Search Through Preservation Grants in Colorado in the U.S.

Why Partner with Us

We reduce carbon emissions in Colorado by collaborating with the right people, local projects, and businesses to protect our beautiful spaces & communities.With our vast support network we can help you draft the proper materials to develop your project, source funding beyond our own if necessary, and find reliable streams of offset buyers to secure the project into the future.

Submit a Local Carbon Project

We believe that keeping the capital that is produced in Colorado, in Colorado, is an essential ingredient towards solving our climate challenges.

Local Carbon Offset Provider

We only work with projects located within the state of Colorado to ensure we're building circular, localized economies in our own community.

Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS)

The Colorado State Forest Service helps community groups, nonprofits and others secure grants and assistance for projects that promote healthy forests and wildfire mitigation in Colorado. Projects that benefit only one landowner do not qualify for these state-funded grant programs.

Forest Legacy Program (FLP)

The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) is a federally funded and state-administered program that supports efforts to protect private forest lands that are environmentally, economically and socially critical. The program helps prevent fragmentation of our forests and preserves natural vistas for all to enjoy.

The Colorado Forest Legacy Program is a partnership between Colorado and the USDA Forest Service to identify and help conserve environmentally important forests from conversion to non-forest uses.

To maximize the public benefits it achieves, the program focuses on the acquisition of partial interests in privately owned forest lands (conservation easements). 

It encourages and supports acquisition of conservation easements (legally binding agreements that transfer a negotiated set of property rights from one party to another) without removing the property from private ownership. Most FLP conservation easements restrict development, require sustainable forestry practices and protect other values.

It is recognized that Colorado has an extensive network of well-qualified land trusts and other non-governmental land conservation organizations. The Colorado Forest Legacy Program intends to support the efforts of this existing land conservation community. Since the CSFS is the lead agency for the Colorado Forest Legacy Program, all easements secured with the help of Forest Legacy funds will be held by the State of Colorado. The CSFS believes the program offers an important opportunity for land conservation groups to access federal funding to protect valuable private forestlands.

Purpose

The purpose of the Forest Legacy Program is to protect environmentally important private forest areas that are threatened by conversion to non-forest uses. Specifically, the FLP in Colorado will emphasize:

• Reduction of forested land fragmentation as a result of development pressures, subdivision, and increasing housing density. 
• Protection of water quality and production amounts.
• Protection of significant wildlife habitat.
• Protection of economically significant timber forest products through positive forest stewardship programs. 
• Protection of significant riparian communities.
• Maintaining continuity of forested lands adjacent to protected lands.
• Protection of unique ecological areas.
• Reduction of risk and occurrence of wildfires especially in developed areas or ecologically sensitive areas. 
• Protection of private property owner’s rights.
• Protection of lifestyle for property owners.

Colorado’s most comprehensive water information resource, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) was created to provide policy direction on water issues.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) has been authorized by the State of Colorado to grant money to existing water supply facilities to help preserve a balance between development of the state’s resources and the protection of the state’s fish and wildlife resources. The grant money is awarded for mitigation of existing water diversion, delivery or storage facilities. 

Grants from the Fish and Wildlife Resources Fund can be accepted for:

• The appropriation of water rights or the acquisition of water rights to preserve or improve the natural environment to a reasonable degree to mitigate the impact of an existing water facility. All acquisitions or appropriations must be in compliance with instream flow rules and state water laws.
• River restoration feasibility studies and construction projects designed to directly mitigate or significantly improve the environmental impacts of existing water facilities.
• An appropriate combination of river restoration and water rights acquisition or appropriation.

A special note on water rights appropriations and acquisitions: The Board will consider and CWCB staff will evaluate and recommend to the Board grant applications for appropriation or acquisition of water rights to be held by the Board on the following project types:

• Instream flow water rights that assist in the administration of compact-entitled waters, or address problems relating to compact-entitled waters
• Instream flow water rights that facilitate the resolution of federal water rights issues
• Instream flow water rights that assist in the recovery of threatened or endangered wildlife species or the conservation of existing wildlife species within riparian ecosystems. 

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact staff to discuss funding amounts and limitations. 

Our Vision

For more than 25 years, the Dakota Foundation has sought to combine business discipline and charitable intentions to solve social problems. With grants and program-related investments (PRIs) we take an investment approach: we want the total social return of our investments to be higher than the cost.

In doing so, we hope to foster organizations and activities that are both economically and environmentally sustainable. We help people invest in themselves to improve their economic condition and those of their families and communities. This mission stems from our values: self-reliance, personal responsibility, human dignity, equal opportunity, and the preservation of life and beauty on our earth.

General Rules of Thumb

The Dakota Foundation generally makes PRIs with non-profit groups whose programs empower people and increase their control over their own economic destinies. For more information about our PRIs, please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) .

The Dakota Foundation opposes unlawful or unfair discrimination in all its activities, and our resources are available to organizations that serve their constituencies without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status or national origin. 

We support organizations that collaborate with other community groups to create bottoms up solutions to common issues. It is important to us that a project or program is sustainable, scalable, and that benchmarks and indicators are in place to ensure meaningful and measurable results. 

Requests We Encourage

While not limited to the list below, we offer the following suggestions of partnerships we have supported in the past and hope to support again in the future. This list is not exhaustive, but is provided to be representative of the spirit of the requests we are likely to consider:

• Entrepreneurial endeavors with high social impact
• Programs that develop education or specific job training that empowers individuals to become more economically self-sufficient
• Programs supporting improved employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged members of the community

Background

In his Last Will and Testament, William Stretesky requested that a Private Foundation be created in his name to benefit Sedgwick County, CO and its residents. William Stretesky, a long-time resident of Sedgwick County, was an avid farmer. He was single until the age of sixty-five and he had no children. As his life progressed, the residents of Sedgwick County, CO became his extended family. It may have been for this reason that he decided to leave the bulk of his estate in a Foundation with a primary goal to enhance and benefit the Sedgwick County Community and its residents. To date, nearly one hundred percent of his agricultural real estate remains in the foundation, which fulfills the profound wish of William Stretesky. Grant funds are generated through cash leasing the Foundation’s real estate, which is located in Sedgwick and Phillips County, Colorado and Chase, Deuel, and Perkins County, Nebraska.

Grant Categories

• Arts and Culture 
• Education
• Community Development
• Medical & Emergency
• Historical Preservation
• Operating Expenses

About GOCO

Since 1992, GOCO has been investing a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces.

Our independent board awards competitive grants to local governments and land trusts and makes investments through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Created by voters, GOCO has committed more than $1.4 billion in Lottery proceeds to more than 5,600 projects in all 64 counties without a single dollar coming from taxpayers’ pockets.

Community Impact Grant

Communities deserve the best quality of life possible. GOCO invests in the processes and projects to give people greater access to the outdoors. Apply to this program to help develop and revitalize parks, trails, schoolyards, fairgrounds, environmental education facilities, and other outdoor projects important to your Colorado community.

We fund community-driven projects of all sizes in communities big and small through this flexible program. We collaborate with grantees to support efforts through all phases, concept to completion. For example, funding might support local capacity for project management, land acquisition for development, community-centered planning and design, and project implementation—and all within a single grant. In the end, through this program, we celebrate the incredible and unique impacts the outdoors has across Colorado’s diverse communities.

About GOCO

Since 1992, GOCO has been investing a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces.

Our independent board awards competitive grants to local governments and land trusts and makes investments through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Created by voters, GOCO has committed more than $1.3 billion in Lottery proceeds to more than 5,500 projects in all 64 counties without a single dollar coming from taxpayers’ pockets.

Land Acquisition Grant

The Land Acquisition program supports urban and rural landscape, waterway, and habitat protection priorities and improves outdoor access.

Competitive projects consider opportunities for passive public recreation access; wildlife habitat and migration corridors; critical watersheds, waterways, and riparian ecosystems; scenic viewsheds and greenways; and open spaces, particularly those that serve disproportionately impacted communities.

Eligible projects are fee-simple land acquisitions that provide public access. GOCO also considers conservation easements when tax credits are financially insufficient or impractical. 

About

In 2004, the National Trust received a gift from the Gates Family Foundation in recognition of William W. “Peter” Grant’s outstanding service as a trustee of the Foundation from 1978 to 2003 and to honor his lifelong devotion to historic preservation in Colorado. Additional gifts from individuals and businesses created the Peter Grant Preservation Fund for Colorado. Grants from this fund will help preserve and enhance historic places in Colorado for future generations.

Grant Conditions

Applicants must be capable of matching the grant amount on a one-to-one basis. Due to the economic impacts caused by COVID-19, the National Trust is temporarily changing its matching fund requirement and allowing for both cash and in-kind donations to count toward the one-to-one required match.

The required match can come from private or public sources, from income earned from registration fees or sales, or from fundraising activities. In-kind donations of labor, materials or services will also be considered eligible for meeting the matching requirement. Matching funds must be used to fund eligible expenses listed below. Other funding from the National Trust may not be used to match a grant from the Peter Grant Fund for Colorado. View other grant conditions here.

About

The Preservation Leadership Forum of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is a network of preservation leaders — professionals, students, volunteers, activists, experts — who share the latest ideas, information, and advice, and have access to in-depth preservation resources and training.

Southwest Intervention Fund

Grants from the National Trust’s Southwest Intervention Fund are intended to further preservation efforts of the traditional cultures of the Southwest region, exclusively in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, West Texas (West Texas is defined as the area west of US Route 281 from the Oklahoma border to San Antonio proper and north of US Route 90 from San Antonio proper to Del Rio) and Utah. The Fund provides support for preservation planning efforts and enables prompt responses to emergency threats or opportunities in the eligible states. Local partners, nonprofit organizations and government agencies that have strategic opportunities to save sites or help jumpstart preservation projects are eligible for the fund’s small, catalytic grants. Grants generally range from $2,500 to $10,000.

The Fund can support assistance for a single prehistoric or historic place or actions affecting an entire state or part of a state, or several states, so long as all of the states are among the five designated states. Actions aimed at direct intervention to save historic and cultural sites and at capacity building are eligible.

The decision to pursue project funding through the Southwest Intervention Fund must be made in consultation with the National Trust grants office. Please contact us if you would like to discuss your project.  

Guidelines

Grants from National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by supporting on-going preservation work and by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for preservation projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector. A small grant at the right time can go a long way and is often the catalyst that inspires a community to take action on a preservation project. Grants generally start at $2,500 and range up to $5,000.

Eligible Activities

National Trust Preservation Fund grants are awarded for planning activities and education efforts focused on preservation. Grant funds can be used to launch new initiatives or to provide additional support to on-going efforts.

Planning: Supporting existing staff (nonprofit applicants only) or obtaining professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archaeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, and law. Eligible planning activities include, but are not limited to:

• Hiring a preservation architect or landscape architect, or funding existing staff with expertise in these areas, to produce a historic structure report or historic landscape master plan.
• Hiring a preservation planner, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce design guidelines for a historic district.
• Hiring a real estate development consultant, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce an economic feasibility study for the reuse of a threatened structure.
• Sponsoring a community forum to develop a shared vision for the future of a historic neighborhood.
• Organizational capacity building activities such as hiring fundraising consultants, conducting board training, etc.

Education and Outreach: Support for preservation education activities aimed at the public. The National Trust is particularly interested in programs aimed at reaching new audiences. Funding will be provided to projects that employ innovative techniques and formats aimed at introducing new audiences to the preservation movement, whether that be through education programming or conference sessions.

The Desert Fish Habitat Partnership

The Desert Fish Habitat Partnership (DFHP) seeks to address fish and habitat issues over a broad geographic area that encompasses the entirety of the Great Basin and Mohave deserts, and those por­tions of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts that lie within the United States.

The benefits of aquatic habitat conservation extend beyond desert fishes to include humans and other animal and plant species.

Riparian habitats that depend on surface water not only support a significant number of terrestrial and avian species identified as priority conservation species in state wildlife action plans, but also function to store water that supplements groundwater recharge.

The declining status of so many desert fishes highlights the importance of preserving these aquatic habitats so that water is available not only for the native fish, but also for future generations of humans.

The Partnership plays an important role in conserving water in the West for future generations.

As one of 20 federally recognized National Fish Habitat Partnerships, DFHP is a collaborative effort between 11 western states, federal agencies, sovereign tribes, non-governmental organizations, and private conservation groups that seek to cooperatively conserve native desert fish species across their historic ranges by protecting, restoring, and enhancing aquatic ecosystems.  Project funding is made available to grantees annually through the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) Board.

Goals

• Protect healthy intact aquatic systems supporting native desert fish habitats.
• Prevent further degradation of impaired desert fish habitats
• Reverse declines in the quality and quantity of desert fish habitats to improve health and resiliency of desert fish and other aquatic species
• Increase the quality and quantity of desert fish habitats that support a broad natural diversity of desert aquatic species
• Contribute to the success of national efforts to protect and enhance aquatic habitats by participating in the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP)

Three Conservation Priorities

• Integrate State Wildlife Action Plan priorities with the National Fish Habitat Action Plan strategies to include the following:
  • protect intact and healthy habitats
  • restore and maintain flow and water levels
  • restore connectivity, while protecting native populations at-risk from non-native encroachment
  • remediate and minimize sediments and excessive input of nutrients to habitats supporting species at-risk
• Implement on-the-ground projects that focus actions to protect the most under-served, imperiled desert fish species identified in state wildlife action plans to enhance their conservation status and prevent their extirpation and extinction.
• Prioritize projects to conserve and restore habitat for the most under-served, imperiled desert fish species.

Available Funding

The America’s Conservation Enhancement Act authorizes an appropriation of $7.2 million in NFHP funds for FY2024 projects. However, the exact amount of funding available to DFHP varies annually and is not known at this time. Typical funding per project is within the range of $5k-$50k; however, proposals requesting over $50k are still welcome and considered.

Mission:

To share and support our passion for climbing and respect for the places we climb.

Vision:

A united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes.

A brief history of the Club

Established in 1902 by the nation's leading climbers and conservationists, The American Alpine Club promotes and preserves the climbing way of life. The Mission Statement reads: "We provide knowledge and inspiration, conservation and advocacy, and logistical support for the climbing community." The AAC evolved from a social club for elite adventurers located on the East Coast to a more centrally located Denver-area organization that actively participates in international dialogue about environmental policy, high altitude safety and medicine, innovation in alpine tools, clothing and survival technologies, sponsors expeditions, and investigates controversies in the world of exploration.

The American Alpine Club, along with the National Geographic Society and the National Science Foundation, sponsored and participated in some of the most significant exploration of mountain regions in the world, including the 1939 summit attempt on K2, 1963 first American summit of Everest, and the 1966 summit of Antarctica's Mt. Vinson. Expeditions have been and continue to be negotiated to some of the most remote and politically inaccessible areas of the world in Pakistan, Nepal, China, South America, Cuba, and Russia, at times with the help of usefully placed AAC officials. For example, the AAC president from 1938-40 was James Grafton Rogers. In 1960, he was Undersecretary to the State Department and therefore able to coordinate collaboration between the State Department, U.S. Navy, and the AAC to plan an expedition to the Antarctic. AAC member and past official Mark Udall has served as the senior U.S. Senator from Colorado, and on the Committees for Armed Services and Energy and Natural Resources.

Rocky Talkie Search and Rescue Award

Rocky Talkie will be giving a total of $75,000 to SAR teams through their annual Search & Rescue Awards. The goal of these awards is to support underfunded teams and drive greater awareness of the incredible contributions that volunteer SAR members make to our mountain communities.

Need Based Grants

Five teams will receive $10,000 each

Need Based Grants will be given to underfunded SAR teams to help them acquire critical equipment or fund important projects for their operations. This year, 5 teams will be selected to receive a $10,000 grant. Applicants for Need Based Grants are asked to submit a brief description of a specific funding need their team has in the next year.

Featured Rescue of the Year

One team will receive $25,000 in funding

One team will be selected for the Featured Rescue of the Year based on a volunteer-led rescue operation. This team will receive $25,000 in funding and a video created by renowned filmmaker and climber, Jon Glassberg. The intention of this video is to shed light on the incredible service that volunteer SAR teams provide to adventurers in need.  We believe that this awareness is the first critical step towards increasing the support of SAR teams and ultimately the safety of everyone who recreates in the mountains.

The Foundation supports organizations that promote the western values of self-reliance, personal responsibility and integrity. We believe these values foster an environment where entrepreneurial spirits flourish, helping Coloradans reach their full potential. The Foundation places a high priority on programs that help youth to prosper, encourage economic opportunities for adults and advance public policies that reflect our nation’s founding principles.

Grantmaking Priority: Public Policy

• Public Policy
• Enhance understanding of the free enterprise system
• Preserve the principles upon which our democracy was founded to help ensure a limited role for government and the protection of individual rights as provided for in the Constitution
• Encourage personal responsibility and leadership
• Uphold traditional American values

Supporting Historic Sacred Places

A program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Fund for Sacred Places provides financial and technical support for community-serving historic houses of worship across America.

What We Offer

The National Fund for Sacred Places provides matching grants of $50,000 to $250,000 to congregations undertaking significant capital projects at historic houses of worship, along with wraparound services including training, technical assistance, and planning support.

What We’re Looking For

The National Fund for Sacred Places assesses applicant eligibility according to the core criteria shown below, while also striving to build a diverse participant pool that reflects a broad range of geographic, cultural, and religious identities.

Historic, Cultural, or Architectural Significance

We are looking for buildings that have historic, cultural, or architectural significance—and sites that have important and relevant stories to tell. Many of our participants are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the state register, or the local register. Your building does not have to be on one of these lists, but eligibility for one or more of these lists is a good benchmark for National Fund eligibility.

As part of the National Trust’s commitment to telling the full American story, we particularly encourage congregations to apply that illuminate a unique or overlooked aspect of American history and that expand our understanding of our shared national heritage. We encourage submissions related to historic sacred places of importance to historically and contemporaneously underrepresented communities including, but not limited to, women, immigrants, Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQIA communities.

Successful applicants are able to demonstrate their place in history by answering questions such as:

• Does the building tell a story relevant to our history—either cultural or religious?
• Does the history highlight previously underrecognized communities, stories, or locations?
• How has the building served the community over time? Does the building have a great physical presence in its community due to its location or programming?
• Is the building the work of a notable architect? If so, is it a high-quality example of their body of work?
• Is the building an exceptional example of its architectural style or building technology?
• Does the building embody the congregation’s resilience over time?

Community-Serving Congregations

We are looking for congregations that are engaged in their communities and that are serving others. Engaged congregations operate and host programming that serves vulnerable, at-risk, and diverse populations; share space with non-affiliated groups and organizations (often at subsidized rates); work with other congregations, faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and/or municipalities; and have a widespread reputation for being a welcoming center of community life.

Project Scope and Need

We fund historic preservation projects addressing urgent repair needs and/or life safety. We also fund projects that increase congregations’ ability to open their buildings to new populations or to serve greater numbers of people. All projects must adhere to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, which is a universally accepted framework for doing work to older and historic properties.

We prioritize congregations/projects where there is a demonstrated need (meaning that the congregation cannot raise the funds alone) or where it is clear that our grant will have a catalytic effect (meaning that our grant is likely to lead to additional monies being contributed to the project).

Readiness

Once-in-a-generation capital projects require a great deal of planning. We are looking for applicants that understand their buildings’ needs and that are ready to undertake a capital campaign. National Fund congregations typically have a history of successful capital campaigns, which demonstrate an ability to raise significant funds and complete a project.

Successful congregations come to us with a realistic fundraising goal, which has been generated with the help of qualified preservation professionals and is not too far beyond the congregation’s fundraising capacity.

Healthy Congregations

The National Fund prioritizes healthy, stable congregations so that our investment is truly impactful and lasting. We look for the following, although this is not an exhaustive list of characteristics that indicate healthy congregations: tenured, well-respected clergy; capable lay leadership; stable or growing membership; financial strength and stability; support of the judicatory or governing body, if applicable; and a history of weathering any congregational conflict or trauma with resilience.

The Laura Jane Musser Fund was established by the estate of Laura Jane Musser of Little Falls, Minnesota to continue the personal philanthropy, which she practiced in her lifetime.

Environmental Initiative Program

The Laura Jane Musser Fund assists public or not-for-profit entities to initiate or implement projects that enhance the ecological integrity of publicly owned open spaces, while encouraging compatible human activities. 

The Fund's goal is to promote public use of open space that improves a community's quality of life and public health, while also ensuring the protection of healthy, viable and sustainable ecosystems by protecting or restoring habitat for a diversity of plant and animal species.

The Laura Jane Musser Fund encourages the use of a community-based approach with broad and active local stakeholder participation in both planning and implementation stages of projects concerning the environmental preservation and sustainable use of public open spaces. It has been our experience that projects designed through this process have a greater chance of acceptance and lasting success.

The Musser Fund is likely to make a total of 5 to 7 grants in the Environmental Initiative this year. This is a very competitive granting initiative.

Funds will be available for: 

• Planning (UP to $8,000)
• Implementation (Up to $35,000)

Planning Grant Requests: Planning grant applications must demonstrate commitment to a broad-based, active community process for the design and use of local publicly-owned open spaces.

Note - The planning stage is optional and not a required phase prior to applying for or receiving an implementation grant. If an organization receives a planning grant from the Musser Fund, this in no way implies a commitment on the part of the Musser Fund to provide the organization with any subsequent implementation grant. 

Implementation Grant Requests:  Implementation grant applications must demonstrate clear evidence of local community active participation and support.

Land, facilities, and civic infrastructure are long-term assets that can transform the ability of nonprofit and community organizations to serve Colorado communities. For this reason, the Gates Family Foundation invests in capital projects across the state, in both rural and urban areas. We strive to be responsive to each community’s unique needs and opportunities.

Our capital grants are generally limited to comprehensive capital campaigns, which are typically for building purchases, construction, expansion, renovation, and/or land acquisition. Only nonprofit organizations with capital projects that benefit Colorado and its residents are qualified to apply. When making funding decisions, we prioritize:

• Projects that address root problems with substantive solutions
• Projects with strong evidence of support from the community and the organization’s board
• Projects in rural and low-income areas across Colorado where there are fewer individuals and institutions providing support for capital projects
• Projects that serve individuals and communities of color who have faced historic inequities and lack of access to funding
• Projects that reinforce the foundation’s strategic priorities in K-12 public education, natural resources, community development, and informed communities
• Projects that address climate change, and/or incorporate green building and sustainable development practices

Priority Funding Areas

We fund capital projects within five categories that overlap somewhat with the Foundation’s strategic priorities, but are broader in scope in order to be more responsive to community needs.

Arts & Culture

The Foundation supports cultural organizations that:

• enhance the quality of community life while also strengthening the economy
• link a community with its heritage and contribute to usable community infrastructure
• serve as an educational resource for children, youth, and adults.

Funding examples in this area are:

• libraries & museums
• community theaters
• performing arts organizations
• historic preservation that contributes to community revitalization

Education

The Foundation supports major capital projects for:

• charter schools that serve a substantial proportion of low-income students (generally, at least 50% of the student body will qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch), have demonstrated high academic achievement, and are utilizing a sustainable financial model
• public schools in rural areas that have planned capital improvements which are heavily used by the community, and that reinforce the long-term viability of the area
• licensed early childhood education centers with particular, but not exclusive, interest in rural areas of the state to assure readiness for elementary school and to strengthen rural economies
• organizations that provide life-long learning and experiential learning to a broad audience
• independent school and public and private university capital campaigns on a highly selective basis

Funding examples in this area:

• participation in the matching requirement for a charter school receiving a BEST grant
• rural school improving its auditorium or athletic field for school and community use
• rural community establishing an early childhood education center to fill an unmet need
• early childhood education center making significant facility improvements in order to advance the quality of care for the children served
• facility improvements for an organization that provides adult GED, literacy, or vocational training
• on a highly selective basis, support for public and private universities with campaigns to improve their science, technology, library, and engineering related facilities

Well-being of Children, Youth & Families

The Foundation supports organizations that encourage individuals to:

• develop greater self-sufficiency, including the well-being and independence of disadvantaged families and the elderly
• increase leadership and life skills
• maintain good health and well-being rather than cure disease

Funding examples in this area:

• human service organizations promoting self-sufficiency
• community and senior centers
• family resource centers
• youth mentoring organizations
• nonprofit dental clinics
• residential treatment centers for youth
• transitional housing facilities
• job training
• rural health centers (non-FQHC)

Parks & Recreation

The Foundation supports capital projects that:

• invest in land and water protection that safeguards important natural resources, habitat, and the health of natural systems
• help preserve the state’s ranching and agricultural legacy and encourage smart land use patterns
• construct and improve urban and mountain parks and open space for public recreation and access
• maintain the state’s urban and mountain trail systems
• provide recreation, environmental education and leadership opportunities for young people
• encourage the spirit of scientific inquiry as well as the preservation of natural habitat

Funding examples in this area:

• land conservation and easement purchases
• greenways and trail systems
• outdoor/indoor recreation facilities
• urban public spaces and community gardens

Community Development & Revitalization

The Foundation invests in projects that:

• have the potential to reinforce and enhance the economic vitality of a community
• involve partnerships between public and private sector organizations that seek to improve the economic and cultural health of communities

Funding examples in this area:

• restoration of historically significant architecture that contributes to community revitalization
• development of rural main streets as a means of promoting community revitalization
• heritage tourism as a means of promoting economic health for rural areas
• public-private partnerships for economic development

About History Colorado

History Colorado's State Historical Fund fosters heritage preservation through tangible and highly visible projects for direct and demonstrable public benefit. A 1990 constitutional amendment legalizing gambling in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek created the State Historical Fund. The amendment mandates that a portion of gaming tax revenue goes to the State Historical Fund to fund historic preservation projects throughout Colorado. The Limited Gaming Act of 1991 (CRS 44-30-1201), authorizes History Colorado to administer the State Historical Fund as a statewide grants program.

State Historical Fund

History Colorado's State Historical Fund fosters heritage preservation through tangible and highly visible projects for direct and demonstrable public benefit. A 1990 constitutional amendment legalizing gambling in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek created the State Historical Fund. The amendment mandates that a portion of gaming tax revenue goes to the State Historical Fund to fund historic preservation projects throughout Colorado. The Limited Gaming Act of 1991 (CRS 44-30-1201), authorizes History Colorado to administer the State Historical Fund as a statewide grants program.

In 2020, 30 years after the start of the State Historical Fund, a total of 4,743 grants have been awarded, contributing $315,892,480, in all 64 Colorado counties.

Competitive General Grant

The State Historical Fund awards grants funded by limited stakes gaming in the towns of Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek for significant buildings, structures, objects, districts, or archaeology sites, or about preservation of historic resources in Colorado.

The General grant is available annually in April and October, requires a cash match, and has request amounts ranging from $50,001 to $250,000.

About History Colorado

History Colorado's State Historical Fund fosters heritage preservation through tangible and highly visible projects for direct and demonstrable public benefit. A 1990 constitutional amendment legalizing gambling in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek created the State Historical Fund. The amendment mandates that a portion of gaming tax revenue goes to the State Historical Fund to fund historic preservation projects throughout Colorado. The Limited Gaming Act of 1991 (CRS 44-30-1201), authorizes History Colorado to administer the State Historical Fund as a statewide grants program.

State Historical Fund

History Colorado's State Historical Fund fosters heritage preservation through tangible and highly visible projects for direct and demonstrable public benefit. A 1990 constitutional amendment legalizing gambling in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek created the State Historical Fund. The amendment mandates that a portion of gaming tax revenue goes to the State Historical Fund to fund historic preservation projects throughout Colorado. The Limited Gaming Act of 1991 (CRS 44-30-1201), authorizes History Colorado to administer the State Historical Fund as a statewide grants program.

In 2020, 30 years after the start of the State Historical Fund, a total of 4,743 grants have been awarded, contributing $315,892,480, in all 64 Colorado counties.

Competitive Grants

Competitive Grants provides funds for the built environment, archaeology, and education or training related to historic preservation. All competitive projects must meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Properties and abide by the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office’s Survey Manual, if applicable.

Mini grants

Mini grant applications are reviewed by 4 History Colorado staff members who discuss all applications and recommend funding or non-funding based on the technical aspects, feasibility, and urgency of the project. A History Colorado leadership team reviews these recommendations for diversity of communities and geography and provide final approval.

We provide grants to nonprofits working to ensure all of Jefferson County (Jeffco) is thriving. Our funding opportunities are developed through active community listening to support collective wellbeing, economic freedom and vibrant communities. These grants provide resources for nonprofits to advance their mission and make good happen in Jeffco.

Housing Grant Opportunity

Funding to improve access to stable and affordable housing in Jefferson County.

CHFA’s Direct Effect Awards recognize Colorado nonprofit organizations whose missions align with CHFA’s work to strengthen Colorado by investing in affordable housing and community development.

Does your mission align with CHFA’s mission to strengthen Colorado by investing in affordable housing and community development in the following ways:

Affordable Home Ownership - Strengthening low- and moderate- income Coloradans ability to achieve or sustain affordable homeownership, financial literacy and education, home maintenance repairs and renovations, housing counseling, or foreclosure prevention.

Affordable Rental Housing - The development or preservation of affordable rental housing, or providing support and wrap-around services for residents, rental assistance, tenant legal aid and fair housing support, or rental housing search services, or eviction prevention, or support for people experiencing homelessness.

Economic Development - Strengthening economic development and small business access to capital, fresh food access in food deserts, entrepreneurship, leadership, business-readiness, job training and skill development, or nonprofit-sector development and support.

Does your organization work in any of the following areas that further CHFA’s vision that everyone in Colorado will have the opportunity for housing stability and economic prosperity?

Education - Increasing access to or achievement in early childhood education, K-12, higher education, or financial education; mentoring and scholarships; or narrowing the education gap particularly among diverse, rural, and economically disadvantaged populations.

Mobility - Mobility, transit, and alternative modes of transportation, increasing access and affordability, jobs and housing in proximity to transit.

Health - Increasing health access and affordability, improving health outcomes for underserved populations inclusive of either physical, mental, or behavioral health.

Energy - Providing energy cost assistance for low income households, weatherization, retrofits, or upgrades for energy efficiency.

Arts Alive! 

The Arts Alive! Fund supports projects that promote the arts in Weld County. Ideal projects expand the availability of artistic and cultural experiences and/ or provide an opportunity for artists to take the next step in their career.

Arts Alive! Organizational Grants

A grant offered from the Arts Alive! Fund is to enrich the arts in Weld County by supporting special interest projects in the visual, performing and literary arts, specifically for non-operational purposes.

The Foundation looks for proposals that

• expand the availability of artistic and cultural experiences
• increase access to the arts and humanities for underserved populations
• increase community awareness of different ethnic and cultural art forms
• preserve elements of past and current cultural forms
• make an impact in creative ventures
• have measurable outcomes
• benefit the arts and humanities of the Weld County community

Background

The Denver Foundation is pleased to invite qualified nonprofits to apply for funding from Eulipions, Inc., a nonprofit organization that fosters, promotes, and preserves artistic expression with an emphasis on Colorado African-American heritage and lifestyles. The Eulipions Fund provides grants to generate, assist, increase, and encourage the performing arts in Colorado African-American communities.

Grants from the fund typically range from $4,000 – $10,000.

Best Life Community Awards

Nominate a nonprofit that you support with your time, talents, or money to receive a grant.

Funding

The winner will be awarded $10,000!

Fall Community Grants are administered in partnership with local donors and the Sangre de Cristo Electric Association for organizations serving Chaffee, Custer, Fremont & Lake Counties.

The grant process has two funding options. Applicants can apply for one or both based on the eligibility criteria. Applicants will submit one application but can identify and address their impact in the outlined criteria even if it covers multiple areas of impact.

While there is no maximum award, the average grant awarded in 2023 was $1,600.

Option 1

The SDCEA Grant Fund has $35,000 in funding available for organizations that meet the following criteria:

• Serves the communities of Chaffee, Custer, Fremont and/or Lake Counties.
• Organizations or projects with a focus of: 
  • Community-based Health Programs: Such as Community Health Clinics, Substance Abuse Dependency, Prevention, and Treatment, Hot Lines and Crisis Intervention, Sexual Assault Services, Protection Against Abuse, Spouse/Child/Sexual Abuse
  • Support of Food, Shelter, and Human Services: Such as Food Programs/Food Banks/Food Pantries, Homeless Shelters, Temporary Housing, Children and Youth Services, Child Day Care, Family Services, Family Violence Shelters, Pregnancy Centers
  • Disaster Preparedness & Relief Services: Such as Search & Rescue, Fire Prevention, Safety Education, First Aid
  • Animal Protection & Welfare
  • Environmental and Historical Preservation: Effort to preserve and protect the natural environment for the benefit of the public and preservation of a historically important area or structure

Option 2

CCCF Community Grants has $15,800 in funding available for organizations that meet the following criteria:

• Serves the communities of Chaffee County
• Organizations or projects with a focus of Community Health, Community Vitality, and Community Capacity

Mission Statement

The Wolcott Family Foundation, WOLFF, focuses its funding in the areas of social change and environmental stewardship, with emphasis on supporting grassroots organizations for which a small grant can make a real contribution. We are a four generation family-run organization, convinced of the power of small groups to make a significant difference in helping people change their world.

Priority is given to organizations that:

• empower individuals and communities to organize for social change
• seek to strengthen civil liberties and civil rights issues
  • Examples: equal opportunity, equal justice and racism, equal protection and due process, disabilities, reproductive rights
• build community development that seeks to address urgent ecological problems or break the cycle of poverty, create economic opportunity and build effective leadership in distressed communities
  • Examples: access to quality employment, leadership development, community participation
• demonstrate linkages and interdependence of ecosystems and economics with win-win solutions and collaborative approaches or address urgent ecological threats 

Mission StatementThe Wolcott Family Foundation, WOLFF, focuses its funding in the areas of social change and environmental stewardship, with emphasis on supporting grassroots organizations for which a small grant can make a real contribution. We are a four generation family-run organization, convinced of the power of small groups to make a significant difference in helping people change their world.Grants for Social Change and Environmental StewardshipThe Wolcott Family Foundation (WOLFF) is a private grantmaking foundation with a geographic focus in Colorado. Consideration will be given to projects that emphasize environmental preservation, advocacy and community involvement aimed at root causes of societal problems.The parable of the fisherman says, "If you give a person a fish, you feed them for a day. If you teach them how to fish, you feed them for a lifetime." The WOLFF philosophy takes this further: "Teach them to teach how to fish, and together we can we can feed the world. Teach them how to teach fishing along with cooperative organization and sustainable practices and together we can feed the world with a high quality of life for generations to come".Priority is given to organizations that:

• empower individuals and communities to organize for social change
• seek to strengthen civil liberties and civil rights issues
  • Examples: equal opportunity, equal justice and racism, equal protection and due process, disabilities, reproductive rights
• build community development that seeks to address urgent ecological problems or break the cycle of poverty, create economic opportunity and build effective leadership in distressed communities
  • Examples: access to quality employment, leadership development, community participation
• demonstrate linkages and interdependence of ecosystems and economics with win-win solutions and collaborative approaches or address urgent ecological threats 

Consideration will be given to projects that emphasize environmental preservation, advocacy and community involvement aimed at root causes of societal problems.

The Laura Jane Musser Fund wants to encourage collaborative and participatory efforts among citizens in rural communities that will help to strengthen their towns and regions in a number of civic areas including, but not limited to, economic development, business preservation, arts and humanities, public space improvements, and education.

Priority is placed on projects that: 

• Bring together a broad range of community members and institutions
• Provide the opportunity for diverse community members to work together
• Contain measurable short term outcomes within the first 12 to 18 months
• Include community members actively in all phases of the process 
• Work toward an outcome of positive change within their community

Projects must demonstrate:

• Support from a diverse cross-section of community members and institutions
• Matching financial and/or in-kind support from the local community
• Significant volunteer participation
• Reasonable plans to complete the project within 18 months or less

Funds will be available for: 

• Planning (up to $5,000) - These funds may support costs like: consultant or staff time, meeting costs, mailings, secretarial support, refreshments, local travel, childcare, etc.
• Note - this stage is optional and not a required phase prior to applying for or receiving an implementation grant. If an organization receives a planning grant from the Musser Fund, this in no way implies a commitment on the part of the Musser Fund to provide the organization with any subsequent implementation grant.
• But organizations that receive a planning grant may apply for subsequent implementation support after their planning activities are completed.      
• Implementation (Up to $25,000) - These funds are available to implement community based rural projects that originate in, have been planned by, and involve diverse people from the local community.
• Capital campaigns will not be supported.
• The projects should result in a tangible outcome within at least the first 18 months.
• Projects will be eligible for either planning or implementation funds during any one grant period.

What the Program will Cover:

• New programs or projects within their first three years
• A planning, and/or implementation phase