Collier Community Foundation
/OVERVIEW: This community funder supports Collier County, Florida, in education, arts and culture, employment, the environment, housing, food insecurity, senior citizens, veterans and military, mental health, and disaster relief.
IP TAKE: CCF helps to convert foundations to a “donor-advised fund with less administrative burden, improved tax deductions and increased grant flexibility” with the support of CCF’s professional staff for administration. Review its highly specific grant guidelines below in our Important Grant Details for CCF, which requires first becoming a member of CCF’s Nonprofit Directory for grant eligibility.
While accessible and transparent, CCF does not clarify what it seeks to fund within its focus areas. At first glance, CCF’s website positions itself as a local funder - and many local grantees are based nearby - but, upon closer inspection, CCF funds a variety of national and international causes that shift much of its funding outside of Florida, so call this funder to learn more.
PROFILE: The Collier Community Foundation, previously the Community Foundation of Collier County (CCF), is a public charitable foundation based in Naples, Florida established by retired Cincinnati businessman William Oberhelman and local attorney Donald T. Franke. It was incorporated in 1985 on a mission to work with “donors, inspire ideas, ignite action, and mobilize resources to address community needs in Collier County.” As of January 2022, the Foundation managed “over $280 million in assets and had distributed over $229.5 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and community programs.”
CCF is also affiliated with the Women’s Foundation of Collier County through which grantseekers can locate support for women’s empowerment, well-being and economic development.
Rather than have dedicated grant programs centered on focus areas complete with parsed grant strategies within those programs, it appears that CCF offers roughly five types of grants in its areas of interest, which must adhere to the Foundation’s terse notions of diversity, which means, from 990s, a deemphasis on LGBTQ and BIPOC communities and a greater focus on the disabled, youth, senior citizens, veterans and other vulnerable populations.
Types of Grants for Nonprofits:
Program Grants:
CCF offers program grant funding to nonprofits for programs that demonstrate measurable results in addressing community needs. Grant dollars are invested in: Arts/Culture, the Environment, Education or Employment, Healthcare or Mental Health, and Human Services.
Program Grants range from $20,000 to $30,000 and support new programs, ongoing programs, or program expansions.
Capacity Grants:
CCF’s capacity grants fund nonprofits with operating budgets of less than $1M so that they may develop the tools needed to operate using best practices.
Capacity Grants range from $500 to $2,500 and must be matched 1:1 by the organization itself. Capacity grants refer to work that addresses: Strategic planning and organizational assessment, Board development & training, Infrastructure improvements, Improving financial management, Fundraising, marketing, and communications planning, Program planning, Feasibility assessment and implementation of mergers and strategic alliances.
General Operating Support Grants:
Grants for General Operating Support provides funding to nonprofits for programs that “demonstrate measurable results in addressing community needs” across CCF’s focus areas.
Grants here range from $5,000 to $15,000 per grant and includes support for staffing, technology, communications, administration, small capital items, materials and supplies, etc.
Marco Island Community Grant Fund:
The Marco Island Community Grant Funds provides support to nonprofits that demonstrate “measurable results in addressing community needs’ and offer $1,000 to $15,000 towards operations or programs. Due dates are usually in the first week of March. If you operate on Marco Island but are unsure if your program qualifies, please email Laura a description of your services before February 13th.
Student Philanthropy Council Grant:
These grants are a new, developing area of funding for CCF, so details are still underway; however, grants support student-led philanthropic initiatives in partnership with Collier County Public Schools.
Grants for Education and Youth
CCF provides grants related to education across its various grant options listed above, but note that the Foundation “does not generally fund projects or support educational initiatives that are more appropriately the subject of public funding. A proposal from a public or charter school or the local government would need to address a special project or initiative not normally covered by the publicly-funded budget. Regarding private schools, the Foundation does not generally fund projects that serve only a discrete and fixed group of individuals without also having a broader public benefit.”
Over $1.5 million in scholarships have been offered to students across Collier County as well. There are also developing opprtunities here for students to get directly involved with philanthropy as indicated by CCF’s Student Philanthropy Council Grant.
Grants for Mental Health
CCF’s grants for mental health are focused on addressing substance abuse disorder, aligning with Collier County’s Strategic Plan 2020-2024 for addressing mental health. The Strategic Plan identifies six areas of need:
Build and Operate a Central Receiving Facility/System to Serve Persons Experiencing an Acute Mental Health or Substance Use Crisis;
Increase Housing and Supportive Services for Persons with Serious Mental Illness and/or Substance Dependence
Establish a Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Data Collaborative for Data Sharing, Collection and Outcomes Reporting;
Increase the Capacity and Effectiveness of Justice System Response for Persons Experiencing Serious Mental Illness and/or Substance Use Disorders;
Revise and Implement Non-Emergency Baker Act and Marchman Act Transportation Plans, and;
Improve Community Prevention, Advocacy, and Education Related to Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders.
Grants for Arts and Culture
CCF’s grantmaking for the arts follows the Strategic Plan put forth by local United Arts Collier. Recent arts grantees, at least at the local level, focus on local theaters and community events rather than individual artists, art education or arts for children.
Important Grant Details:
Most CCF grants have been between $1,000 and $30,000. In a recent fiscal year, the funder distributed more than $12.7 million to nonprofits and community programs. This funder also offers a Grants Town Hall Meeting often held in early April 4th in order to field questions about how to secure a grant through CCF.
Community-based committees comprised of volunteers who have a background or particular interest in the program area make grant decisions at CCF, while foundation staff provides support to these committees. Grant proposals are ranked and scored on multiple criteria by the committees. Issues such as sustainability and outcomes play a significant role in the decision-making process. That makes it more challenging to network here, unless you’re familiar with the volunteers serving on the committee.
CCF conducts some global development work as indicated on its recent 990s, benefitting water, WASH, unrestricted funds, farms, and disaster relief all over the world, including Central America, Haiti, the Middle East and Sub-Suharan Africa, but this funding remains under $1 million.
Grant applications are typically due in June, taking three months for a decision, which usually occurs in September.
View current financial data here, while its grant portal may be accessed online.
To apply for a CCF grant, local nonprofits must be listed in the funder’s online nonprofit directory.
Funding may be requested for new programs, ongoing programs, or program expansions. Requests must provide detail on how grant dollars will be used. Please note the following:
Programs and projects must demonstrate strong measurable outcomes.
Please review the eligibility guidelines to the right before applying.
Update your profile in the Nonprofit Directory prior to beginning an application.
Please be sure your program addresses a documented need or gap in services (see reports, below).
Please contact Laura Simmelink, Senior Director of Programs, at 239-307-4514 or lsimmelink@colliercf.org prior to beginning an application if you have any questions about whether your program is eligible.
The foundation also sets up agency endowment funds for nonprofits. The Center for Nonprofit Excellence, established in 1997, has moved to Hodges University and has provided training for at least 7,000 participants from local nonprofits.
Keep up with recent foundation news here; relevant events are posted on the funder’s website.
It appears CCF is less the local funder it presents itself as funding a wide variety of grantees beyond Colliery County or even Florida that include the Alzheimer’s & Dementia Resource, American Battlefield Trust in D.C., American Bible Society, the American Cancer Society, American and Foreign Christian Union, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Institute for Cancer Research, American Lung Association, American Red Cross, Amherst Cinema Arts Center, Andrew Womack Ministries, Antique Boat Museum, Archdiocese of Louisville (KY), Arthritis Foundation, Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Study of Objectivism, Baldwin Wallace University, Bell’s of Saint Mary’s, Inc., and the Brightfocus Foundation.
It also makes grants to foundations located in other states like Massachusetts, New York, California, Virginia, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kentucky, among others - which is unique for a local community foundation and merits a second glance at the unidentified grant strategies behind this approach shifting large quantities of grantmaking beyond Florida, as well as throughout Florida, hovering around Sarasota, FL.
Local grantees are fewer and include the Women’s Foundation of Collier County, Artis-Naples, Avalon Grace Church, Bikes for Tykes, and Avow Hospice, and Champions for Learning, among others. It appears recent 990s also many Florida-wide grantees despite a stated focus on local outfits on CCF’s site.
PEOPLE:
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