Contributed by CFEA
The Community Foundation of East Alabama is accepting mini-grant applications from non-profits in the East Alabama. The Community Foundation will be awarding three mini-grants for $500 each, which will be designated for general operating support to help assist and maintain an organiation’s pursuit in its mission. “This type of grant is designed to be flexible and gives the grantees the ability to use the funds where they best see fit,” said Todd Rauch, the vice president of the Community Foundation of East Alabama. Mini-grant applications can be filled out on their website, where organizations can also find the mini-grant guidelines of what to include in their application.
Last year, the Community Foundation received a record amount of applications from non-profits across the East Alabama region after increasing the grant amount from $250 to $500. “We wanted to make a bigger impact in the organizations that were selected,” Rauch said. “The need was obviously there because we had to get approval from our board to include a fourth mini-grant due to the amount of applications we received.” The four non-profits that were selected in 2019 were: Twin Cedars Child Advocacy Center of Opelika, Baby Steps in Auburn, First Readers of Tallapoosa County and the Curtis House in Opelika.
The goal of the Community Foundation is to encourage generous donors within East Alabama to establish donor-advised funds to help create a grant review process that distributes grants several times a year. “I want to build the program to create a seamless process between establishing a fund for any need you want to support in the community, and connecting those donors to non-profits that help support or service that need,” Rauch said.
The deadline to apply for a mini-grant through the Community Foundation of East Alabama is midnight on Dec. 31, 2020. Awarded funding will be available to the selected non-profits by Jan. 30, 2021, and the funds must be used by Oct. 31, 2021. To apply visit www.cfeastalabama.org, or email at CFEAGiving@gmail.com.
About the Community Foundation of East Alabama
The Community Foundation of East Alabama was incorporated in 2007 as a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization. As a local center for philanthropy, the Community Foundation works with individuals, families, corporations, private foundations and nonprofit organizations to help them carry out their charitable objectives and address emerging community issues. Donors to the Community Foundation also benefit from the Foundation’s combined assets which greatly reduce investment and administrative fees. Our five-county region includes Lee, Chambers, Macon, Russell and Tallapoosa Counties.
Our Community Foundation is administered by a governing body of East Alabama citizens committed to building a vibrant community foundation. Through the generosity of people in East Alabama, our community foundation will continue to grow. Through grant making, we look forward to a brighter future by giving back to the place we call home. Visit www.cfeastalabama.org for additional information.