the Director of Community Initiatives and Planning, but will not exceed $25,000. If interested in inquiring about a project exceeding $15,000, please send an email to [email protected] directed to Lindsey Mott, Director of Community Initiatives and Planning.

SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION

Interested applicants should follow the instructions below.

Proposals must be submitted via the Community Partner Portal no later than Friday, March 21, 2025, at 3:00 PM. All required attachments must be uploaded in PDF file format. Late applications will not be reviewed.

If you wish to submit a hardcopy application, please contact [email protected] for instructions.

LETTERS OF INTENT ARE DUE BY 3:00 PM, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2025.
FINAL APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY 3:00 PM, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2025.
LETTER OF INTENT (Due by Friday, February 21, 2025)

To be eligible for funding, organizations must complete a multi-step process that begins with a Letter of Intent (LOI). The LOI provides a very broad but concise description of the project requesting funding.

The LOI can be accessed here.

All LOIs must be submitted by 3:00 PM on February 21, 2025. Once submitted, United Way of Broome County staff will be in contact via email to provide access to the funding application.

PROPOSALS (Due by Friday, March 21, 2025)

The Capacity Building Grant Program is now open.

Proposals must be submitted no later than 3:00 pm on Friday, March 21, 2025. All required attachments must be uploaded in PDF file format. Applicants must answer all questions in full. Hard copy paper applications will not be accepted, and late applications will not be reviewed. Please see RFP for more information.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Project budget

Please provide an accurate, detailed program budget. Please submit the budget using the template here.

2. Agency budget

Please provide the requested agency budgets outlined in the RFP.

3. Financial Statements

Please provide one requested financial report outlined in the RFP.

4. Board List

A complete list of the organization’s current Board of Directors with officers, affiliations, and term dates noted. Please submit the Board of Directors using the template here.

Applicants are encouraged to contact Allison Underhill, Community Initiatives Associate at [email protected] with any questions about this grant program.