Getting to Know the Community Foundation of Abilene in Texas
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Photo: Joseph Sohm/shutterstock
Known for its western heritage, historic sites and charming downtown, Abilene, Texas has its own community foundation that serves the local area. The city has a population of around 117,000 people, whom the Community Foundation of Abilene (CFA) serves along with the broader region surrounding town. Here are some important facts to know about CFA if your organization is need of support in or around Abilene.
CFA has been around for over 35 years
CFA is a well-established community foundation that was founded in 1985 and has given over $111 million in grants since that time. In 2019, the funder reported over $138 million in total assets, and CFA’s assets have been growing every year. The total number of grants awarded in 2019, for example, was $8,141,929.
More human services grants than anything else
By far, CFA awards more grants for human services than anything else. Human services grants make up about 62 percent of the foundation’s total unrestricted grants. By comparison, health, children and youth, and arts and culture grants get about nine percent each of this total funding. Education, animals and community development get even smaller percentages of the annual grant distribution.
Four competitive grant opportunities a year
CFA is a fairly accessible community funder with four main application opportunities each year. It typically offers unrestricted grant cycles each spring and fall, a field of interest cycle in the middle of the year and a Future Fund grant cycle at the beginning of the year.
Discretionary grants are in the $1,000 to $25,000 range and provide funding for special projects, innovative programs, operating expenses, and building and equipment needs. Future Fund grants are $1,000 to $5,000 each and support groups serving children and youth. The fields of interest most recently open to grant applications are animal welfare, mental health and pro-life programs.
Other services for nonprofits
In addition to these grant opportunities, CFA hosts workshops and trainings about relevant industry topics like nonprofit marketing. It also has a nonprofit events calendar on its website and encourages local groups to submit events to share with the community. Additionally, the foundation offers events and meeting spaces for charitable purposes, free of charge.
IP’s full profile of the Community Foundation of Abilene offers additional information about this funder in our Southwest funding guide.
