It’s hard to dispute that this year’s events have been ground shaking.
Leading the way were COVID-19 and the cries for racial justice that moved so many to act, including the members of Impact100 South Jersey. Members reached out looking for ways we could collectively make a meaningful difference in an increasingly complicated world.
Every year after the Annual Meeting, the Impact100 South Jersey Leadership Council evaluates our entire program including the Grant process. As a result, we determined the Grants process was the perfect place to start to generate change. With input from some of our members, many of whom are senior non-profit leaders, and from some of our grantees, we reassessed our grant eligibility and guidelines for the coming grant year.
“We wanted to make sure that organizations with services and programs that are vital to strong, equitable communities are a priority for our future grantmaking,” said Grants Chair Kim Moon. “That led to creating a new Focus Area that we feel is far-reaching in scope and one where applicants can apply a broad definition to how they achieve their community-strengthening objectives.”
Applications for the Community Health and Well-being Focus Area will be for transformative projects designed to meet the basic needs of community members or provide significant opportunities to improve physically or mentally. “Our goal is to increase the number of organizations we are able to fund in a way that will increase their ability to serve more people and with better tools,” Moon added.
Moon says that the Impact100 South Jersey Women, Children and Family and Education Focus Areas will remain for 2021. “We will also continue to require grant applicants be located in or serve Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Cumberland Counties, and our annual operating budget range for nonprofits remains $300,000 to $5 million.”
More details about the 2021 grant process and deadlines will be available on our website in the coming weeks.