2022 Grant Application Details

We’re opening this round of grants to organizations to whom we’ve previously made grants in any grant application round and new grant seekers, whether news organizations or community organizations.

These grants will be general operating support for non-profit organizations and funding for projects with a charitable purpose for for-profit entities who have appropriate fiscal sponsorship.

We will prioritize funding organizations and projects that reflect:

• Equitable ways of working with and for people and communities through listening, learning, direct engagement, and transformative approaches to serving news and information needs

• Team diversity

• Service of marginalized people, communities, and geographies, including North Carolina’s media deserts, low-wealth communities, communities of color, rural communities, Indigenous communities, and communities disconnected by the digital divide, language, and literacy

• Little-d democratic goals, including free and fair elections, community connection, and topics like public health, mutual aid, and public accountability

• Efforts to build on existing organizational strengths by expanding access to the work beyond current audiences

• Diversifying and earning revenue for your organization (only applicable for  501c3 public charity applicant organizations)

• Outcomes that will move more than one organization forward

Grants last year were one-year, general operating grants between $15,000 and $45,000, on a one-year term. This year, we expect to make larger grants and invite requests up to $75,000.

Applications open July 6, 2022.

Deadline for application submission is noon on August 29, 2022.

Selection Process

A selection committee will review applications and make recommendations to the Fund about grants in September. We hope to inform you about the status of your application soon thereafter and write checks in early October.

We will offer an open question and answer session on June 23 at 1 pm (Zoom registration link here) to anyone who has questions about the substance or technical details of the grant application process. 

Lizzy is available for 1-1 conversations as well during office hours, book them on Calendly.

Organization Details & Grant Eligibility

501c3 public charity nonprofits and for-profit organizations with projects serving a charitable purpose with appropriate fiscal sponsorship from a nonprofit organization will be eligible. 

For organizations who applied with a fiscal sponsor, fiscal sponsorship must still be active to be eligible.

Budget Documentation

We’d like to understand the financial picture of your organization through two main budgets. We welcome you to use our budget template, but it is not required. Download or make a copy that budget template here.

Please share:

• Last fiscal year’s budget

• This fiscal year’s budget

• (for fiscally sponsored projects) Project budget

These budget documents are optional and will not affect your eligibility or competitiveness for a grant:

• Last fiscal year’s budgeted revenue and expenses versus actual revenue and expenses

• Next fiscal year’s budget

Application Questions

Focus of your work related to this request*

Please select the focus of your work related to this request.

Choices:

• Fill gaps in reporting for, or about, NC’;s historically marginalized communities

• Provide news and information to specific people and communities

• Support a network, collaboration, or other joint effort that provides information or reporting

• Launch a responsive project to meet emerging news and information needs

Grant amount requested*

Note: minimum grant request is $15,000 for this round, and the maximum is $75,000.

Briefly describe your organization*: 

You may share structure, size and composition of the audience/community-served, team composition and size, mission, strategies, results of your work, or how your organization contributes to the news and information ecosystem. Feel free to include links to save space.

Character Limit: 500 

Communities you serve with news and/or information* 

What communities do you serve with news and/or information and who do you prioritize among them?

We’re interested in geographic, population, audience segments, and demographic descriptions. Please include a brief outline of how you reach people (in person outreach, text, radio, email, social channels, print, etc.) and what they do with what you share. Please tell us if there is a difference in the audience you currently reach and the communities you seek to serve.

Character Limit: 800 

Effect of the pandemic, calls for racial justice and shifting economics on your work*: 

How have the challenges of the pandemic, calls for racial justice, and shifting economics in the last two years shaped the news and information you provide communities, the ways you work, and your organization as a whole?

We know that adaptation can simultaneously create impact and cause strain on leaders and teams. We want to hear about your organization’s journey. We do not expect that your organization has overcome every challenge and expect that all efforts are works in progress.

Character Limit: 800 

Sustainability, reaching under-connected communities, building on strengths* 

How will this grant support your sustainability, your ability to reach, inform and report for NC communities marginalized by race and class, and/or build on your existing strengths? Tell us how this grant helps you provide a service your communities need, extends your reach, or enables your organizational survival.

All three things need not be included in your explanation. 

Character Limit: 800 

Other support/needs* 

What else would help you succeed in your work, other than the funding you've applied for from us? Please select as many as are applicable. 

Choices 

Additional funding from other sources

More time to spend the funding we raise

Technical assistance with digital tools, internet access, or related needs

Coaching or consulting on specific capacity building topics (list in Additional Comments below)

Operational support (project management, coordination, hiring support, good business practices)

Legal support to access government meetings, records, or protect our organization

Partners in news, information or other community-serving roles

Equipment, including PPE

Peer learning and connection

Other (enter details in Additional Comments below)

N/A

Additional information (optional) 

Is there anything else we should know about your organization and community? If so, please provide that information here. 

Character Limit: 700 

Application Instructions and Application Portal Link

All applications must be submitted electronically, using the NC Community Foundation’s (NCCF) online grant system.  Below you will find instructions for how to do so, and a link to the online system. Be sure to read these instructions carefully before you begin.

First, you must create an account profile.  If you need assistance with creating your account, please click here to view the training slides.  If you have previously applied for your organization via the NC Community Foundation application system, you may use that existing profile and log-in.

1.    Once your profile is created, you will be directed to your Applicant Dashboard.  Click the green “Apply” link at the top of the page.

2.    You will arrive at a page with information about applying for a grant from NCCF.  In the upper right-hand corner, you will see an “Access Code” box. In that box, type the word: localnews.  Then, click on the Enter Code button.  NOTE: The Access Code is case-sensitive.

3.    The page will refresh, and the information about applying to the 2022 NC Local News Lab Fund Grant Program will appear.  Click the blue Apply button to begin.

4.    Follow the instructions to complete the application form, and submit it.  You will receive a confirmation email once your application has been submitted.

5.    A printer-friendly version of the questions is available to you once you have set up an account and entered the portal for this program.

If you experience technical difficulty while accessing and using the system, contact tech@nccommunityfoundation.org.  For questions about the program and application, please contact Lizzy Hazeltine at lizzy@nclocalnews.org.  

Ready to Apply? Click Here to enter NCCF’s online system.

*Please note that Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are the preferred browsers for the online application system