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Chaffee County Community Foundation (CCCF), in partnership with the Town of Buena Vista and the City of Salida will open the 2021 Municipal Community Grants on January 19. Salida and Buena Vista have each dedicated $40,000 to the community grant program which brings the program budget to $80,000 – a 30 percent increase from the 2020 community grants. The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. Thursday, February 18. Reviews, site visits and award decisions are expected to be completed by March 19.

CCCF has assembled a Grant Review Committee of 11 members that includes both Buena Vista and Salida community members, CCCF board members and representatives from the two elected municipalities. The application process is as follows:

  1. Initial staff screening to ensure application completeness, Colorado Secretary of State Good Standing, and a review of financials.
  2. Individual committee member’s review and ranking.
  3. Applications which receive 50% combined average rank or higher will be contacted for a site visit to discuss any questions that come up during the reviews. These site visits will be done virtually.
  4. Review committee convenes a final work session to aggregate site visit information, rankings, and other considerations (such as program budget) to make final funding recommendations and rationale.
  5. Grant recommendations will be submitted to the two municipal governing bodies for approval/modification.
  6. All approved grants, upon the completion of a grant agreement, will receive funds via direct deposit.

Any 501(c)(3) organization in good standing, serving (either or both) Salida and Buena Vista residents are eligible to apply. While there is no maximum award, grant awards average $2,800 for funds for programs serving a single municipality.

Applications that have the following factors will be most competitive in rankings:

  • Clearly defined and measurable outcomes, outputs, and impacts for proposed programs and projects
  • Projects, programs, or organizations that serve basic needs (food, housing, health)
  • Projects, programs, or organizations that serve populations with special needs

Any organization that received funding from either municipality in 2020 is required to submit a Colorado Common Grant Report prior to, or with their 2021 application.

Click here to apply for the grant.