The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation’s grants program funds measurable strategies to make a positive impact on the quality of life and create a better future for residents in our community.

All innovative ideas that meet emerging needs or opportunities will be considered, including these focus areas:

• Arts and Culture: To infuse artistic and cultural opportunities throughout our community through creative expression.  These may include historical, multicultural, visual, literary, theatrical, and musical.
• Basic Needs: To address needs found at the root causes of poverty. While typically defined as food, clothing and shelter, these programs and services seek to lift individuals and families up to prevent generational poverty.
• Education: To improve knowledge, train, instruct, and enhance skills to ensure individuals receive educational opportunities that better the course of their lives and careers. Especially programs addressing outcomes related to Achieve Brown County
• Environment and Conservation: To protect, preserve, manage and provide access to or improve resources for the benefit of the natural environment, wildlife and humans.
• Health and Wellness: To benefit the general condition of a person’s mind, body and spirit to help individuals be free from illness, injury or pain. This includes preventive, mental/behavioral, addiction and dental health programs ranging from early childhood to seniors.
• Human Services: To assist individuals, groups and communities such as the poor, sick, elderly, children or youth, to transition to more self-sustainable lifestyle.
• Older adults: To help older adults remain safe, engaged and supported through programs that provide care and support independence.
• Public Benefit and Community Improvement: To provide for the good of our community at large and empower individuals or groups of people with the skills they need to effect change.
• Youth Development: To promote, encourage and provide access to broad-based youth development, especially among underprivileged youth.

All applicants must meet the following:

• Be a nonprofit organization with a 501(c)(3) designation by the Internal Revenue Service or a governmental body, such as a school or municipality
• Directly serve the people of the greater Green Bay area, with primary emphasis on those residing in Brown, Kewaunee and Oconto counties
• Conduct business without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual preference, age, marital status, disability or national origin

• Program or project support
• Equipment related directly to projects
• Technology, equipment improvements, and staff or board training and planning that enhance organizational capacity or develop greater organizational efficiency
• Operational needs
• Other priorities as determined by the Grants Committee

Projects will be evaluated on the following criteria. Strong programs will:

• Create impact in at least one current priority area
• Articulate a well-defined need with clearly defined actions to meet the need
• Build organizational capacity and lead the program to become self-sufficient
• Use collaboration to leverage impact
• Be feasible and likely to succeed
• Have a reasonable level of risk
• Propose an accurate, appropriate and reasonable budget
• Attract additional funding and leverage resources
• Clearly define meaningful and measurable project outcomes and methods to report actual outcomes
• Have a long-term impact, especially relative to cost
• Have a positive standing with the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation regarding previously received grants, including the complete and timely submission of final reports

• Annual appeals, capital campaigns or other fundraising activities or events
• Religious activities or programs that serve, or appear to serve, specific religious organizations, groups, denominations, or beliefs
• Individuals
• Endowments
• Debt retirement, debt financing, reduction of an operating deficit or replenishment of resources used to pay for such purposes
• Lobbying or legislative activities
• Capital improvements
• Programming or expenses occurring before the grant is awarded
• Efforts substantially serving people outside of Brown, Kewaunee and Oconto counties
• Organizations who seek funding to disburse to a secondary-nonprofit organization.

Typically up to $20,000. View past recipients.

To submit a grant request, apply online. Review the online application questions and requirements, which include this budget form.

Summer Cycle
Application Opens: May 1
Application Closes: July 1

Winter Cycle
Application Opens: November 1
Application Closes: January 11

Decisions will be announced within 8-10 weeks of the application deadline.

All applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Kari Olsen, Director of Grants and Scholarship Programming, prior to completing an application.

Grant recipients will be required to complete a brief follow-up report at the end of the project or grant period.