As with any of the Foundation’s grant programs, applicants must be tax-exempt charitable organizations designated under section 501c3 by the IRS.

Applicants must be located in Erie County or serve a substantial population within Erie County.

Applicants are permitted to receive funding once per grant program in a 12-month period.

If an applicant previously was awarded a grant, all funds must be expensed, and reporting requirements met before receiving a new grant for the same grant program.

Organizations must either be based in Erie County or demonstrate that they are serving a substantial population within Erie County to be eligible for funding. If your organization is not currently serving individuals in Erie County, we recommend that you do not apply at this time.

If your organization is interested in expanding services into Erie County, it is important to first establish relationships with local partners, demonstrate a clear understanding of the target population, and show how your organization fits into and complements the existing service ecosystem. Requests should clearly identify a service gap your organization is positioned to address and include evidence of local engagement and need.

First, check the eligibility requirements to make sure your organization qualifies. Next, please click on the scheduling link in the Application Process section to schedule a pre-application meeting. Please note that the link is only available during the open applicaiton period.

The Helping Today application is accessible only with a personalized link, which will be provided after the meeting. If you want to preview a copy of the application, a PDF version is available. However, only applications submitted through the online grant portal will be considered.

Helping Today intentionally casts a wide net. The program offers a great deal of flexibility in how funds are used. Listed below are broad project categories:

• Capital Purchases
• Facility Improvements (ECF cannot fund improvements to the physical structure of a property not owned by the applicant.
• Technology (requires 1:1 match)
• Community Awareness/Branding/Marketing
• Planning
• Program Support
• Vehicle Purchase (requires 1:1 match)

In some cases, operational expenses or personnel costs can be funded through a Helping Today grant. Because Helping Today is a 12-month grant program, recurring expenses, such as rent, utilities or personnel costs (existing or new) the applicant must be able to explain how these expenses will be absorbed after the grant period.

Yes, funding is not awarded for organizational start-up costs or seed money, fundraising events, endowment campaigns, religious activities, deficit reduction, property/real estate acquisition, physical improvements on property not owned by the nonprofit, or reimbursement for expenses already incurred.

No need to worry! The pre-application meetings are very informal. They are a way for our Community Impact Team to better understand your project and gather important context around your organization’s current work in the community. It is also an opportunity for applicants to ask questions about the application, the decision process and anything else that comes to mind.

Please click on the link provided in the Application Process section above to schedule a pre-applicaiton meeting. If no link is currently visible, either all meeting slots have been scheduled for the current cycle or we are currently in the application review process and will begin scheduling meetings for the next cycle of Helping Today soon. If you have any scheduling questions, please contact Kelly Patterson, Community Impact Associate at kpatterson@eriecommunityfoundation.org.

Helping Today does not provide seed funding for start-ups. If you haven’t already, please consider a membership with The Nonprofit Partnership. The team at NPP offers tremendous educational trainings, workshops, networking events and a plethera of online resources to help your new nonprofit.

The maximum requested amount is $50,000.  

No, an organization can only submit one Helping Today application in a cycle.

Yes. It is not uncommon that there may be multiple grant opportunities accepting applications at the same time.

If awarded a Helping Today grant, all funds must be expensed within 12 months of receiving the grant check.

In cases where your organization is not a 501(c)(3) or other federally-designated nonprofit, you will need to have a fiscal sponsor apply on your behalf. The fiscal sponsor must be a local, federally-designated nonprofit and will be responsible for managing the financial and reporting requirements of receiving a grant. Furthermore, prior to scheduling a meeting with our team, you, as the applicant, will be asked to submit a letter of agreement or MOU from the fiscal sponsor organization that includes:

• How the sponsor’s mission aligns with the applicant’s mission and with the proposed project;
• Confirms their agreement to receive, manage, and report on all grant funds in accordance with Foundation requirements; and
• Indicates whether the sponsor will receive any direct financial benefit from the grant funds.

No, Helping Today grants are only 12 months in duration.

Unfortunately, we cannot grant an extension for the application submission. Our grant system is designed with strict submission deadlines, and reopening applications after the deadline is not feasible due to system limitations. We recommend submitting all necessary materials by the designated deadline to ensure consideration.

If you apply and are not awarded funding, you may apply again as soon as the next quarter. If you are awarded a grant, you must wait at least 12 months to apply to Helping Today again. Additionally, you must indicate that all monies from the previous award have been spent and completed all reporting requirements.

Yes! Other funding programs, such as Shaping Tomorrow, Urgent, affinity funds, etc. all have separate budgets. Therefore, receiving funds from one program does not prevent you from applying and receiving funds from another program.

Once your application is submitted, the Community Impact Team will review it and then consult with our Community Advisory Committee to make funding recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. All final funding decisions are made at the Board’s quarterly meetings.  On average, the time between submission and decision is roughly two months.

Congratulations! Once you’ve been notified of the award, two things will happen. First, to be more data-driven in analyzing our grantmaking impact, our team will hold a brief discussion with each grantee regarding the outputs for the grant period. Second, the grantee will review, sign and return the funding agreement, which outlines basic terms and conditions for the award. Once these tasks have been completed, the Foundation’s accounting team can begin processing the grant check.

Yes, there is an opportunity to discuss your application with a member of the Community Impact Team. Helping Today is an extremely competitive grant program, with limited resources and unfortunately, many good projects are not able to be funded. If there are specific items that could potentially strengthen your application, we will gladly share that feedback with you. Applicants that are declined have the option to reapply in the following quarter.

At the end of the 12-month grant period, each grantee will schedule a time for a post-grant conversation. An email reminder will be sent out several weeks prior to the end of the grant period, along with the oppotunity to schedule the wrap-up meeting.

In the meeting, we will focus on the impact of the grant using the outputs identified in our previous conversations at the beginning of the grant period. We will also ask that you complete a simple final budget report. Finally, our conversation will touch on any challenges faced, learning opportunities and potential long-term outcomes of this project. Our staff will provide you with all necessary forms and information ahead of the final meeting.

Please consult GoApply’s User Guide on our website. Or contact the Community Impact Team  at CI@ErieCommunityFoundation.org

While we greatly value the programs we support, it’s important to note that our grantmaking strategy emphasizes broad community impact and the distribution of resources across a range of initiatives. As a result, we are not able to guarantee ongoing or annual funding for the same programs year after year.

We encourage grantees to develop sustainable funding plans that do not rely solely on our grants. Our goal is to support initiatives that have the potential to become self-sustaining over time or to diversify their funding sources.

If you need to request an extension for your project, please email Rachel Cacchione, Director of Community Impact.