How the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation Gives Locally

Certain parts of rural America are continuously overlooked by philanthropy, leaving local community foundations to step in and support the charities that call these regions home. The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation focuses on the rural communities in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and has been operating since 1995. It is among the newer community foundations in the country, but has an experienced leadership team and an accessible and transparent approach to philanthropy.

Here's an overview of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation to inform local grantseekers.

Competitive grant program

EWVCF awards grants within the broad fields of healthcare, human welfare, senior citizens, housing, animal welfare and history cemetery programs. The foundation typically accepts applications before a February deadline and awards grants in the early spring. An exception is its youth and education grants, for which the foundation accepts applications in the fall and awards grants at the end of the year. Grants are available for nonprofits, schools, government agencies and religious institutions. Other foundation interests include workforce development, job training and natural resource conservation.

In addition to field-of-interest fund grants that address these topics, the foundation awards grants from designated funds to benefit recurring charitable causes, as frequently as every quarter based on donors' preferences. For instance, EWVCF awards grants for the Berkeley County Industrial Park Development Fund and Two Rivers Giving Circle. There are also opportunities for funding through the Mini-Grants for Teachers Program, which offers $100 to $600 grants for equipment, supplies and other educational program needs.

Community workshops and nonprofit trainings

Aside from grantmaking, EWVCF offers community workshops and training programs to nonprofits. The funder collaborated on the Nonprofit Growth and Equity Project, a pilot project partially funded by the FirstEnergy Foundation. This project offers educational opportunities, access to social capital and operational funding grants to organizations that complete designed training modules. These opportunities center on budget development, fundraising strategies, organizational structure, marketing, networking and board engagement.

Two county affiliate foundations

EWVCF has two affiliate foundations that are hyper-focused on specific areas within the state’s eastern panhandle.

Since 2006, the Hampshire County Community Foundation has worked to address the particular needs of this county. It offers mini-grants for teachers of up to $500 and manages approximately 18 endowed funds. Organizations working within Hampshire County will benefit from looking more closely into the unrestricted fund, agency and hybrid endowed funds, designated funds, donor-advised funds, scholarships and field-of-interest funds at this affiliate foundation.

Meanwhile, the Hardy County Community Foundation, established in 2008, is another EWVCF affiliate and has its own unique funds that are specific to its county.

You can learn more about this funder in IP’s complete profile of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, part of our Virginia and West Virginia grantmaking guide.

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