Community Foundation of Greater Flint
/OVERVIEW: The Community Foundation of Greater Flint supports children and youth, access to healthy food, literacy, community development, racial healing and urgent relief for communities that have been dispoportionately affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
IP TAKE: This is an accessible community foundation that welcomes initial inquiries. This funder has three annual grant deadlines.
PROFILE: Established in 1988, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) is a community foundation based in Flint, Michigan. The foundation was formed when the 1950-founded Flint Public Trust merged with the 1978-founded Flint Area Health Foundation. CFGF now houses over 750 charitable funds. The foundation aims to "create sustainable, enduring & profound change in Genesee County.” It funds local efforts for children and youth, access to healthy food, literacy, community development and racial healing. Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, the foundation’s relief fund has worked to provide rapid response grants to communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
The Community Foundation of Greater Flint awards nonprofits through discretionary funds following a competitive grant process. The board of trustees selects specific areas of interest on which to focus each year, and the funder has multiple youth advisory committees made up of local high school students to recommend grants for youth-related programs. The foundation’s early childhood program focuses specifically on providing education and care to the more than 10,000 Flint area children who have been exposed to toxic lead early in their lives. The foundation’s Flint Kids Fund maintains a similar focus. In the area of community development, the foundation has collaborated with many large funders as well as grassroots organizations to help residents make positive changes in their neighborhoods, and the foundation’s signature Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation program runs special events and programs toward understanding in “one of the country’s most segregated cities.” Recent funding has also supported food banks, adult literacy, scholarships and COVID-19 relief.
Grants range between about $5,000 and $500,000. Grantmaking focuses on Genesee County, Michigan, but a more specific geographic focus is placed on the municipalities of Clio, Davison, Fenton, Flushing and Grand Blanc. Past local grantees include the City of Flint, United Way of Genesee County and Flint Institute of Arts. Learn more about this funder’s local giving by examining its recent tax records.
This foundation accepts unsolicited pre-applications from nonprofits to initiate a conversation with a program officer. Program officers invite selected nonprofits to submit full applications through the foundation’s online system. Grant cycle deadlines are typically the first of February, May, and August. Direct general questions to the staff at info@cfgf.org or 810-767-8270.
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