Grant Programs at the Wichita Community Foundation

The Wichita Community Foundation supports a wide variety of charitable purposes and responds to the needs of the Wichita/Sedgwick County area. Grants are made within the areas of Arts/Humanities, Environment/Conservation, Health, Education and Human & Social Services.

Where our grant dollars come from:

Prospective donors may choose to make a gift free of restrictions or guidelines to the Wichita Community Foundation endowment fund. These unrestricted gifts, welcome in any amount, are pooled together to form the corpus of the Unrestricted Grant Fund. If you are thinking about making an unrestricted gift, consider the lasting impact of such a generous act. As a direct result of increased grant dollars, the Foundation is able to do more in the community over time, creating a maximum impact for your charitable dollar.

Throughout its twenty year history, the Wichita Community Foundation has received generous, unrestricted donations from donors, enabling the Foundation to create an endowed Unrestricted Grant Fund.

Some of our generous major donors who understand the importance of unrestricted funds and who have made the WCF grant program possible are:

• Bank IV Charitable Trust
• The Walter H. & Olive Ann Beech Memorial Fund
• The S.M. & Laura Brown Charitable Trust
• The Elizabeth Hamilton & Edward A. Caredis Fund
• Fidelity Savings Association
• Funds for the Future of Wichita - Established by Dick DeVore
• The WCF Memory/Honor Fund
• The Philanthropic Leadership Fund of Mary Lynn Oliver
• A Scott & Carol Ritchie
• The Dale V. Reed Fund
• The Carl S. and Mildred K. Rohwer Fund
• The Robert & Alice Sauer Charitable Trust Fund
• The Donna J. Schmid Fund
• Kenneth Wagnon
• Lawrence & H. Lucile Wulfmeyer

Income is generated by this fund each year and enables the Foundation to give grants in the Wichita community on a continuing basis. In 2008 - 2009, WCF expects to award $554,000 from the unrestricted endowment fund. For a listing of recent grants, click here.

These grant dollars are divided between Traditional Grants and Community Venture Grants in order to make the Foundation flexible and responsive in its grant making.

Traditional Grants:

This year, the Foundation will award $250,000.00 of its available grant dollars to the Traditional grants program. The Foundation will begin accepting grant proposals under this new program on July 1, 2008.

The Traditional grants program awards up to $25,000 per qualifying charitable organization. Decisions are based on the criteria stated below. All grant requests are reviewed and grant awards are determined by the Wichita Community Foundation (WCF) Grants Committee. This committee is comprised of past and present WCF board members, each of whom is extremely knowledgeable about the Wichita/Sedgwick County community and is involved in charitable activities.

Grants can be submitted at any time throughout the year. The Grants Committee meets quarterly and as a general rule, grant seekers will receive a response within 90 days of submitting a grant.

If you are requesting grant funds, please follow these simple guidelines:

The Foundation can only help organizations serving the Wichita/Sedgwick County area, so please check with your local funding sources if you are not in our defined area.

We favor programs and organizations that avoid duplication of already existing services. Consider submitting a joint grant request with other agencies who share your mission and ideas. We realize each group has its own niche in the community, but in some cases working together can create better outcomes for everyone.

The Foundation continually seeks to address or identify emerging community needs. Grant requests that offer creative or practical approaches to community problems are highly encouraged.

Like many Foundations, WCF encourages organizations that operate within their budgets, leverage other funding when possible, and can document measurable results on grant projects. Typically these organizations have a well developed sense of what they want to achieve, demonstrate early success and have a realistic plan to grow.

When drafting your request, please remember that we will not give grants for lobbying efforts, to individuals, or for unnecessary duplication of existing services.

WHAT DO WE FUND THROUGH TRADITIONAL GRANTS?

In general, the Community Foundation favors proposals that incorporate some or all the following elements:

• Programs serving the Wichita/Sedgwick County area
• Programs that avoid duplication of already existing services
• Programs that collaborate with or facilitate collaboration among non-profit organizations
• Programs that suggest creative and practical approaches to community problems
• Organizations with fiscal soundness
• Organizations that leverage other funding when available
• Programs that exhibit measurable results
• Organizations that demonstrate present and future sustainability
• Programs that address prevention as well as remediation

WHAT DO WE DECLINE THROUGH TRADITIONAL GRANTS?

• Direct lobbying or influencing of elections
• Funding individuals
• Unnecessary duplication of existing services
• Support of religious organizations for religious purposes. Faith-based organizations are encouraged to apply for project funding that extend the arts, education, environmental causes, health and human and social services into the community.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR A TRADITIONAL GRANT?

Applications are welcome from tax-exempt, not-for-profit organizations certified by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(3). Grant requests up to $25,000 will be considered. WCF does not expect to make recurring grants for the same program.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A TRADITIONAL GRANT

Prospective applicants are encouraged to call the Program Officer at WCF (316-264-4880) to discuss the appropriateness of their grant request or to submit a short letter outlining the grant idea before beginning the application process. The staff is always available to answer questions regarding the application form and how it is to be completed.

The application should be no longer than 2 pages (answering questions #2 and #3), with 11 point type. Enclose the proposal in leaf form only (no covers). Include one original with one copy of the attachments (see Attachments), and 7 collated copies without attachments, on holed paper, not stapled, of the following items numbered 1-5:

1. Application Cover Page (Download form)(separate page)
2. How the funds will be used, why they are needed and how a grant will help.
3. Description of your organization.
4. Project Budget (Put this on a separate page)
5. Board of Directors List (Put this on a separate page)