Fund for Financial Innovation
The Challenge
- The current economic climate has significant implications for nonprofit organizations and those served by them.
- Many organizations, faced by declining revenues and increasing need, are struggling with how best to respond to these unprecedented circumstances.
Our Response
The Columbus Foundation has created a time-limited funding opportunity—The Fund for Financial Innovation. This grantmaking program will support transformative and pioneering ideas that demonstrate social innovation, social enterprise, and/or partnerships or mergers.
Competitive Applications
- Applications addressing the following will be most competitive:
- social innovation and social enterprise: new strategies, concepts, ideas that meet social needs and extend and strengthen civil society including mission-driven activities that apply market-based strategies to achieve a social purpose
- partnership, collaboration, and affiliation: mutual cooperation and responsibility, working together, being closely connected, shared decision making
- merger: union of two or more commercial interests
- reconsidering basic organizational strategies and operations
- developing new business models and related processes and products
- Applications indicating a readiness to pursue a project will be most competitive. This funding opportunity is not designed to develop ideas.
- Applications addressing short-term cash flow needs or supporting core operating costs will not be competitive.
- Applications from hospitals, colleges, universities, and government entities are not likely to be considered competitive.
Eligible Applications
- Applicants must have:
- A primary impact in Franklin County;
- Three or more years of operation since receiving 501(c)(3) status;
- A complete PowerPhilanthropy portrait by the full application deadline (Note: while the applicant must have a PowerPhilanthropy portrait, it is not required of all project partner organizations.)
Guidelines, Process, and Timeline
- Applicants can submit and/or be a part of multiple applications.
- Letters of Intent must be submitted by Friday, February 3, 2012 via e-mail to submit@columbusfoundation.org.
- Applicants selected to move to the full application stage will be notified on or near Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Full applications must be submitted by Monday, March 12, 2012 via e-mail to submit@columbusfoundation.org.
- Grant awards will be announced in May 2012.
- Awards are expected to range from $20,000 to $50,000.
Staff Contact
Questions should be sent via email to Emily Savors or Lisa Courtice .
