Each year, we award a variety of grants to organizations throughout our community.
Our community grants are strategic and responsive, allowing us to partner with organizations and programs meeting critical local needs. Applications for community grants are accepted twice each year and align with one of our three focus areas—community development, education, and poverty reduction—and are more competitive when they fall within our general grantmaking guidelines.
General community grants
General grants are available to nonprofit agencies seeking to increase their organizational strength. General operating support, matching grants, and projects that address community needs outside our focus areas fall under general grantmaking. In order for the Community Foundation to maximize grant dollars to reach our goals, programs that are strategic and aligned with our focus areas are given funding priority.
Community development
Through collaboration and grantmaking, our goal is to strengthen the local economy and natural resources.
Learn more about the community development focus area.
View our community development grantmaking guidelines.
Education
It is our goal to expand educational opportunities to assist all learners.
Learn more about the education focus area.
View our education grantmaking guidelines.
Other education grant resources:
Poverty reduction
We seek to advance social and economic mobility for more local households.
Learn more about our poverty reduction focus area.
View our poverty reduction grantmaking guidelines.
Community grant timeline
| Application deadline* | March 1 | September 1 |
| Staff review | April | October |
| Committee review | May | November |
| Board of Trustees review | June | December |
| Grant notifications | June | December |
*If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, grant applications will be due on the next business day.
Measuring impact
We believe a coordinated measurement tool can empower communities to begin strategic change and build collective action. We use data from the Newaygo County Area Dashboard to work with our community partners to prioritize resources, reach goals, and assess impact. Grantees are strongly encouraged to use the dashboard indicators when developing grant applications designed to drive impact.
Newaygo County Area Dashboard
The dashboard is currently undergoing updates, which may result in error messages when clicking links for more details. These updates will include the latest local data and should be finished soon.
Grant evaluations can be completed online on Grant Central.
