Search Through Private Grants for Nonprofits in Colorado in the U.S.

About Us

Our Mission

The mission of The Auto Club Group Foundation is to work on behalf of our members and the communities we serve to create lasting solutions, inspire learning and provide funding in the areas of traffic safety, driver education and financial literacy.

Our History

In 1902, nine motor clubs across the country joined together to form the American Automobile Association (AAA) to protect the rights and interests of automobile users and promote better highway and traffic safety. Today, The Auto Club Group Foundation continues to support those interests by investing in traffic safety, driver education and financial literacy initiatives. The Auto Club Group Foundation which is a private Foundation, represents 14 states and 2 U.S territories, and is an integral part of AAA's evolution and success.

How We Work

Our approach to grant funding comes from a very basic principle which is to have an understanding of the goals and objectives of local communities. Our relationships, which have developed from years of community service, allow us to offer support in a more impactful and meaningful way.

The Auto Club Group Foundation, which is a private foundation, is funded by our sponsoring organization, AAA – The Auto Club Group. We award grants to organizations and initiatives that enhance our mission in the areas of Traffic Safety, Driver Education and Financial Literacy throughout our 14 U.S. states and two U.S. territories.

Priority Areas

Traffic Safety

The Auto Club Group Foundation is dedicated to supporting traffic safety programs and initiatives that make our roadways safer for all users. The ACG Foundation strives to be responsive to emerging traffic safety issues by considering grant applications that are forward thinking and address new technology.

Financial Literacy

The Auto Club Group Foundation supports financial literacy programming in grades K – 12, empowering students with the tools they need to make sound financial decisions.

Driver Education 

The Auto Club Group Foundation wants to ensure everyone has access to quality driver education by supporting scholarships and programming needs in underserved communities.

The Biophilia Foundation

Our Mission & Approach

The Biophilia Foundation is dedicated to advancing biodiversity conservation on private lands by fostering systemic change through people, their communities, and direct action. We approach our mission by offering grants to nonprofit organizations, administering in-house programs, and serving as a strategic partner and fiscal sponsor for organizations with which we collaborate.

Issues of Interest

Private Land Conservation

While national parks and other lands protected by governments are critical to conservation, many regions are dependent upon the conservation value of privately-owned lands.

Our private land conservation initiative includes protection of the Pritzlaff Ranch in New Mexico, support of the Linkages project to engage private landowners in northern Sonora, and serving as the fiscal sponsor of Wildlife Corridors LLC’s project to extinguish development rights in a critical wildlife corridor.

Ecosystem Restoration

The Biophilia Foundation supports a range of restoration projects. We are particularly interested in low-tech, process-based stream restoration projects in degraded watersheds in the west. Low-tech restoration using rock detention structures or wood structures, such as beaver dam analogues, provides a nature-based solution to a host of challenges, including providing habitat for biodiversity, increasing resilience to drought and flooding, and storing carbon.

Partners and grantees engaged in this work include the Borderlands Restoration Network, Sageland Collaborative, Cascade Forest Conservancy, and Cuenca Los Ojos.

Restorative Economies

The Biophilia Foundation is interested in developing a restoration economic sector. Restorative economies encompass a variety of market-based activities, including but not limited to ecotourism, native plant sales, ecosystem restoration crews, sustainable harvest, and regenerative ranching. They can also incorporate payments for ecosystem services, such as carbon markets.

Our partner and grantee Borderlands Restoration Network is very active in this field, and our work on carbon credits for dryland riparian restoration aims to provide an additional market-based mechanism for restoration.

Conservation Policy

The need for policies that support wilderness, rewilding, restoration, and nature-based solutions is great, and opportunities for policy advancement are on the horizon. The Biophilia Foundation funds several initiatives that advance innovative environmental policy.

We were active in the development of recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration to prioritize restoration in the US-Mexico borderlands, and we support efforts to secure a green amendment in New Mexico and Yellowstone to Uintas Connection’s advocacy toward federal agencies with land management responsibilities. The Biophilia Foundation was also active in the ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves to Colorado and serves as fiscal sponsor of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project.

Funding

First-time grants to organizations generally range from $5,000 to $25,000, but on occasion we make larger or multi-year grants to organizations with which we have longer-term partnerships.

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.

Next50

Next50 is a private, national foundation based in Denver, Colorado. Since 2016, Next50 has been working toward creating a world that values aging.

It’s expensive to age in Colorado and the rest of the country. That is why we invest in innovative and equitable ideas that build capacity and change systems to create economic opportunities for older adults and the organizations that serve them.

We work with our partners by focusing on three priority areas of economic opportunity:

• Ending Ageism
• Advancing Digital Equity
• Supporting Aging in Place

Our Equity Focus and Priority Populations

Equity is one of our core values at Next50, and we are working hard to incorporate justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles into all aspects of our work, including our grantmaking.

We want to be intentional about directing funding toward historically marginalized older adults and communities who have not had access to foundation funding. To do this we have identified the following priority populations:

• Black or African American
• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Asian
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
• Hispanic or Latino
• LGBTQ+
• Immigrant/ Refugee
• Physical/ Cognitive/ Behavioral Disability
• Low-income
• Homeless
• Rural
• Frontier

Colorado Organizational Resiliency (COR) Grant

Colorado Organizational Resiliency (COR) grants are designed to support Colorado-based nonprofits in building resiliency to effectively navigate uncertainties, recover from setbacks, and maintain impact over the long term. Building resilience involves creating a robust infrastructure, fostering a supportive organizational culture, and developing strategies to address financial, operational, and environmental challenges.

Grant requests must be aligned with one or more of Next50’s three priority areas: ending ageism, advancing digital equity, and supporting aging in place.

Grant requests are required to demonstrate innovation and the advancement of equity for marginalized or geographically underserved communities to be considered for funding.

Our Mission

The Kampe Foundation is a private foundation that provides programs and funding to nonprofit organizations in the fields of community development, social justice, and environmental issues.

How We Accomplish Our Work

The Kampe Foundation serves nonprofit organizations and communities in most of the western United States. Special project areas include San Mateo County, California and Western Colorado, especially the North Fork of the Gunnison River Valley.

Grants are awarded in our 4 program areas:

• Healthcare and education for special populations (youth, disabled, low-income and senior citizens)
• Christian ministry, ethics and social justice.
• Science and engineering
• Sustainable agriculture and environmental issues.

About the Foundation

Established in 2022, the Roy and Gloria Dinsdale Foundation is a private foundation based in Omaha, Nebraska. The foundation honors the late Gloria and Roy Dinsdale, executive chairman of Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc. and founder of Pinnacle Bank. The Board of Directors is made up of Roy and Gloria’s three children, Jane Dinsdale Rogers, Chris Dinsdale, and Sid Dinsdale.

Roy Dinsdale was the 3rd generation to live in Palmer, Nebraska. He and Gloria married in 1949 and settled in Palmer. Both Roy and Gloria were influenced by their upbringing in small Nebraska towns, where people help each other and support each other, when there is a need.

This concept of helping each other by giving back drives the Foundation to provide support in the communities Pinnacle Bank, Bank of Colorado and other Dinsdale companies serve.

Mission

The Roy and Gloria Dinsdale Foundation seeks to improve lives by providing food, shelter, clothing, and support for daily living, in addition to providing support for the arts and education.

Focus Areas

The family prefers to support local needs, including organizations, programs and initiatives in rural communities that impact the local economy when possible.

• Persons with Disabilities:
  • Provide support for the daily needs and enrichment of persons with disabilities.
• Healthcare:
  • Improve the health and lives of people, emphasizing access to quality care including specialized services such as hospice care in rural communities.
• Education:
  • Enhance educational opportunities and access for children and adults to local educational facilities embedded in community, specifically in the areas of early childhood education, child care, and junior colleges.
• Arts:
  • Increase access to the arts, enrich lives, and contribute to the creation of vibrant communities.
• Veterans and First Responders:
  • Support the needs of veterans, first responders and their families.

Thomas Dennis Buckley was born in Missouri in December, 1897, to Dennis and Susan Buckley. His family, consisting of his Mom, Dad, Brothers Frank and John, Sister Elizabeth, and Tom moved to Lamar in 1906. Tom came to Chappell in 1917 with his brothers. They lived in a bunk house on wheels and hired out to break sod using a one-cylinder Rumley.

After serving one year in the military, he worked on the railroad for a few years before returning to Chappell. He started farming then until he died on June 12, 1979. Upon his death, a Private Foundation was formed. The Trustees sold his land in 1980 at record-high prices and invested the proceeds from the sale, as well as the investments that Tom had at the time of his death. GrantsThe Thomas D. Buckley Trust is a Private Foundation that was created by the donor, Thomas D. Buckley. The Trust supports tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations that deal with education, religion, or community-oriented programs. The Trust funds programs mainly in the Western Panhandle of Nebraska and in extreme Northeast Colorado.The Trustees meet monthly to review all requests.

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

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.

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.

Battlefield Preservation Fund

Grants from the Battlefield Preservation Fund will serve as a catalyst to stimulate efforts to preserve battlefields, viewsheds, and related historic structures and to leverage fund-raising activities.

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.

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.  

The Denver Foundation is pleased to invite qualified nonprofits to apply for funding from the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund. The fund is managed by The Denver Foundation in partnership with a community advisory board composed of representatives from the Denver Mayor’s Office, Denver City Council, Colorado Lawyers Committee, immigrant rights groups, and The Denver Foundation. The purpose of the fund is to increase legal services to Denver’s immigrant community by providing qualified nonprofit organizations with grants to:

• Offer direct legal representation to immigrants in detention and/or subject to removal proceedings.
• Provide affirmative relief to individuals seeking help with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and various visa programs.
• Support capacity building or other innovative projects to help organizations increase the pool of pro-bono or low-bono immigration attorneys available to represent immigrants.
• Funding to assist in the course of representation, including legal resources and/or scholarships to pay for filing and other representation-related application fees.

Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund Funding Priorities

Category 1: Removal defense for individuals who are detained at the Aurora Detention Facility and those released from the facility who have cases pending in Denver Immigration Court.

Defense includes high-quality representation at all stages of immigration court proceedings, including master calendar hearings and bond hearings, detained removal, non-detained removal after release, Board and Immigrations Appeals (BIA), remands from the BIA, and state court proceedings related to immigration relief, transfer of venue proceedings for transfer to Denver Immigration Court, collateral proceedings incident to removal defense, and any costs associated with defense.

Category 2: Affirmative relief and removal defense for and people not in detention.

Affirmative relief includes legal screening, consultation, and representation for individuals seeking assistance with DACA, Special Immigrant Juvenile (SJIS), asylum, U visas, and T visas, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) protections, family and labor petitions, and naturalization. Support can also be used for consultations for individuals whose Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is being terminated to determine if they are eligible for a different type of relief, or, to defend TPS revocation in Immigration Court.

Category  3: Building capacity for direct legal representation.

• Expanding the pool of pro-bono immigration attorneys
• Expanding the pool of “low-bono” immigration attorneys
• The use of law school clinics and law students to provide assistance to immigrants
• Other innovative projects that increase legal representation for immigrants

Category 4: Filing Fees, Legal Fees.

Funding to assist in the course of representation, including legal resources and/or scholarships to help with filing and other representation-related application fees. Funding requested to be utilized for legal resources, scholarships for legal fees, or other application fees must be proportionate to the cases proposed to be represented. For example, 10 cases = $500 per case for interpretation, filing fees, etc.

COCO (a Colorado-based nonprofit) started the Action, Implementation and Mitigation (AIM) Program to accelerate fire adaptation concepts and reduce the risk from wildfire across the U.S. by increasing capacity and on-the-ground work. Since its inception in 2018, we have supported over 90 organizations. COCO hopes to increase community resilience, restore fire-adapted ecosystems and create safer conditions for residents and firefighters. This funding opportunity is open to organizations working to advance wildfire risk reduction.

The AIM grant is available for a wide variety of capacity-building activities, including personnel, planning efforts, and wildfire risk reduction work on non-federal lands.

COCO funds organizations across the country with a focus on programs and projects that increase communities’ ability to overcome barriers to successful community wildfire mitigation, multiply the efforts, achieve quantifiable outcomes, support equitable and inclusive community wildfire mitigation programs across the fence, and support place-based solutions.

COCO will be looking to fund a variety of different types of projects across the country. Applicants must demonstrate how their proposal fits into the larger community wildfire strategy, including coordination with federal partners on nearby public lands. Applicants must contribute a 100% match (cash or in-kind match is eligible).  Award funding may range from $10,000 – $75,000. Grants are contracted for a period of one year.

Carl W. & Carrie Mae Joslyn Trust

For the support of charities benefiting youth, elderly, and/or handicapped in El Paso County, Colorado.

Program Areas

• Animal Welfare,
• Arts and Culture,
• Civic Activities,
• Community Development,
• Education,
• Environment,
• Health and Medical Research,
• Human and Social Services,
• Religious

Background

The Luther T. McCauley Charitable Trust provides support for charitable organizations that serve the economically deprived, the socially disadvantaged and the mentally and physically handicapped citizens of El Paso County, Colorado. 

Program Areas

• Civic Activities
• Community Development
• Education
• Health and Medical Research
• Human and Social Services

Nellie Rust Trust

To support youth development and other health and human services organizations in Boulder, Colorado.

Program Areas

• Animal Welfare,
• Arts and Culture,
• Civic Activities,
• Community Development,
• Education,
• Environment,
• Health and Medical Research,
• Human and Social Services,
• Religious

NextFifty Initiative

Next50 is a private, national foundation based in Denver, Colorado. Since 2016, Next50 has been working toward creating a world that values aging.

Our Work

It’s expensive to age in Colorado and the rest of the country. That is why we invest in innovative and equitable ideas that build capacity and change systems to create economic opportunities for older adults and the organizations that serve them.

Sudden & Urgent Need (SUN) Grants

Sudden & Urgent Need (SUN) grants address one-time, time-sensitive needs for smaller nonprofit organizations in Colorado with a budget less than or equal to one million dollars.

Grant requests must be aligned with one or more of Next50’s three priority areas:

• ending ageism,
• advancing digital equity, and
• supporting aging in place.

Grant requests are required to demonstrate advancing equity for marginalized or geographically underserved communities to be considered for funding.

What will Next50 consider funding?

One-time expenses that are unanticipated and time-sensitive. Grant requests must intentionally focus on older adults within our three funding priorities.

For purposes of this grant opportunity, one-time is defined as a need that is not anticipated to re-occur. Needs that arise once per year or are to support ongoing programming are not eligible for this funding. Time-sensitive is considered urgent, and the organization is unable to wait for support through other funding opportunities.

Examples of Needs that Next50 may Support with SUN Grants include:

• An organization providing mobile technology training for low-income older adults in a rural area has an unexpected issue that has arisen with their mobile training vehicle and needs a replacement part to be able to continue providing services.
• A small organization providing a financial boot-straps course for low-income older adults has a water leak in their building and must shut down classes until the leak is fixed.

Funding

We ask that organizations request only what they need, and the maximum request amount is $30,000.

Successfully leading a nonprofit in today’s world takes endless dedication and time. Yet, nonprofit leaders are often so committed to their missions that spending time away to re-energize can be an afterthought. The Nonprofit Sabbatical Program aims to recognize and reward long-term and respected nonprofit leaders in Colorado and strengthen the organizations they lead by offering funds for interim leadership and staff capacity building. The program offers nonprofit executives the opportunity to step away from professional responsibilities and take time for themselves for rejuvenation. Ideally, the executive returns to their professional life with new ideas and a fresh sense of commitment to their work, the nonprofit sector as well as the health and health equity of all Coloradans.

Our three cornerstones are “must-haves” in all we do and guide us on our path to addressing the deepest, most historically entrenched inequities. We expect our partners to prioritize these cornerstones in their work alongside us. This commitment necessitates that we prioritize a diverse cohort of grantees whose work and values are in alignment with our cornerstones and who represent a range of identities including race/ethnicity, gender identity, ability/disability identity, sexual orientation as well as geographic area.Up to five sabbaticals will be awarded annually. Each sabbatical must be taken within 18 months of the receipt of the award.

The sabbatical award is made in the form of a grant – up to $100,000 – for charitable support to a Colorado-based nonprofit organization and includes:

• Grantee executive to take three-to-four month hiatus for activities of their choice to reflect, rest and rejuvenate:
• Up to $20,000 for sabbatical activities (e.g., professional development; travel; personal activities)
• Between $25,000-$55,000 subsidy for salary and benefits (dependent on current salary)
• Grantee interim leadership needs (individual or a team):
• Up to $10,000 to support interim leadership needs while grantee is away on sabbatical.
• Grantee staff capacity building needs
• Up to $15,000 to be used during the sabbatical period or up to two years after receipt of the award
• Organizations will need to demonstrate how staff have been involved in determining use of these funds to ensure that they are used for employee-directed needs

Mission

The William G. McGowan Charitable Fund brings our vision to life through grant-making efforts in three program areas: Education, Human Services, and Healthcare initiatives. We give priority to programs that have demonstrated success, have measurable outcomes and plans for sustainability, and aim to end cycles of poverty and suffering.

Resolute in our belief in the power of partnerships or collaborative efforts to maximize impact, we embrace opportunities to work with other funders in our program areas. We look for funding opportunities that share our philosophy and explore the possibility of joint projects with other nonprofit organizations.

Vision

To impact lives today, create sustainable change, and empower future generations to achieve their greatest potential.

Funding Focus

The Fund puts an emphasis on the building blocks that adults and children need to flourish. While many community efforts are important and enriching—including the arts, animal welfare, and civic life—the programs that are most likely to receive our support hone to our mission and vision of addressing the roots of poverty. In our community grantmaking, we look toward programs that address immediate needs and those that reach for long-term impact in the lives of vulnerable families and individuals.

Education Initiatives

Education makes all the difference. It is the most powerful point of departure for children struggling with poverty, community disruption, family stress, or failure. It’s the prerequisite for most long-lived careers that provide sustainable wages.

Through our grant-making in five geographic regions, the McGowan Fund focuses on innovative programs that show measurable improvement in addressing achievement gaps, improving teaching and learning, and reducing disparities among students.

Areas of support in this initiative include:

• Out-of-school Programs
• Charter, faith-based, and alternative schools
• Scholarships for high potential students in private education.

Human Services Initiatives

The cycles of poverty and homelessness can seem intractable. Homelessness decreases access to food, health, and work and this limited availability in turn hinders access to long-term housing. Recognizing the complexity and dependencies of the problem, the Fund focuses on projects that address basic human needs and stabilize individuals and families.

Areas of support in this initiative include:  

• Stabilized Housing
• Food/Clothing Security
• Adult Education (e.g. ESL, Financial Literacy, GED Attainment)
• Homelessness Remediation/Prevention

Healthcare Initiatives

Lack of healthcare can be a barrier to work, education, and a family’s mobility out of poverty. We fund programs that seek to remove this barrier by providing quality care to those who may not have other care options.

Areas of support in this initiative include:

• Primary Care
• Dental/Vision
• Mental Health Services
• Pharmacy

What does this program do?

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.

What is an eligible area?

Rural Business Development Grant money must be used for projects that benefit rural areas or towns outside the urbanized periphery of any city with a population of 50,000 or more. Check eligible areas. 

What kind of funding is available?

There is no maximum grant amount; however, smaller requests are given higher priority. There is no cost sharing requirement. Opportunity grants are limited to up to 10 percent of the total Rural Business Development Grant annual funding.

How may funds be used?

Enterprise grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application. Uses may include:

• Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling and training, market research, feasibility studies, professional or/technical reports or producer service improvements.
• Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings; plants, machinery, equipment, access for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities.
• Pollution control and abatement.
• The capitalization of revolving loan funds, including funds that will make loans for start-ups and working capital.
• Distance adult learning for job training and advancement.
• Rural transportation improvement.
• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.

Opportunity grants can be used for:

• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.

The Advanced Industries Collaborative Infrastructure Grant funds collaborative projects that will have broad industry-wide impacts across one or more of Colorado's advanced industries. Projects fill a gap in the advanced industries and have multiple, collaborative partners  Colorado’s advanced industries are:

• advanced manufacturing
• aerospace
• bioscience
• electronics
• energy and natural resources
• infrastructure engineering
• technology and information

This grant's goal is to accelerate the commercialization and innovation of advanced industry products and services by building infrastructure for the advanced industries ecosystem. This program aligns private industry and research institutions to create public resources for the development of the advanced industries in Colorado. This funding cannot be used to support an individual business' infrastructure needs. 

Collaborative projects can receive up to $500,000. This grant award maximum can be lifted for projects that impact more than one advanced industry.

Background

In 1987, Comprecare Foundation established the Elderly Health Promotion Initiative. This initiative funded many community-based projects that focus on helping older adults maintain their health through self-help and lifestyle changes. The initiative received recognition for its emphasis on innovative, collaborative, community-based efforts. In 2015, Comprecare Foundation closed and entrusted The Denver Foundation with $4.3 million to lead grant initiatives on aging issues in Colorado. Comprecare staff remains invested in this important work and are key partners in improving the health of seniors.

With the steady increase in the population of older adults in Colorado, there is a continued need to improve their quality of life by assisting them in developing and maintaining optimal wellness. Research demonstrates that physical activity, good nutrition, and proactive management of chronic conditions are essential to maintaining a healthy quality of life for older adults. Significant public and private funding have been devoted to advancing these components of healthy living in recent years, both nationally and in Colorado.

The challenge now is to bring these evidence-based interventions to older adults who have not been exposed to them or who have little motivation for behavior change. Programs or projects which involve older adults in their planning and administration have the most potential for reaching them effectively.

Supporting optimal wellness for older adults

The Denver Foundation is pleased to invite qualified nonprofits to apply for funding from the Comprecare Fund, a fund supporting community-based projects that focus on helping older adults maintain their health through self-help and lifestyle changes. Organizations that have a wide potential reach and influence in the field of optimal wellness for seniors in Colorado are encouraged to submit proposals for funding. The fund has adopted a broad definition of optimal wellness, and we will consider any project that addresses wellness.

Awards will range from $7,500 to $20,000.

H. Chase Stone Trust

The H. Chase Stone Trust grants funds primarily in El Paso County, Colorado to support, sustain, and develop charitable organizations operating in this area. Currently these funds are designated to support primarily performing, literary, and fine arts organizations that benefit the entire El Paso County community.