Nicholas County Community Foundation
Community Catalyst Fund Application
The Community Catalyst Fund is a new fund with the Nicholas County Community Foundation (NCCF), where organizations will compete for an immediate impact grant of up to $5,000. The NCCF will award up to $10,000 to 3 organizations, $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third place at the 2017 Pitch Night on March 30.
The Community Catalyst Fund will accept grant applications from the arts and culture, education, health and human services, recreation, and youth and family servicesnonprofit sectors working in Nicholas County. These projects or programs should be ones that can begin immediately, make an immediate difference in the overall quality of life for the population served and be scalable in the event that less than the request is awarded.
Eligibility Criteria
The Community Catalyst Fund will review applications from organizations seeking programmatic support,one time projects/programs, seed money for pilot projects or for responding to unmet or emerging community needs, projects that reach a broad segment of the community, projects not adequately served by existing community resources, expansion of existing programs. Building projects, capital projects or operational support requests will not be considered.
These organizations must be:
-501(c)3 designated agencies, government, religious, or educational organizations, or those fiscally sponsored by nonprofit agencies.
-Organizations working in Nicholas County.
-Organizations whose proposed projects are within defined parameters.
-Any applications with a partner organization must have a letter agreeing to the terms by the board (or school principal) of the partner organization.
How to Apply
The Foundation requires an application addressed to the membership of the Community Catalyst Fund. The application deadline is Wednesday, February 15th, 2017. Complete applications must be no more than 2 pages, applications can be emailed to (preferred method) or mailed to NCCF, PO Box 561, Summersville, WV 26651
On no more than 1 page, please describe your proposed project and:
-Identify the specific activities that will take place during the project, who will be involved (staff, key partners, ect.), how the project will be implemented, and the timeline for its completion. Tip: think “who, what, when, where, how, why?”
-List up to three priority results you hope to achieve through your project and your plans for tracking and measuring your progress against those results.
-Keep in mind, this is a fun way to grant money, we are looking for innovative and creative projects that will appeal to a wide audience.
After reviewing all applicantions, 5 pre-screened applicants will be selected to present a 3 minute pitch for the Community Catalyst Fund membership at the Pitch Night event followed by a 2 minute follow up for questions from the membership. These pitches can and should be creative while adequately describing your project for the membership. At the conclusion of all 5 pitches the Community Catalyst Fund membership will cast their vote for the top 3 pitches, the voting will determine the tiered award of $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place, $2,000 for third place.