Letter of Interests are now open and close March 27.

About

Facing Change: Sustainable Pathways is a new grant program focused on sustainability, capacity and resiliency for smaller nonprofit organizations in Worcester and across the county. Through a grant from the City of Worcester, this two-year grant program will provide multi-year funding for nonprofits in Worcester, with limited additional funding available for eligible nonprofits in other parts of Worcester County. 

The focus of this grant program is on supporting pathways to sustainability for smaller nonprofit organizations. The program includes both unrestricted funding and facilitated peer cohorts.

Timeline

• Letter of Interest (LOI) Opens: Monday, February 2
• LOI Due: Friday, March 27
• Notification of second round: Week of April 20
• Second round conversations: Throughout May
• Decisions & Funding: Late May

Areas of Interest

We are committed to being in partnership with small nonprofit organizations in our region who display some mix of the following in both categories:

Mission

• Demonstrable connection to community served
• Mission is rooted in direct service delivery to community
• Leadership is reflective of the communities served

Organization

• Grassroots organizations / community-based collaboratives
• Organizations at interesting points in their lifecycle
  • Organizations founded within the last 10 years
  • Organizations being led by their founder
• Successful grantees will have an idea of how they would like to be different because of this funding and cohort experience, that is in scope and realistic with the grant size. E.g. hiring first paid staff, building a board committed to organization & community, or building collaborative partnerships.

Eligibility

Only 501(c)(3) organizations or fiscally sponsored projects in good standing are eligible for this grant program.

Size

• Organizations must have a three-year average operating budget of $500,000 or less.
• The three-year average is to control for organizations who are typically under the budget but may have received a large contract or unusual gift that has temporarily pushed them over.
• Nonprofits who were founded less than three years ago can submit their current budget, or their two-year average if possible. 

Geography 

• The majority of funding for this program is designated for organizations based in and doing their work in the city of Worcester.
• Thanks to additional donors, we have limited flexible funding to welcome three to five organizations from Worcester County into this grantee cohort.

Scope

The total size of this grant program is $1.125 million. We anticipate making 15-18 grants of various sizes based on organization needs, plans and budget size.

This is a two-year grant program that includes funding and cohort experiences:

• The second year renewal grant will be dependent on meeting agreed upon performance goals.
• While the grants are unrestricted, the purpose of this program is to support pathways to sustainability and is not designed for discreet programming costs.
• Grantees will be asked to participate in a peer cohort led by a facilitator, meeting quarterly to share learnings and experiences. 

GWCF Support

• Be sure to register for our orientation on February 18 at 12 p.m.. All registrants will receive the recording.
• Please email grants@greaterworcester.org if you would like to discuss or review your application before you submit it.
• Every application we receive undergoes a comprehensive review. You will receive notification at each step, regardless of outcome.
• We are happy to have follow up conversations after grant decisions are made. We are able to share themes and feedback on how your application fared throughout the process and advise on any next steps. 

Links

Guidelines