Community foundation changing grant process

The Middletown Community Foundation is making significant changes to its Competitive Grant Process, the one most local organizations utilize to request grant funding.

The changes range from the number of grant cycles per year to how many times an organization can request funding, said Traci Barnett, MCF executive director. Since the process will be unfamiliar to everyone the MCF is requiring all organizations that request grant funding to participate in one session, she said.

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The goal is to make sure “no one is behind the curve” when the changes are implemented in 2021, according to Barnett.

Sessions have been scheduled as follows:

Sept. 15: 9 a.m. Zoom meeting

Sept. 30: Noon lunch meeting at MCF office

Oct. 15: 5 p.m. Zoom meeting

Any organization who wishes to request grant funding or sponsorship dollars from the MCF must have at least one person participate in one of the sessions above, Barnett said. She said organization representatives can register online for one of the sessions at www.mcfoundation.org.

The updates to the process are a result of suggestions made during the 2018 Strategic Planning session that led to the creation of an Ad-hoc Grant Process Review Committee, Barnett said. The committee evaluated the grant process and made recommended upgrades at the April 28 board meeting. All changes were approved unanimously by the board, she said.

Patti Gage, MCF board president, said the changes will make the grant process “more efficient and more impactful.”

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