Each year the Albuquerque Community Foundation makes grants to organizations providing services benefiting people in the Greater Albuquerque Metropolitan Area through a competitive process. The Foundation’s Competitive Grant Program is comprised of 71 endowment funds. In order to respond to the community’s needs distributions from the funds are pooled and aligned directly with the Foundation’s fields-of-interest.
Common Grant Theme: Access to Economic Opportunities
The Foundation believes our ongoing work in grantmaking, asset development and community leadership must be aimed at solving basic needs and challenges rather than treating their symptoms over and over again.
As a result, in 2016, the Foundation identified a common theme throughout all fields-of-interest in the Competitive Grant Program. The theme, providing access to economic opportunities, is the result of 12 months of research, community convenings and open communication with donors and nonprofit partners. Like any major city, Albuquerque faces many challenging issues. The root cause of many of these issues is the lack of economic opportunities. By integrating this theme into our grantmaking, the Foundation aims to move the needle towards prosperity for more Albuquerque residents.
What does this mean?
Access to economic opportunities could apply (but is not limited) to the following areas:
I. Providing and supporting economic opportunities for individuals living in the four-county Greater Albuquerque Metropolitan Area. This may include life-skills and career development programs; educational opportunities; and/or social services programs that create self-sustainable lifestyles for at-risk populations.
II. Providing and supporting opportunities that will bolster the economic growth of Albuquerque. This may include strengthening access to art and culture; supporting preventative health and human services programs to reduce homelessness and physical health needs; increasing workforce development and job creation to bolster economic growth; and/or ensuring Albuquerque’s proximity to the natural environment remains a preserved, protected and valued aspect of the city.
This two-pronged approach to providing access to economic opportunities allows the Foundation to meet the needs of individuals and support their efforts to achieve independent economic stability, while also supporting our city’s collective economic growth and development.
Application Overview:
In this section you will find information to help you decide if we are the appropriate source to consider for funding your program. There are many sources of funding for nonprofit organizations, so we may not be the one that will best fit your needs. Organizations seeking grants from the Competitive Grant Program should consider the fit between their mission and activities and the Foundation’s guidelines.
Unfortunately, we receive far more grant proposals than we can fund. Through collaborations with our donors having Advised Funds and with Giving Circles we estimate having about $350,000 available in 2020 to fund the proposals received through the Competitive Grant Program. By submitting a proposal to the Competitive Grant Program, you give the Foundation permission to share it with other interested funders (if any), both individuals and foundations as well as to be included in various lists of applicant organizations on the Foundation’s website and other media.
• We aim to fund 50% of the grant requests received
• The average grant from the Competitive Grant Program in 2019 was $10,000
• Nonprofit organizations are invited to submit funding requests once each calendar year
• 2019 grantees must be current with any and all grant reporting requirements to be considered in 2020
Proposals will not be considered from applicants who are not in compliance with all state and federal regulations. The Foundation will review all documents submitted, as well as every applicant's report from:
• Guidestar
• Office of the Secretary of State, Business Services Division
• AG NM COROS
Proposals will be reviewed by the Foundation Board of Trustee members with assistance from volunteers broadly representing the community. Committee members use their expertise and knowledge of the community to contribute to the overall assessment of each proposal based on the degree to which it fits the overall guidelines and priorities. The review committees make recommendations for funding to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees who have the responsibility to approve final grant decisions.