Community Grant Program
Important News for OCF Community Grants Program Fall 2020
The Community Grant Program, the state’s largest responsive grant making program, is temporarily shifting available resources to Oregon Community Recovery Fund.
Oregon’s nonprofits urgently need general operating support to help them respond, adapt and recover from the COVID-19 crisis. OCF is reducing funding barriers by streamlining requests through a simple application and rapid turnaround time in distributing donated dollars.
OCF’s newly launched Oregon Community Recovery Grant Program rapidly deploys resources to community-based organizations providing critical services and assistance that keeps people housed, fed, healthy, and safe. Grants are awarded on a rolling basis, reinforcing our commitment to responsive grantmaking in ways that best serve the community at this time.
We must prioritize our resources to help organizations and communities most deeply impacted by this crisis. For fall 2020, resources that had previously supported our long-standing Community Grant Program will be redirected to the Oregon Community Recovery Fund. We recognize this is short notice for nonprofits who have begun planning fall Community Grant requests. We don’t take this decision lightly and understand that this may result in shifts to plans and activities. We also know this change may not necessarily meet the needs of each organization in coming months.
The Community Grants Program will continue to accept and review applications from organizations who had previously been invited to reapply in the fall and are in the middle of OCF-supported projects. Those organizations will be contacted directly with instructions for reapplying.
OCF is sharing applications from the Oregon Community Recovery Fund with donors and foundation partners who are looking for opportunities to support the community during this crisis.
OCF remains accessible, responsive and engaged with communities through our new response efforts. We will continue to weigh community needs and strengthen our processes as we realign responsive grantmaking in 2021. Please stay tuned to our grants page and social media channels for any and all updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
You may apply for a grant by visiting OCF’s website and submitting an application through OCF’s online portal. Get the details and apply here.
We recognize that some organizations may be in a position to strengthen or expand their efforts to better serve the community through this crisis climate and beyond. We are accepting requests for project-specific work through the Oregon Community Recovery Fund; however, those requests should represent efforts that are directly in response to the new COVID-19 environment. Please note: if your organization has previously applied for OCRF funding this spring, we ask that you do not submit another application at this time.
Nonprofits are encouraged to work directly with donors who have Donor Advised Funds at OCF. If you have submitted a grant to the Oregon Community Recovery Fund, your application is accessible to donors and foundations across the state.
Organizations who have been invited to reapply to the Community Grants Program in the fall 2020 cycle will have the opportunity to modify their request, although OCF cannot accept adjustments to the specific dollar amount for which organizations were invited to reapply. Should organizations wish to modify or broaden their request, the application should state clearly how your organization could continue to generally meet the purposes of the original grant awarded. Decisions on fall renewal applications will be made in early November 2020, as is the standard timeline for Community Grants.
Visit the Community Grant Program page.
Please reach out to the program officer in your region:
- Central Oregon – Cheryl Puddy (cpuddy@oregoncf.org)
- Eastern Oregon – Cheryl Puddy (cpuddy@oregoncf.org)
- Metro Region – Melissa Hansen (mhansen@oregoncf.org) or Eva Miller (emiller@oregoncf.org)
- North Coast – Eva Miller (emiller@oregoncf.org)
- Northern Willamette Valley – Melissa Hansen (mhansen@oregoncf.org)
- South Coast – John Moriarty (jmoriarty@oregoncf.org)
- Southern Willamette Valley – John Moriarty (jmoriarty@oregoncf.org)
- Southern Oregon – Amy Drake (adrake@oregoncf.org)