On Tuesday, the Chaffee County Community Foundation (CCCF) announced it is recommending grant awards to 33 local nonprofit organizations with $146,686 in funding from the Spring grant cycle. That cycle opened January 8 and ran through February 9, 2024.
The average award amount was $4,445 and 72 percent of applicants were recommended for funding. These grants are made possible through a partnership with the Town of Buena Vista and the City of Salida.
“We are honored for the opportunity to partner with the City of Salida and Town of Buena Vista to increase our local nonprofit capacity through administering the grant process,” said Chaffee County Community Foundation Executive Director Betsy Dittenber. “Our local nonprofits offer critical services that make our community vibrant. Grantmaking is one way we can support their important work.”
The organizations receiving funding from the 2024 Spring grant cycle are:
Justis Theater Works
High Country Fine Arts Association
The Noteables
Salida Council for the Arts
Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition
Mini-Blessings
Neighbor-to-Neighbor Volunteers/Mountain Valley Transit
Salida Concerts Inc (Salida Aspen Concerts)
Heart of the Rockies Rampage
Alpine Orchestra, Inc.
Foodshed Alliance
Chaffee County Public Health
Colorado Farm To Table Inc.
Places to Age
The Alliance dba The Alliance Against Domestic Abuse
KHEN 106.9fm Community Radio
Chaffee County Early Childhood Council
elevateHER
Ark-Valley Humane Society
Salida Cyclones Swim Team
Chaffee County Hospitality Inc.
Buena Vista Heritage
Salida Mountain Trails
Shining Mountains Montessori School
Chaffee Housing Trust
Chaffee County Amateur Hockey Association
Conservation Legacy
Full Circle Restorative Justice
Boys & Girls Clubs of Chaffee County
Greater Arkansas River Nature Association
Achieve, Inc.
Guidestone Colorado
Ark Valley Preschool
The recipients were determined by the CCCF Grant Review Committee, which consisted of eight volunteers who contributed at least 30 hours each to review applicants and make funding recommendations.
Dittenber added, “The time, energy, and dedication of our review committee volunteers was incredible. We are always grateful for individuals who help us provide a fair and balanced community review process to steward available funding to high-impact programs and organizations.”
CCCF Grant Services
CCCFs services included managing the grant application portal, eligibility review of applications, technical support to applicants, convening an independent review committee reflecting the two communities, and facilitating the scoring, follow-up and review process. Recommendations from the volunteer review committee will be shared with the Buena Vista Trustees on March 26 and Salida City Council on April 2 for final approval. Afterwards, awardees will receive their grant agreements and funds are expected to be distributed the week of April 15.
In all of the grantmaking CCCF undertakes with its partners, it is committed to a transparent, non-biased grant process. This process is focused on high-impact grantmaking that increases the capacity of our hard-working local nonprofit organizations.
The process includes sharing the grant application questions and evaluation rubric with the applicants while they are developing their applications, incorporating follow-up interviews to clarify aspects of the application, and a combined scoring and discussion approach to ensure good projects, not just good grant writers, are recommended for funding. In recognizing that Chaffee County is a very interconnected community, a recusal process is used to ensure there are no conflicts of interest in the review process.
The Spring Municipal Grants have become increasingly competitive as more applicants apply each year for a limited amount of funds. As part of its goal to increase nonprofit capacity, CCCF offers grant writing support to nonprofit organizations.
“It is encouraging to see the caliber of grant applications increasing year to year,” adds Dittenber. “While it makes for a more competitive process, we are glad our efforts to support local organizations in their grant writing is setting them up for success. I encourage those who want to increase their grant writing knowledge to attend the Community Summit.”
The Community Summit will be taking place on April 30 at the Chaffee Fairgrounds. The full-day educational opportunity is designed to help nonprofit leaders build the skills needed for success and collaborate across the sector. Registration for the event is open. In addition to the Summit, CCCF also offers regular workshops, review of grant narratives on request, and capacity support for nonprofit organizations via consultation.
Founded in 2018, Chaffee County Community Foundation is a public, nonprofit organization established to promote and facilitate philanthropy in Chaffee County, created by and for the people in that area. It acts as a catalyst to inspire positive change through the power of philanthropy to enrich the lives of all people within the county.
The CCCF goals are to make informed philanthropy accessible to all, build local nonprofit capacity, and enable community conversations. Since 2018, CCCF has actively supported nonprofit organizations for the betterment of Chaffee County and the local communities. To learn more, visit www.chaffeecommunity.org
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