Search Through Saluda County Grants for Nonprofits in South Carolina

Charitable Contributions

Costco Wholesale’s primary charitable efforts specifically focus on programs supporting children, education, and health and human services in the communities where we do business. Throughout the year we receive a large number of requests from nonprofit organizations striving to make a positive impact, and we are thankful to be able to provide support to a variety of organizations and causes. While we would like to respond favorably to all requests, understandably, the needs are far greater than our allocated resources and we are unable to accommodate them all.

Warehouse Donations:

Warehouse donations are handled at the warehouse level - please consult your local warehouse for up-to-date information regarding their donations contacts and review process.

Grant Applications

If the request is under consideration, you may be contacted by staff for any additional information needed. Applications are reviewed within 4-6 weeks, and decisions are made based on several factors, including: type of program; identified community need not otherwise available; indication that evidenced based data will establish measurable results of intended outcomes; community collaboration; broad base of financial support; project budget and operating expenses.

Who We Are

The Creag Foundation is a private grant making foundation established in 2009 in Woodinville, Washington.

The founders of the Creag Foundation believe that meaningful change can only be achieved through hard work, creativity and passion. They also understand the practical mechanisms that allow charitable organizations to succeed and grow. As a group, Creag Foundation principals are dedicated to helping today’s most innovative programs improve the human condition in a wide variety of ways.

Our Focus

The broad purpose of the Foundation is to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations who are innovators in the field of human services. Our particular focus is on smaller organizations that are starting out or established organizations that are looking for funding to take their organization in a new direction.

What We Fund

/ What We Fund

The Creag Foundation is focused on innovation in the industry. We will consider proposals from 501(c)(3) organizations that are finding new ways to address societal issues facing the nonprofit community. Applicants must have held 501(c)(3) status for one year before submitting. If your organization has held 501(c)(3) status for over a year, and your believe that your organization has a new approach to an existing social problem or is addressing a previously unaddressed social issue, you are welcome to contact us and request that we consider your organization for a funding opportunity.

Mission

The mission of the Hearst Foundations is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States can build healthy, productive and satisfying lives. Through its grantmaking, the Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of focus—culture, education, health and social service—and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.

Whether providing a scholarship to a deserving student, supporting a rural health clinic or bringing artists into schools so children can see firsthand the beauty of the arts, the Foundations’ focus is consistent: to help those in need, those underserved and those underrepresented in society. Since the Foundations were formed in the 1940s, the scale and capabilities of the grant making have changed, but the mission has not.

Culture Grant

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those that enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent. Supported organizations include arts schools, ballets, museums, operas, performing arts centers, symphonies and theaters.

Funding Priorities in Culture

In the recent past, 25% of total funding has been allocated to Culture. Organizations with budgets over $10 million have received 60% of the funding in Culture.

The Hearst Foundations are only able to fund approximately 25% of all grant requests, of which about 80% is directed to prior grantees and about 20% is targeted toward new grantees.

Types of Support

Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation only accepts unsolicited proposals for specific areas within the education, family economic stability and childhood health sectors in select countries where we work, namely the United States, India and South Africa.

As a guideline, the foundation does not fund more than 25% of a project’s budget or more than 10% of an organization’s total annual operating expenses.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has always recognized the power of providing grants to partner organizations that we knew were already working hard to improve the lives of urban children living in poverty. By aligning with organizations that are already making a difference, we continue to make an immediate impact on the lives of thousands of children.

Foundation priorities:

We fund social enterprises that directly serve or impact children or youth from urban low-income communities in the areas of education, health, and family economic stability (including livelihoods and financial inclusion). These social enterprises may be structured as for-profit or nonprofit entities.

Partnerships

We collaborate with a range of organizations focused on creating opportunities for children and families living in urban poverty, with a deep emphasis on measuring impact. Our funding advances projects already making an impact in education, health, and family economic stability. Through these enduring and long-standing partnerships, we create lasting change together.

Philanthropy is our commitment to communities in which we operate and broader society. We focus our resources on a limited number of key projects that can deliver valuable benefits from our contributions and those of our partners. We give priority to innovative, high-quality projects that meet the following criteria:

• promote sustainable development
• offer an opportunity for Roche to use its expertise and logistics capabilities
• involve Roche actively at an early stage with local authorities and established partners
• engage Roche employees in cultural (focus on contemporary arts), educational and social activities
• managed by an accredited charity

Our four focus areas

Humanitarian and Social

We direct the majority of our philanthropic donations to humanitarian and social development projects.

Science and education

We are dedicated to programmes that promote scientific interest and provide educational opportunities for young people around the world.

Community and Environment

We are committed to building stronger communities and responding to natural disasters sustainably.

Arts and Culture

We support groundbreaking contemporary art, cultural projects and activities that explore the parallels between innovation in art and in science. 

The Sidney Stern Memorial Trust is devoted solely to the funding of charitable, scientific, medical and educational organizations.

The Board endeavors to support soundly-managed charitable organizations that give service with a broad scope, have a substantial effect on their target populations, and contribute materially to the general welfare. The Board does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

Our Mission

The Tony Robbins Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of people often forgotten.

We’re dedicated to creating positive changes in the lives of youth, seniors, the hungry, homeless and the imprisoned population, all who need a boost envisioning a happier and deeply satisfying way of life. Our passionate staff, generous donors and caring group of international volunteers provide the vision, inspiration, and resources needed to empower these important members of our society.

Grants

Dedicated to meeting challenges within the global community, creating solutions and taking action, The Tony Robbins Foundation provides monetary donations to various organizations around the world. Funding requests are evaluated on an ongoing basis. We look for organizations that align with our mission to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of those often forgotten.

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

District Arts Support Grants

Purpose

This grant supports school districts committed to implementing standards-based arts curricula and making the arts an integral part of the basic curriculum and daily classroom instruction. Arts disciplines are creative writing, dance, music, theatre, media arts, and visual art.

Funding

• Up to $25,000 per year for two (2) years
• Matching Requirement: 2:1 (grantee:SCAC)

Central Carolina Community Foundation (CCCF) recognizes that to cultivate a community full of vitality and opportunity, nonprofits that work tirelessly to advocate for our diverse residents must be sustained. Our General Operating Support Grants (GOS) support this work by investing in these nonprofits to increase their capacity to carry out their mission. In 2021, CCCF began providing multi-year GOS grants and has continued to explore ways to promote, facilitate, and increase philanthropy to create sustainable impact within our community.

What are General Operating Support Grants?

CCCF’s GOS grants provide multi-year, unrestricted operations funding to eligible nonprofits. Nonprofits can use the funds based on their organization’s operational needs and priorities. By accepting the grants, the awarded nonprofits agree to:

• expense the funds annually,
• complete an annual report, 
• attend quarterly grantee meetings, 
• register their nonprofit on Midlands Gives, 
• use funds towards operations and administrative costs, and 6) maintain regular communication with CCCF staff.

Grant Objectives

• To invest in communities that have been historically under invested in by philanthropy.
• To provide resources to organizations that are trusted by, connected to, and rooted in community.
• To cultivate trusting relationships between CCCF and nonprofit organizations within the 11 counties in the Midlands.
• To increase nonprofit organizations’ capacity to serve their community and sustain high quality services beyond the three-year grant period.

What We Fund

In general, our GOS grants provide operational support to organizations and communities that have traditionally been underserved by philanthropy. Grantees will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Alignment with CCCF’s mission, values, and priorities
• Connection to and representation by the community they serve
• Proven outcomes in addressing a community need
• Opportunity to increase the nonprofit’s capacity
• History of collaborative work and philanthropy

Grant Amount

$30,000; awarded: $10,000 per year for up to three years contingent on grantee meeting eligibility requirements.

School Arts Support Grants

Purpose

To help schools acquire the supplies, materials/equipment, or professional development needed to address learning loss gaps in the arts, promote innovation in the arts classroom, and/or support arts integration initiatives to remediate core subject areas.

Use of Funds

School Arts Support Grants should have a strong connection to addressing COVID related learning loss in and through the arts, promoting arts innovation, and/or increasing capacity to utilize arts integration as a teaching practice.

• SAS grant funds may be used, in one of the following ways:
  • Materials/Equipment/Supplies
    • Examples could include:
      • Arts materials that will enhance teaching of areas that students are lagging in due to learning disruptions
      • Instruments to complete or increase a classroom set
      • Materials for an arts integration lesson
      • Equipment such as a pottery wheel, kiln or printing press
  • Please Note: Grant funds should supplement (add to) not supplant (replace) your current arts budget, meaning that grant funds should pay for materials/projects that are BEYOND your current budget capacity. Grant funds should NOT pay for materials/projects so that your current arts budget can be used elsewhere.
• Professional Development Opportunities
  • Examples could include:
    • Membership to state or national arts education associations
    • Conference, travel, and hotel fees for state or national conferences (travel and hotel must follow the S.C. state travel guidelines and rates).
    • Substitute teacher costs to allow for peer-to-peer planning for arts rich learning opportunities
• Arts Residencies
  • Please note: The artist in residence MUST spend peer to peer training time with the arts teacher to ensure growth in the teacher’s skill level and ability to teach the skill in future years.
  • Grant recipients must use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded activities (see below for additional information)
  • SAS Grant funds can purchase materials to support the arts residency

Funding

Up to $2,500 per grant request. Individual schools are eligible to receive up to two (2) grants ($5,000 total) per fiscal year.

About This GrantOperating Support for Small Organizations (OSS) grants provide two years of support for basic operations to help strengthen eligible organizations’ ability to bring ongoing arts experiences and services to individuals, communities, and other organizations throughout the state. This grant is unrestricted, which means grantees may use it for any general operating expense related to their arts programming, such as staff salaries, paying the electric bill, printing programs, buying supplies, etc.Purpose To help strengthen arts organizations that bring ongoing arts experiences and services to individuals, communities, and other organizations throughout the state. To help strengthen arts organizations that bring ongoing arts experiences and services to individuals, communities, and other organizations throughout the state via three (3) years of support for basic operations for applicants ranging from emerging to established arts organizations with primary missions involving these artistic functions:

• producing,
• service,
• presenting,
• and/or education.

Match 1:1 (grantee:SCAC) cash match is required.  Each dollar awarded must be matched with $1 cash. No in-kind expenses are allowed as part of the applicant’s match in this category.Use of FundsGrantees may use these funds for any general operating expense related to their arts programming, such as staff salaries, paying the electric bill, printing programs, buying supplies, etc.Arts programming expenses might include (but are not limited to) concert series, visual arts workshops, a season of theatrical productions, or other activities and initiatives conducted with the primary intention of providing arts experiences to the community.This grant is not intended to support programming that is not arts-focused (although it may contain artistic elements).Allowable (Operating) Expenses

• Costs that an organization must cover to perform its primary, day-to-day activities that generate revenue.
• Administrative costs.
• Office supplies.
• Salaries for administrative/artistic personnel.
• Commissions.
• Marketing and advertising.
• Research and development costs.
• Rent.
• Utilities.
• Contract/consultant services.
• Insurance premiums.
• Everyday repairs to equipment.
• Travel expenses related to normal business activities.
• Property tax.
• Accessibility operating expenses: expenses accrued to improve the quality of being easily reached, entered, or used by people who have a disability.

Central Carolina Community Foundation

Central Carolina Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that links charitable people and businesses with areas of need in our community.

We were founded in September 1984 by business leaders who wanted to establish a permanent endowment that would enhance the lives of citizens in the Midlands.

Midlands Gives

Midlands Gives brings the brings the region together as one community, raising money and awareness for local nonprofits in 11 Midlands counties. In addition to being a year-round resource for donors across the Midlands, the initiative amplifies donations during an 18-hour online giving challenge the first Tuesday of May. Since its inception in 2014 the event has raised $9.3 million for local nonprofits.

Midlands Gives provides an ideal platform for participating nonprofit organizations to increase awareness, donors and dollars all within one campaign. Using the resources provided by Central Carolina Community Foundation, nonprofits can create an extensive, yet cost-effective outreach campaign.

Organizations who receive donations through the year-round platform will receive checks quarterly in January, April, July, and October. For donations made during giving day, on or before June 30, Central Carolina Community Foundation will provide your organization with payment via check in the amount of total donations received on behalf of your organization net of fees plus the organization's share of any regional bonus pools and any prize amounts (if applicable). Prior to receiving the check, you will receive an email statement informing you of your grant amount. You will have ten days to dispute this amount before the check will be sent to your organization. Please be patient as our finance department performs a financial reconciliation on all transactions. To ensure accuracy, this process takes some time.

South Carolina Arts Commission

Vision

We envision a South Carolina where the arts are valued and all people benefit from a variety of creative experiences.

Mission

The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission is to promote equitable access to the arts and support the cultivation of creativity in South Carolina.

Art of Community: Rural SC Grants

Purpose

This grant supports arts-based projects throughout rural South Carolina that use the arts to address issues and challenges in rural communities. The project must serve the rural community in which the applicant is located.

Grant-funded activities should:

• expand community access to the arts in rural areas and
• include a public engagement component and
• engage a project steering committee to lead the project.
  • A project steering committee is the group of people who will be collaborating on and leading this project.
  • This group should have a strong understanding of the project and the applicant organization.
  • The project steering committee is responsible for, but not limited to, providing advice and direction, setting the project timeline and budget, monitoring the quality of the project, evaluating, and monitoring success of the project, and defining project outcomes.

Projects

Projects must support one or more of the following artistic disciplines:

• Dance (choreography or performance)
• Music (composition or performance)
• Opera/musical theatre (production or performance)
• Theatre (performance or playwriting)
• Visual arts (painting, drawing, mixed media, sculpture, or printmaking)
• Crafts (ceramics, fiber, glass, leather, metal, paper, plastic, or wood)
• Photography
• Design arts (architecture, fashion, graphic, industrial, or interior)
• Media arts (film, animation, including production or screenwriting)
• Literature (poetry or prose)
• Spoken word/slam poetry
• Time-based arts (installation, sound, video art, animation, film, computer generated art, or performance art)
• Public art (ephemeral or permanent)

All projects must:

• include a public engagement component AND
• provide opportunities for
  • participants to develop their own artistic skills and/or produce their own artistic work; OR
  • artistic development for artists through activities such as residencies or workshops; OR
  • using the arts in new contexts.

Purpose

The purpose of the Arts Project Support (APS) Grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) is to support an artist’s or organization’s quality arts project or program or their commitment to improving themselves and/or their work artistically. Among other things, the APS grant can be used to build and/or increase technical, online, or virtual capacity; for community arts development; and for career advancement and/or professional development for artists and arts administration staff.

Background

Grants are one of the four ways the S.C. Arts Commission accomplishes its work in arts education and artist and community arts development. The South Carolina Arts Commission is honored to be named 2019 Public Sector Grantmaker of the Year by the 3,000-member Grant Professionals Association.

Purpose

To help South Carolina organizations make arts programs and existing facilities accessible to persons with disabilitiesUse of Funds Grants awards may reimburse the applicant for any combination of qualifying expenses incurred during the grant period. Projects may include but are not limited to the following: Programs

• Printing large print program materials
• Printing Braille materials
• Artist/consultant fees
• Preparation for special exhibitions
• Audio description
• Sign language interpretation
• Website accessibility
• Docent training for visual or audio enhancement
• Consultant fee to develop an overall accessibility plan for your organization
• Inclusive programming
• Staff training (i.e. travel to a workshop and/or training)
• Other accommodations that make programs accessible
• Purchase of assistive listening devices

Facilities

• Curb cuts
• Construction of accessibility ramp(s)
• Accessibility signage for exterior and/or interior space
• Modification of restroom(s)
• Modification of drinking fountain(s)
• Installation of elevator
• Installation of electronic door opener
• Installation of Braille plaques
• Architectural or engineering study to address accessibility of existing facility
• Capital improvements (“bricks and mortar”) of existing facilities
• Capital improvement projects must meet all local and state building codes.
• If the existing facility is on The National Register of Historic Places or deemed eligible, all work must conform with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
• Applicants for capital improvement project support must upload
• A copy of the deed or letter from the property owner, acknowledging approval of this capital improvement project.
• Photographs, drawings or plans of existing facilities, identifying project areas. All construction documents must be stamped by the architect and/or engineer.
• Design development and construction documents that address the proposed accessibility project
• Adaptive equipment
• Other accommodations that make facilities accessible

Matching Requirements

• 1:1 (grantee:SCAC)
• At least 50% of the applicant’s match must be cash. 

About the Foundation

Jesse W. Couch lived a life of zeal, honor, and dedication to the betterment of his community. The Couch family now humbly stewards the foundation he created to carry on his legacy of service for future generations. We believe that impact is best accomplished through partnerships with local organizations that know the people and communities they serve. We invest in and support efforts to protect the environment, further conservation and preservation initiatives, and save historical architecture that preserves community heritage. We also support initiatives that promote wellness and mental health and organizations seeking to provide and further education for all communities.

Annual Grant Focus

Each year, we seek to partner with and support non-profit organizations making an impact in the focus areas listed here.  The focus areas for 2025 are:

• Animal Wellbeing: We are dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations that nurture compassion and respect for all living animals. We must have animal-focused organizations that advocate for animal rights and provide humane treatment across all spectrums.
• Early Childhood Education: We are looking for schools that are providing young children with a creative and balanced approach to education. Things we love in early childhood curriculums:
  • Life Skills
  • Collaboration With Their Peers and Teachers   
  • Having Fun   
  • Montessori Teachings   
  • Project Based Teachings   
  • Diversity   
  • More Time Outside   
  • Less Screen Time
• Teachers: Teachers are essential to providing children with the best possible education. We must invest in their future and are always looking for teams that help them succeed in educating future generations.
• Get Outside: Being outside can improve memory, fight depression, lower blood pressure, and more! We support organizations that facilitate and encourage more outdoor activities that help create healthier communities. 

Purpose

This grant provides knowledge, support, and resources that will empower arts organizations to prioritize accessibility for constituents and artists with disabilities. This is a three-year commitment.

Year One aims to provide grantees with tailored professional development that covers accessibility topics directly related to the arts sector. Barrier-Free Arts SC (BFASC) grantees will commit to engaging with professional development content throughout the grant period and will attend five (5) synchronous, virtual cohort sessions led by the SCAC’s arts learning and accessibility director. By the end of the first year, the grantees will develop an accessibility plan to remove barriers identified within their facility and programs. Year one will conclude with a presentation of each organization’s plan.

Years Two and Three will focus on utilizing grant funds to meet the organization’s accessibility goals set in its accessibility plan.

After successful completion of three years in the BFASC cohort, organizations will be eligible to become a BFASC-designated organization and will be identified as such through SCAC channels (e.g., the SC Arts Directory, social media highlights, and The Hub’s Venues directory). BFASC-designated organizations will be eligible for ongoing grant funding to support their pursuit of continued accessibility excellence and will become mentors to incoming organizations in the grant program.

Funding

Year One: Up to $3,500. Years Two and Three: Up to $5,000.

Matching Requirement

Year One: No match. Years Two and Three: 1:1 match (grantee:SCAC).

Term Arts Education Project Grants

This grant supports quality arts education programs for preschool (3k- 4k) and/or K-12 students during the school term (including beyond the school day), through both traditional providers (arts organizations) and other organizations (e.g., social service, health, community, education) that utilize the arts to meet the educational, developmental, and social needs of preschool (3k-4k) and/or K-12 students. This grant supports projects occurring during the school term 2025-2026. For the purposes of this grant, a term is defined as an academic year.

Activities should:

• Expand student access to arts education opportunities; and
• Complement, augment, or advance standards-based arts instruction or arts integration aligned with school curriculum; and
• Be focused on or include significant components of quality instruction and/or experiences in the visual arts, performing arts, media arts, design arts, folk and traditional arts, and/or creative writing; and
• Address South Carolina’s 2017 College and Career Ready Standards for Visual and Performing Arts Proficiency.
• If applying for or including preschool programming, address South Carolina’s Profile of the Ready Kindergartener.

Examples of eligible in-school and after-school activities include, but are not limited to:

• Workshops
• Artist residencies
• Performances
• Exhibitions
• Acquisition of critical equipment or supplies
• Program planning
• Professional learning for educators, instructors, artists and/or administrators
• Camps (non-summer camps)

Funding

• Up to $15,000 
• Matching Requirement: 1:2 (grantee:SCAC)
• This funding category is highly competitive.

South Carolina Arts Commission

Vision

We envision a South Carolina where the arts are valued and all people benefit from a variety of creative experiences.

Mission

The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission is to promote equitable access to the arts and support the cultivation of creativity in South Carolina.

Festivals Program Grant

Purpose

To provide support for a broad range of arts activities at festivals that take place in—and have an impact on—S.C. communities, increasing opportunities for public engagement and participation in arts and culture.

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural and performing arts programs; schools and hospitals; educational, skills-training and other programs for youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and programs.

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.

Love Where You Live

What makes residents love where they live? What draws people to a place and keeps them there?

Central Carolina Community Foundation is working to make the Midlands more connected, vibrant, compassionate, and engaged. We strive for a livable, equitable and just community to live, work, play and raise a family. Connected Communities grants support this work through funding innovative ideas from nonprofit organizations that will further knit our community together. The Foundation aims to inspire organizations to engage and invest in our community and build on the community’s existing assets.

Connected Communities is a challenge grant for interesting and engaging ideas to improve the community’s quality of life and livability and increase residents’ satisfaction and community attachment. More specifically, Connected Communities grants will fund the most important elements of an attractive community as identified by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Gallup, and On the Table community surveys.

What We Fund

Connected Communities projects should increase the quality of life, community attachment and satisfaction by increasing Midlands residents’ easy access to:

• Safe places to live and work
• Healthcare facilities and services
• Quality job opportunities
• Affordable housing
• Safe, proximal, high-quality recreational areas
• Quality arts and cultural events

We Are Looking for Ideas That …

• Enhance community connections in the Midlands.
• Incorporate novel approaches to creating a vibrant, connected community.
• Raise public awareness of the area/region.
• Provide a measurable level of community involvement (volunteers or participants).
• Are new or expansion projects. Current programs from organizations will not be considered.
• Promote philanthropy across our region.

Challenge Grant

Applicants may request $10,000-$60,000.

Funds are only available in the form of challenge grants. The challenge portion must generate an additional 20% of the award from the Community Foundation (30% for year two projects and 40% for year three projects). The Foundation will not accept a transfer of internal funds or non-tangible in-kind contributions. In addition, the challenge funds must be raised after the project starts. Participation in Midlands Gives can be used to assist in meeting the match goal.

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation Vision

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation, "A Foundation for All", was established in 2002. It was begun in order to give a clear voice for those who wish to be a part of the many, worthy, forces for change in our world.

We are a foundation whose purpose is to look ahead towards the future, giving the past its due by remembering where we came from, and how much we can all accomplish together. We aim to make the critical difference on our planet by recognizing and having respect for our ever changing world. We respect all Life, the Environment, and all People, no matter who they are.

Georgia-Pacific Foundation

Established in 1958, the Georgia-Pacific Foundation sets aside resources to improve life in the communities where we operate. We’ve worked with thousands of outstanding community-based programs, service projects and disaster relief efforts, focusing our investment in four areas we believe make the most impact:

• education
• entrepreneurship
• enrichment of community
• environment

Investment Priorities

• Aligns with GP’s mission and values
• Aligns with GP’s Four Focus Areas of giving: Education, Environment, Enrichment of Community and Entrepreneurship
• Serves communities where GP has manufacturing facilities
• Creates value by contributing to and positively impacting long term well-being and sustainability of GP communities

Capacity Building Mini-Grants

Capacity Building mini-grants provide funds to nonprofits to assist with organizational and financial stability, improved governance, and growth — allowing them to carry out their missions more effectively. Our grants will fund activities that will build and maintain organization-level infrastructure and governance.

Examples of eligible projects:

• Strategic planning
• CEO/executive succession planning
• Board development
• Strategic collaboration or mergers
• Disaster planning
• Facilities/Maintenance planning
• Technology planning
• Governance, policies and procedures
• Inclusion, diversity, equity and access (IDEA) efforts
• Evaluation and data organization efforts
• Benefits and compensation assessment and planning