Social Enterprise

The Columbus Foundation’s Fund for Financial Innovation supports transformative and pioneering ideas that demonstrate cost savings or increased earnings through social enterprise. Social enterprises are revenue-generating businesses with two goals: to achieve social outcomes and to earn revenue.

Competitive Applications

• Applications indicating a readiness to pursue a project will be most competitive. 

Non-competitive Applications

• Applications addressing short-term cash flow needs or supporting core operating costs.
• Applications from hospitals, colleges, and universities.
• Applications designed to develop ideas.

Grant Application Process

• Submit a description of 250 words or less via email describing your organization’s proposed project including:
  • Timeline,
  • List of other partner organizations, if any,
  • How the project reinforces the core mission and values of your organization(s),
  • How the proposed project is innovative, transformative, or pioneering,
  • Plans for sustaining your project beyond the grant period, and
  • How your project addresses social enterprise.
• Project descriptions are accepted at any time, there is no specific deadline.
• Projects that best fit the Foundation’s grantmaking interests and are strongly competitive will receive an application.

Requirements

Applicants must have:

• A primary impact in Franklin County.
• All applicants will be expected to provide annual audits for the past three years as attachments to the online application; please refer to the Foundation’s Audit Requirement and Exemption Request Form.

Applicants can submit and/or be a part of multiple applications.

Staff Contacts

For questions, contact Emily Savors.