Community Foundation Now Accepting Grant Applications
The Outer Banks Community Foundation is now accepting applications from nonprofits for its quarterly Community Enrichment Grants Program. Applications must be submitted online via the Community Foundation’s web portal at www.obcf.org. The first deadline of the year is Friday, January 28 at midnight.
The Community Enrichment Grants Program is the Community Foundation’s largest and broadest funding opportunity; these grants are offered on a competitive basis for any kind of charitable project that benefits the Outer Banks, or any part thereof. Areas of interest include: arts & culture; animal welfare; children & youth; education; the environment; health; historic interpretation & preservation; and other human services.
Most Community Enrichment Grants will support the direct costs of a charitable project or program. . In 2021, for example, the Community Foundation sponsored Food For Thought’s Grocery Store Gift Cards for Students in Need, exhibit upgrades for Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center, and Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) clinics for Friends of Felines-Hatteras and Feline Hope Animal Shelter.
Community Enrichment Grants are also awarded for capacity-building projects, with a goal of enhancing a nonprofit’s long-term effectiveness, financial stability, and/or program quality. For example, a grant was awarded last year for updating office equipment at Interfaith Community Outreach.
Additionally, the Community Foundation awards program scholarship grants, which are grants to enable a nonprofit to offer “scholarships” to individuals and families with financial need or other hardship. The scholarships offset the registration fees that the nonprofit would normally charge for any kind of enrichment program, such as an educational offering or after-school program. For example, a 2021 Community Enrichment grant provided scholarships for children with financial need to attend YMCA’s Camp Seaside summer camp.
Some limited Community Enrichment Grants are also available to nonprofits for program staff wages.
Community Enrichment Grants will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout 2022, and will be reviewed and awarded quarterly. Any applications received by Friday, January 28 will have a decision by March 10. Before starting an application for any grant, prospective applicants should first review the criteria online at www.obcf.org/grants, and then contact Chris Sawin at 252-261-8839 to discuss their project.
