As of the end of Fiscal Year 2009, over $3.5 million in grants have been given back to the community since 2000 through our family of charitable funds. Projects such as:
Applications are typically available on the first business day of the months noted above. Deadlines are normally in the third week of the months indicated.
Please provide your contact information if you would like to receive emails announcing when applications become available for the various Community Impact Funds.
or deliver it to 228 N. 3rd Ave. in Sturgeon Bay. A drop box is adjacent to our front door should we be unable to accept your application in person.
Applicants will be notified of a decision generally within 6 to 8 weeks of the application deadline.
Please contact Bret Bicoy at (920) 746-1786 or if you have any questions or would like an informal assessment of your idea prior to the submission of a formal application.
The Community Foundation's
HEALTH & HUMAN NEEDS FUND
It's difficult to appreciate the incredible beauty and quality of life here in Door County if the very basic needs of your life are not being met.
The Community Foundation welcomes proposals from charities that are working to aid those who live in the shadows of our society - those whose health or human service needs are not being adequately addressed.
Education must go beyond traditional schooling and formal education. It should include informal modes of learning and extend beyond traditional settings. It must be integrated into the home and throughout the community - and education is not limited to children.
The Community Foundation believes that learning is a lifelong pursuit - and we hope to nurture its incorporation into the many aspects of life in Door County. We welcome ideas from both recognized educational institutions and non-traditional organizations.
The "arts" describe a broad range of creative activities which can stimulate thought and inspire the soul. Therein lays the purpose of the Community Foundation's Arts Fund.
The Community Foundation hopes to support creative charitable activities in Door County that use the arts to enrich our community and touch the lives of the people of Door County.
Door County is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. From our lakeshore to the wetlands, our orchards to the meadows, the open spaces and our rural roads - there is something about the beauty of this place that keeps us here or calls us back each year.
The Community Foundation welcomes applications from environmental organizations and units of government that are working to sustain and preserve our environment. However, we also encourage non-environmental charities to bring forth ideas on how they might incorporate an environmentally conscious perspective into their work.
If the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, then we can give no greater gift to a child than to nurture their ability to believe in their own potential and promise.
The Community Foundation welcomes applications from those charities who are working to ensure a brighter future for our community's children - whether it be alleviating their burdens today or helping them realize the opportunities of tomorrow.
GENERAL GUIDELINES APPLICABLE TO ALL COMMUNITY IMPACT FUNDS
Projects should serve the people of Door County or improve the quality of life in Door County.
The following do not qualify for support from the Community Impact Funds:
Unrestricted operating support
Endowments
Retiring debt or budget deficits
Loans or re-granting programs
Multi-year commitments (charities may reapply in future Grant Cycles, however)
Religious activities or advancement of a particular religious belief
Individuals or groups that do not operate as charitable organizations
While we recognize the importance of all of these activities, our Board has made a strategic decision to focus the priorities of our Community Impact Funds elsewhere.
Fundraising expenses and capital campaigns are generally discouraged during unless the applicant can articulate special circumstances which make their request particularly important.
Each charity is limited to one application per individual Community Impact Fund per year. However, charities may submit applications to all of the Community Impact Funds over the course of a year if they have ideas which meet each individual Fund's criteria.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION
The Community Foundation hopes to promote certain best practices in the charitable community. While the following are not required of any applicant, those that demonstrate any of the following will receive special consideration during the Community Foundation’s evaluation process:
Collaborative – brings different organizations together to accomplish a common goal
Innovative – offers a new or unique approach to addressing an issue
Sustainable – demonstrates an ability to continue beyond the duration of any grant awarded
Inclusive – considers the community’s diversity by engaging diverse peoples
Environmentally Conscious – incorporates practices that are environmentally friendly
County Issue – addresses an issue that is widely recognized throughout the entire County as a priority
Bus for the elderly of Northern Door County
Altrusa's Back to School Program for Kids
Senior Strength Training: YMCA
"Katies" Emergency Fund: Door County Memorial Hospital
Parish Nurse Networks: Neighbor to Neighbor
Volunteer Management Seminar: Volunteer Center of Door County
Inspiring People to Give Back to Sustain the Community We Love.
The Door County Community
Foundation granted $50,000 in 2007
to the Door County Transportation
Consortium. This was the first grant
awarded through the Community
Impact Funds at the Community
Foundation. The program aspires to
foster successful problem solving
through collaboration, shared vision,
creativity, quality planning and
action. The impact of these
collaborations will preserve, protect
and ensure Door County’s quality of
life. Proposals are evaluated and
granted based on creative thinking,
problem solving and positive change.
Because of our County’s unique
geography, transportation is an issue
that impacts all generations who call
Door County home. The Consortium’s
mission is to develop, coordinate and
implement a plan of action for an
affordable, available and accessible
transportation system. It proposes to
initiate a comprehensive coordination
and communication program that will
match those needing transportation
services with those who can provide
them.
Addie Crum and Granddaughter
Addie Crum, who lives in Ephraim
reported, “My recent surgery has
shown me how dependent I am on my
friends and family for transportation.
They are very gracious and helpful.
But I worry that I have to call them so
often. There are times it would be
more convenient to call a source that
is available in the County.”
Dick and Annie Egan, two of the
many donors to the Community
Impact Funds, want the
Community Foundation to
become a dynamic force in
responding to community needs
which have not been fully met by
more traditional approaches. Dick
and Annie hope that innovative
proposals from non-profits will
inspire second homeowners, year
round residents and transplanted
retirees to become more fully
engaged in our community,
offering gifts of their personal
knowledge, expertise and
financial resources.
"We want the Community
Impact Funds to extend an
invitation to people who have
adopted Door County and been
adopted by it. If they see some
innovative solutions proposed to
solve community problems, they
may be moved to see their role in
Door County in a different way."
Annie and Dick Egan
APPLYING FOR A GRANT
Thanks to the remarkable generosity of both seasonal and year 'round residents, the Community Foundation is able to make grants to charities serving the people of Door County through these six Community Impact Funds:
