2025 Grants Timeline
Cycle 1 (Spring): Brief Proposal application opens Jan. 17, 2025. The application deadline was Feb. 7, 2025, at 11:59pm.
For this cycle, we are following a two-stage process (brief
proposal and full proposal stages). For applicants advancing to the full proposal stage, site visits will start in April, and final decisions will be released in May.
Cycle 2 (Fall): To be announced.

Applications must be submitted electronically on the Community Foundation grant website:

Application Portal

General Log-In

Applicant Restrictions:
1. Applicants must be currently designated a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization by the IRS OR be a 501(c)(3) exempt religious institution OR be a government entity. Private non-operating
foundations are not eligible. Applicants may use a fiscal sponsor only if there is a meaningful
mission fit and an existing, working relationship between the two organizations. Please review our fiscal sponsorship guidelines before applying.
2. Applicants must serve Blount, Jefferson, Shelby, and/or St. Clair counties in Alabama.
3. Large organizations with many branches or departments (e.g. colleges, universities, YMCA, public libraries) must submit requests from the president’s office or the development office.
4. An applicant with a current open grant from the Community Foundation may apply but MUST be up to date on all reports and should have a very compelling or timely reason for requesting a new grant.

Proposal Restrictions:
Funding Purpose: If eligible, applicants may request a grant in one of the following three categories:

1. Strategic Purpose: These grants can help establish a new program, improve or expand an existing program, increase organizational capacity, meet a new capital need (building, equipment, etc.), and/or launch a policy/systems change effort. Requests should not exceed 25% of the proposed project budget.
2. General Operating for Emerging Organizations: Organizations with documented revenue under $25,000 (based on previous fiscal year) may request a general operating support grant in this category. General operating support is defined as funding to maintain current programs and/or operations.
3. General Operating Support: Organizations with documented revenue between $25,000 –
$100,000 (based on previous fiscal year) may request a general operating support grant in this category.

The two general operating categories are the same in substance; they just provide emerging
organizations two opportunities to receive general operating support funding as they grow. Eligible organizations (under $25,000 revenue) may receive General Operating for Emerging Organizations funding one time only. Eligible organizations ($25,000 – $100,000 revenue) may receive General Operating Support funding one time only. Any grants awarded from 2023 on are counted toward these limits.

Grant Terms
Strategic grants may be requested over a one-, two-, or three-year period based on the scale and schedule of the proposal. General operating grants are limited to one-year terms.

Grant Amounts
• There is no maximum request amount, but in recent years awarded grants have ranged
from$5,000 to $100,000 with an average amount of $35,000. The applicant’s request and project budget should be reasonable in relation to the applicant’s prior revenue, budget, and activities.
• For Strategic Purpose grants, requests should not exceed 25% of the budget for the proposed project. Potential or secured support for the remaining 75% of the budget should be identified.
• Organizations requesting a grant of $75,000 or greater MUST have an annual or semi-annual independent audit.
Resubmitted Proposals: If a proposal submitted to the Community Foundation does not receive funding, it should not be resubmitted to the Community Foundation unless there have been significant changes in either the organization or the proposal.

No grants are made to or for:
• Individuals
• Religious organizations for religious purposes
• National fundraising drives
• Sponsorship of fundraising events
• Political organizations or candidates for public office
• Scholarship or endowment funds
• Debt reduction, with limited exceptions for capital projects
• Scholarship or campership programs
• Replacement of government funding cuts
• General operating support (funding to maintain current programs or operations) – with exception of small organizations with under $100K revenue (see categories above)
• Unspecified indirect costs (may request a portion of funds to support administrative or other indirect costs, but must be presented as specific line items vs. indirect cost rate/percentage)

To review recent successful requests, visit Recent Grants.

Questions? Please direct any additional questions you may have about the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham competitive grantmaking process to Nicole Standridge, Senior Program Officer, at nstandridge@cfbham.org.

Download a PDF of these guidelines here.