Jared Polis Foundation Gift Fund at The Community Foundation serving Boulder County
***Please note: Due to the completion of our first 2009 grant cycle, the grants advisory committee has made several changes to the grant guidelines. Please read through the guidelines carefully, and please feel free to contact Gina Nocera with any questions.
Beginning in January 2009, Jared’s new role as a congressman representing Colorado’s second congressional district will have him focused solely on serving his constituents while in Washington, DC and at home. However, Jared’s philanthropic giving will continue through a gift fund established at The Community Foundation serving Boulder County.
The Jared Polis Foundation Gift Fund will be managed by Gina Nocera, Executive Director of the Jared Polis Foundation, and funding requests will be reviewed by a small grants advisory committee consisting of foundation, business and community leaders.
Areas of Interest:
Access to high quality education, includes early childhood, K-12 and lifelong learning and education, with a focus on programs that serve at-risk, underserved, and out of school youth.
Access to healthcare, with a focus on low-income or uninsured children and individuals.
Environmental protection and awareness, including programs that provide environmental education to youth and adults, and promote environmental protection and preservation.
Healthy Communities, including programs that promote economically self-sufficient families, free individuals from harassment and violence, and where differences are respected.
Types of Grants
Grants will be given only to public charities that are tax-exempt under section 501-(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and groups with 509-(a)(1) and 509-(a)(4) status are also eligible since both of these designations are sub-categories of 501-(c)(3) status.
Within our areas of interest, grants awarded will be the following types:
• General Operating Support
• Project/Program Support
• Challenge/Matching Support
Grants are not made to the following:
• Capital improvements
• Scholarships
• Events, annual campaigns, membership drives, or conferences
• Individuals
• Retirement of debt
• Loans
• Litigation
• Legislative lobbying or support of political candidates
Generally, grants are not made to organizations outside the state of Colorado. Exceptions may be made only at the discretion of the Grants Advisory Committee.
Deadlines
Please Note: We are changing our grant process beginning the final grant cycle of the year, November 2nd, in order to make the process more efficient for the applicants and the grants advisory committee. We decided not to change the process for the July 2nd grant cycle with such short notice. Please read the following information carefully, and let Gina Nocera know if you have any questions.
Upcoming Deadlines are:
July 2, 2009: By end-of-business day, all application materials (including introduction letter, summary pages, narrative and all attachments of the Colorado Common Grant Application) must be emailed to gina@jaredpolisfoundation.org in order to be considered for this particular grant cycle.
November 2, 2009: For the final 2009 grant cycle, the grants advisory committee is requiring all interested organizations to send a Letter of Interest (LOI) to Gina Nocera via email, gina@jaredpolisfoundation.org., by the end-of-business day on September 1, 2009. The LOI can be one page explaining your organization’s mission, programs and target population served and what type of grant you would be requesting; you should also send your 2009 operating budget and your 501c3 Determination Letter. The committee will review the LOIs and respond to organizations by October 1, 2009, either inviting them to complete the Colorado Common Grant Application and send it in electronically by November 2, 2009, or the committee may inform organizations that at this time we will not be requesting a full application from them.
If you are invited to apply, please make certain to send all application materials (including introduction letter, summary pages, narrative and all attachments of the Colorado Common Grant Application) electronically to Gina Nocera at gina@jaredpolisfoundation.org.
Organizations will be notified regarding funding within 45 days after each deadline. We are unable to respond to emergency funding requests.
Guidelines
We know the number of proposals received and the funds requested will exceed our available resources. Please know we appreciate all of your work, regardless of whether we are able to fund your request.
• Prospective grantees are encouraged to call with any questions. Please call Gina Nocera at 303.865.3980 or email Gina at gina@jaredpolisfoundation.org.
• Organizations are limited to one grant request in a calendar year.
• Our range of giving is $500 to $15,000. Please note that the majority of grants awarded will fall somewhere in the middle of this range.
• We are unable to meet personally with prospective grantees before an application is submitted. Once we have received your application, we will contact you if we need additional information.
We are requesting all grantees use the revised Colorado Common Grant Application (www.coloradocommongrantforms.org).
If your organization receives funding support a copy of the Common Grant Report Format (CGRF) will be included with the funds. Please complete the summary sheet and respond only to the boxes checked when completing the narrative portion of the report. This report must be completed within 12 months after receiving funding. Your organization must submit a completed CGRF before it can apply for support in the following year.
Contact
Gina Nocera
Jared Polis Foundation Gift Fund
P.O. Box 4659
Boulder, CO 80306
303.865.3980 mobile
gina@jaredpolisfoundation.org
The Jared Polis Foundation Gift Fund shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation, in any of its funding decisions.