Nonprofit FAQs

No. There are no opportunities for individuals to receive grants for relief or service. Professional artists are the only individuals eligible to receive grants from The Community Foundation; they may apply through the Art Ventures program. There are also a limited number of academic scholarships available for students.

The Board of Trustees of The Community Foundation has the ultimate authority over grants. In the case of donor advised funds or agency endowments, the donors themselves may recommend grants from their funds to any eligible (nonprofit, 501c3) organization. In the case of funds over which The Community Foundation has discretion, staff recommends grantees to the Board’s Program & Initiatives Committee, whose members consider and vote on the staff recommendations. Finally, the Program & Initiatives Committee sends the approved list to the Board of Trustees for ratification.

No. Any nonprofit organization may apply for grants in areas where they are eligible. See Apply for a Grant.

Yes, most often a phone call is enough to determine eligibility and answer your questions. If, after a call, it’s determined that a meeting is required, we will reach out to set one up. Technical Assistance appointments are available for our Program, Capacity Building and Grants To Support Small Organizations — Submit your request here.

No. The majority of our donors research and determine their own areas of giving. If a donor requests staff to conduct additional research, we will take the opportunity to draw upon extensive internal resources and also reach out to learn more about current initiatives and endeavors.

The Community Foundation does not provide contact information for our donors. However, if a donor is interested in a nonprofit field, or specific organization, we help connect the donor with the agency.

Generally, no. We do have some funds, however, that use a competitive process for grantmaking: Program, Capacity Building, Supporting Small Organization grants are all part of our Competitive Community Grantmaking.  Other initiatives, such as Art Ventures, our Women’s Giving Alliance, LGBTQ Community Fund for Northeast Florida and Beaches Community Fund, and the A.L. Lewis Black Opportunity & Impact Fund also accept applications—you may find information on all these opportunities on our Apply for a Grant page.

The range of dollars available for competitive grants is listed for each grant on the Apply for a Grant page. Often, a grant from TCF cannot fully support a project. As part of your proposal, we will want to know how you plan to identify the other funds.

We highly encourage small organizations with annual budgets under $200,000 to apply through the Supporting Small Organizations application. This is a simplified process developed specifically for organizations of this size.

Yes. The website lists the most current opportunities available in any given year.

Yes. Each proposal is considered on its own merits. However, be sure that your proposal is considered eligible under the guidelines before re-submitting.

This varies by application so please see the timeline for each competitive grant.

Each grant area has a link to a specific online application process. Please see the Apply for a Grant page.

Typically, no. We encourage you to set up a technical assistance appointment before applying, in order to determine your eligibility if you have an open grant.   

If you’ve recently received a grant from The Community Foundation, congratulations! Our grantee guidelines provide helpful advice on how to acknowledge our support. Our logo can be downloaded in several versions (click the link and then right-click to save): full color, white, and grayscale. We would love for you to share your work with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram, and tag us @CFJacksonville so we can engage with your post. Please note the style on our name – The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida (“for,” rather than “of”). “The Community Foundation” is the correct second reference, with “The” capitalized. Please contact Stephanie Garry Garfunkel, Vice President of Strategic Communications, if you have questions, at sgarfunkel@jaxcf.org. We are happy to help!