Fund for Reno County: Addressing the Ever-Changing Needs of the Community (Kansas)

The Fund for Reno County is the unrestricted grantmaking fund that allows Hutchinson Community Foundation to address the ever-changing needs of the community.

Donor Name: Hutchinson Community Foundation

State: Kansas

County: Reno County (KS)

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 02/08/2022

Size of the Grant: $1,000 to $15,000

Details:

Designed to strengthen Reno County’s resilience and capacity, the Fund for Reno County is the unrestricted grantmaking fund that allows Hutchinson Community Foundation to invest in their partner organizations to address the ever-changing and diverse needs and dreams of Reno County communities.

Among Reno County’s strongest assets are the community-based organizations and nonprofits that enhance the lives of the people they serve and the community’s quality of life. The foundation believes that high-performing, adaptive, and collaborative organizations are essential to achieving their vision of a thriving community where dreams are fulfilled through the power of philanthropy.

Which proposals will be given priority in funding?

  • Innovation – Proposals that represent new and promising approaches, smart experiments, or bold ideas that shift the collective focus from reactive problem solving to creating the vision of our future.
  • Collaboration – Proposals that strengthen cross-sector and inter-sector relationships, leverage resources to optimize shared goals of multiple organizations, and create increasingly inclusive and seamless systems of services.
  • Effective organizations – Proposals that evaluate, expand, or improve the effective services, operations, and leadership development of established organizations.
  • Adaptive leadership – Proposals that prioritize an attitude of curiosity, acknowledge the multiple perspectives in a system, and foster reflection and trust among people with diverse life experiences.
  • Systems and environment change – Proposals that go beyond programming and into changing policies, systems, and environments that lead to improving the livelihoods of all people, especially those living on the margins.

How much funding can an organization apply for?

Proposals are reviewed and awarded by community volunteers on the Strategic Impact Committee. Grant awards have typically ranged from $1,000 to $15,000 but have averaged around $6,000. Multi-year proposals and larger requests will be considered, particularly for collaborations, innovations, and efforts around systems and environment change. The Strategic Impact Committee may choose to partially fund an applicant’s requested budget.

Who can Apply?

  • Proposals must come from organizations that are exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) and serve Reno County. Special purpose units of government may apply for support of innovative projects. Community groups who do not have a 501(c)(3) status may apply for grant awards if another tax-exempt organization acts as a fiscal sponsor. Grant proposals from individuals or non-qualifying organizations will not be considered.
  • Applicants must conduct business without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, creed or ethnicity.

What kinds of proposals will NOT be funded?

Ineligible projects include religious indoctrination or other proselytization activities, deficit financing, lobbying, electioneering and activities of a political nature, sponsorships for special events, endowment building, direct fundraising, ongoing programmatic support, and reimbursement of pre-award costs.

For more information, visit Fund for Reno County.