Vermont Community Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Vermont Community Foundation is a community funder that supports nonprofits throughout the state of Vermont in a variety of areas, including youth, education, arts, and the environment.

IP TAKE:  The Vermont Community Foundation, describing itself as “nimble” and able to approach its work with “curiosity, respect, and integrity,” believes in “collaboration, equity, and diversity.” This is a broad funder that supports a wide variety of giving areas, which means there is something out there for almost everyone. VCF is also an accessible and transparent funder that, according to 990s, appears support a larger quantity of small- to modest-sized grants to a wide variety organizations in its impact areas.

For its smaller program grants, VCF accepts applications online, although to secure a larger partnership-based grant may require more effort to forge a long-term relationship with VCF or one of its partners.

PROFILE: Established in 1986, the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) is located in Middlebury, Vermont. It is on a mission to “inspire giving and bringing together people and resources to make a difference in Vermont.” There are around 772 funds at VCF, with a reported $251.5 million in total assets in a recent year. Grantmaking includes several programs and funds that support youth, education, literacy, arts, women and girls, environment, capacity building, opportunity gaps, and college and career.

VCF main issue areas are Economic Equity, Education & Training, Health & Wellbeing, Climate & the Environment, and Democracy, Trust, & Community Leadership. It offers five main types of grants:

Grants for Environment and Climate Change

According to tax filings, environmental conservation is VCF’s largest grantmaking area in terms of the amount of money given away. VCF conducts the majority of its grantmaking in this area through its Regional Place-based Grants, such as

It also conducts climate and environment related grantmaking through its Opportunity Gap Climate & the Environment impact area. In a recent year, it gave over $2 million to the Vermont Land Trust alone, but it has made numerous smaller donations to groups like Rich Earth Institute, Lake George Association, and Upper Valley Land Trust.

Grants for Education and Youth

Vermont Community Foundation primarily invests in education and youth through its Opportunity Gap grant category, Education & Training, which is one of VCF’s five main impact areas. For VCF, its grants for education and youth intersect with opportunity, work, and literacy. Rather than making donations to individual schools in the region, VCF tends to support nonprofit organizations trying to make a difference in the area. Grant opportunities for education and youth include, but are not limited to:

VCF also partners with J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation and Let’s Grow Kids to provide “equitable access to the postsecondary and career education that leads to Vermont’s most promising jobs.” These initiatives are long-term, strategic projects that make grants by invitation only.

Grants for Community Development

For VCF, grants for community development intersect with Economic Equity, Education & Training, and Health & Wellbeing. Giving here primarily occurs across several programs/funds, specifically its Opportunity Gap Community Impact Grants, but also its Regional Place-based grants.

Opportunity Gap Grants focused on community development, economic empowerment, and human services include:

Outside of its Opportunity Gap Impact Grants, VCF conducts most of its community development and social services grantmaking through its Regional Place-based grants. Funds with a particular focus on community development and social services include:

Grants for Arts and Culture

VCF, a major arts funder in Vermont, primarily makes grants through its Issues and People-based Grants. For example:

  • The Arts & Social Cohesion fund provides grants of up to $10,000 to organizations that “create opportunities for positive social interaction, engagement, and collaboration,” such as murals, public art installations, musical or dance performances, and public classes and events.

Grants for Women and Girls

VCF primarily conducts grantmaking related to economic well-being, health, and social issues for women and girls through the Vermont Women’s Fund as part of its Issues and People-based grantmaking. This fund provides grants of up to $15,000 to organizations with “strategies that address systemic barriers to economic well-being and thriving in Vermont.” Learn more by visiting the Vermont Women’s Fund’s individual profile here.

Grantees include Addison Central Teens, Clemmons Family Farm, Community Asylum Seekers Project, Green Mountain Camp for Girls, Jenna’s Promise, and Springfield Area Parent Child Center.

Grants for LGBTQ

VCF conducts grants related to the LGBTQ+ community through The Samara Fund as part of its Issues and People-based grantmaking. This fund supports organizations who “demonstrate their dedication to the empowerment, health, and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV positive (LGBTQ+) people.” It offers general operating support, project-specific grants, emergent needs grants, event sponsorships, and scholarships, prioritizing organizations that are “queer and trans-led,” support “queers with disabilities,” and “work that is harm reducing.” Grantees include AIDS Project of Southern Vermont, Common Ground Center, Green Mountain Library Consortium, Out in the Open, Outright Vermont, and Pride Center of Vermont.

Important Grants Details:

The Vermont Community Foundation’s publicly available grants generally range from $500 to $20,000, depending on the program or fund, while invitation-only and partnership grantmaking can go much higher. Spark Connecting Community grants range from $500 to $5,000, but its Regional and Local Impact grants range from $15,000 to $25,000.

  • VCF does not have a comprehensive grants database, but grant seekers may review the foundation’s financials and view stories of past impact published on the funder’s website.

  • Grant seekers must create an account with the VCF in order to access its online Grants Manager.

  • Its capacity building grants may be of particular interest to organizations looking to expand their impact in Vermont.

  • Deadlines and application requirements vary by program or fund.

  • Grant applications are reviewed and evaluated by “community members, local non profit leaders, Community Foundation donors, former staff and board members, and current Foundation staff.”

  • Grant seekers must apply on behalf of a registered nonprofit or public entity. Grassroots community groups must apply with the support of a “fiscal sponsor.”

VCF accepts grant applications for certain programs. The foundation staff can be reached with general questions at info@vermontcf.org or view a full list of staff contacts here.

PEOPLE:

Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).

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