General Grant Criteria

In general grants are made to projects that will benefit Branch County and/or Colon, Michigan.

In making grants, the Community Foundation attempts to understand both the specific objectives of each grant request and the long-term benefits that the community will receive from the initiative. All eligible grant applications are carefully considered by review committees whose membership includes a broad representation of the community.
Successful applications will be for projects which

• promote development or strengthening of community assets,
  
• will have a positive long-term impact on program participants and/or the community,
  
• lead to prevention of recurring need,
  
• promote cooperation among area organizations with related or supportive missions, and
  
• will be financially sustainable without continuing grant funding.

Applicants for grants are strongly encouraged to contact us for an appointment before completing an application. The consultation process is meant to assist the potential applicant in understanding the Community Foundation's grantmaking process and application requirements.

An expression of interest or the provision of an application should not be considered a guarantee of funding. All grant requests go through a complete review process before any funding decision is made.

Our staff is always happy to assist applicants. After reviewing our grant application, please contact us to go over any questions you may have.

If you submit a draft of your proposal at least 10 business days before the due date, we will evaluate it and give you feedback on ways you might strengthen the proposal before you submit it for review.