Grants

Resilience Fund

The Resilience Fund Grants Cycle is Closed

Resilience Fund Grants Purpose and Overview

The Resilience Fund was established in late 2020 to, “further address the impacts of COVID-19, bolster our region’s long-term efforts to rebuild, respond to emerging opportunities, help nonprofits adapt, and support creative new approaches and partnerships that would ideally benefit our communities well beyond recovery.”

To uphold this purpose in 2022, we are committed to approaching Resilience Fund grants with a flexible and open mindset. We understand that some in our communities continue to face challenges caused by COVID-19, while many more are addressing needs and challenges that existed well before 2020 but were amplified or made worse through the pandemic. Others face the challenge of continuing to strengthen our communities in a pandemic-changed social and economic environment still undergoing frequent and unpredictable shifts. Efforts to recover and rebuild must share space with the reality that COVID-19 is still with us.

Recognizing this, the Resilience Fund will continue to be guided by a grantmaking framework that balances the need to learn and adapt with the need to act. We have made the full grantmaking framework available HERE, both for transparency and to invite community feedback. If you have questions, comments, or would like individual support, please fill our our contact form or give us a call at 360.705.3340.

Program Priorities

In reviewing grant proposals, the Community Foundation considered the following elements to prioritize limited funding:

Geography: We will consider proposals that fill crucial needs in our area (Thurston, Mason, and Lewis counties) and demonstrate a strong connection to our local communities. We will prioritize proposals from organizations headquartered here.

Equity: We will seek to ensure that funds are invested as equitably as possible by prioritizing the needs of underserved populations, communities, and geographic areas; and/or prioritizing people and organizations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

Impact: We will prioritize applications that bolster community strength and long-term local resilience, including applications that address one or more of the following:

  • Provide crucial services or meet urgent needs  
  • Fill gaps in COVID-recovery left out of the public sector response
  • Support multiple, deep, or interconnected local needs
  • Expand services or improve capacity to better impact the community
  • Address needs related to our current insights (including support for children & youth, equity & inclusion, housing, mental health, technology, social connection & civic engagement—more details on these insights in our framework HERE).

Innovation and Collaboration: We will seek to fund organizations that are adapting, innovating, and responding to changes in our social and economic environment; working with other organizations to do more than they can do alone; or making other changes to better serve the long-term health, well-being, and resilience of our communities.

Accountability: We will prioritize services that are designed appropriately for the communities they serve and organizations that engage meaningfully with the perspectives of those most affected by the issues they seek to address.

Due Dates & Timeline

Applications have been accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed on the following timeline:

Eligibility

The Community Foundation of South Puget Sound generally makes grants to 501(c)(3) “public charities” that serve Thurston, Mason, and Lewis County residents.

Not Eligible:

  • Organizations that discriminate based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, presence of a disability, age, status as a veteran, national origin, or any other protected classes.
  • Organizations with fewer than three board members
  • Individuals
  • Partisan political activities
  • Religious organizations when funds would be used in whole or in part to further the organization’s religious purposes
  • National and statewide organizations that cannot demonstrate a strong, local, community-based presence in Thurston, Mason, or Lewis County
  • Re-granting organizations, service clubs, and service club foundations
  • Schools, school districts, PTOs, preschools, daycare centers, camps, clubs, and sports teams/clubs

Exceptions: 

We will accept applications from organizations with a regional or statewide geography if the organization acknowledges that 100% of grant funds will be used toward filling a crucial and otherwise unmet need in Thurston, Mason, and/or Lewis County. We will accept applications for programs run by religious organizations if the program meets a crucial and otherwise unmet need in the community and does not require religious participation. Organizations that offer childcare, including camps, whose applications demonstrate robust or inclusive programming or service to underserved populations may apply. If your organization or group is not a 501(c)(3), you must secure a fiscal sponsor or obtain prior approval from our team. For further assistance with this matter, please fill our our contact form or give us a call at 360.705.3340.

Organizations that qualify for one of these exceptions must meet all other 2022 Resilience Fund requirements.

Nondiscrimination Policy

The Community Foundation of South Puget Sound does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, age, status as a veteran, national origin, or any other protected classes.  

Grant applicants must hold similar standards in the provision of services.

Most Grants Will Be Unrestricted

Rather than being tied to a specific project or program, unrestricted grants allow grantees to use funds flexibly as they see fit to fulfill their mission and reach their goals. This could mean funding a program or project, or it could mean funding salaries and overhead, technology, or a marketing campaign. It may even mean funding a change of plans, especially in times of uncertainty— something 2020-2021 have demonstrated so well.

Organizations serving different populations and addressing diverse needs and opportunities will vary in how they build resilience. For some, resilience might mean a small training or technical assistance. For others it may look like an ambitious community initiative or collaboration.

We kept the application simple but left the funding range broad ($2,500-$30,000) to accommodate a wide variety of requests. However, for larger requests ($10,000 or more), we may follow up to request more narrative detail or additional budget information so that our evaluation committee can understand the scope of your plans or the reasoning behind that deeper investment. If you are unsure about the amount or have any questions as you make your request, please contact our staff. We are here to support however we can.  

Contact Us

We welcome and encourage questions and feedback regarding the Resilience Fund and other programs. To discuss community needs and opportunities, ask questions about our grantmaking framework, or anything else please fill our our contact form or give us a call at 360.705.3340.

Resilience Fund

Thank You To Our Nonprofits

When the pandemic first swept through the South Puget Sound, no one knew how to best support our communities. But we all met that moment of uncertainty together and rallied behind our people and this place we call home.

Thank you to those who love and care for our communities—we couldn't have done this without you! Your generosity allowed our region to increase its resilience throughout the pandemic.

Thank you to the many local nonprofits who, through various closures, loss of personnel, and increasing community needs, continued to forge a path forward as they embraced innovations and partnerships ensuring vibrant and healthy futures for our communities.

At first glance, the 55 grantees of the Resilience Fund might seem like an assortment of organizations working in various focus areas. However, all together they demonstrate the many facets of how people in our region worked together to create stronger and more resilient Thurston, Mason, and Lewis County communities.

Click here to learn more and read our final Resilience Fund Announcement.

Resilience Fund Grantees

A Gift for Special Children

Arbutus Folk School

Best Dental Help

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington

Bounty for Families

Boys & Girls Club of Chehalis

Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound

Build a Bus Home

Catholic Community Services of Western Washington

Child Care Action Council

CIELO

Community Lifeline

Community Youth Services

Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County

Family Education and Support Services

Garden-Raised Bounty

Great Bend Center for Music

Habitat for Humanity of Mason County

Harlequin Productions

Homes First

Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group

Humane Society of Mason County

Interfaith Works Emergency Overnight Shelter

Kitten Rescue of Mason County

Lewis County Autism Coalition

Lewis County Gospel Mission

Mason County Senior Activities Association

Nature Nurture Farmacy

North Mason Firefighters Association

North Mason Resources

Olympia Family Theater

Onalaska Farm Sanctuary

PacMtn

Partners in Prevention Education

Pierce County AIDS Foundation (PCAF)

Rebuilding Together Thurston County

Rochester Organization of Families

SafePlace

Scholar Fund

Shelton Family Center

Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Holy Family Conference

Sound Learning

South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity

South Sound Estuary Association

South Sound Parent to Parent

South Sound Reading Foundation

South Sound YMCA

Tenino Community Service Center

The Bridge Music Project

The Crisis Clinic of Thurston and Mason Counties

The Moore Wright Group

The Saints' Pantry Food Bank

TOGETHER!

Turning Pointe Survivor Advocacy Center

Washington Center for the Performing Arts

Resilience Fund

Reporting

The Community Foundation aspires to keep the community and our donors informed about the benefits generated from the grants we make.  Grantee reports help tell the stories of our communities.  The Grant Report is used to capture information to help us communicate your work to the larger community.

Resilience Fund grant recipients will be required to submit a grant report, typically within 8 months of receiving funds, unless other arrangements (such as a site visit or report extension) are made. You will receive an email notification with reporting instructions approximately 6 months after your funding is awarded.

Please fill our our contact form or give us a call at 360.705.3340 for assistance with Resilience Fund grant reports.

"At any age, we all have assets to share. Small amounts make a difference. And we really are all in this together.”

- Janet, Community Foundation Fund Holder

“Philanthropy is an important piece of helping to sustain a thriving, healthy community... the dividends are a healthier, vibrant community.”

- Give Local Donor

"I know I can pick up the phone and call the CommunityFoundation and they'll take our call... I've been incredibly impressed with the generosity and sense of togetherness I've encountered in the South Sound. This community is strong because of that and only because of that."

- Brian, Local Nonprofit Leader