Grants
Discretionary Grants
Indian River Community Foundation’s discretionary grantmaking is made possible by the generosity of anonymous donations. The Community Foundation's discretionary grants are aligned with a vision of a more healthy, prosperous, and generous Indian River County community. Grantmaking priorities are informed by the findings of the most recent community needs assessment and the most current data and information collected on Indian River Indicators.
Current Discretionary Grant Opportunities
Funding Priority: Vulnerable Individuals and Families
Guidelines and Deadlines for Letters of Idea and Application Process
Funding Priority: Animal Welfare, Environment, & Historic Preservation
Guidelines and Deadlines for Letters of Idea and Application Process
Head, Heart and Hands of Indian River Club
Guidelines and Deadlines for Letters of Idea and Application Process
The Lincoln Fund
Guidelines for the Application Process
General Guidelines for Discretionary Grants
Eligibility
The Foundation receives more worthy requests than we can accommodate each year. Most of the Foundation’s individual grantmaking programs have specific eligibility requirements. Please review each application carefully under Upcoming Grant Deadlines and contact the Foundation if your organization is unsure about your eligibility.
Restrictions
Competitive grants are limited to organizations located in and/or serving Indian River County, Florida.
The Foundation currently does not consider multi-year requests.
All applications for competitive grant opportunities must be submitted online.
We do not provide grants for:
- Propagandizing, influencing legislation and/or elections, promoting voter registration; for political candidates, political campaigns or organizations engaged in political activities; for litigation
- Institutions limiting their services to persons of a single religious sect or denomination
- Social or political problems outside of the United States of America
- Individuals
- Federated appeals or to organizations that collect funds for redistribution to other nonprofit groups
Reporting
Most grants carry with them a requirement for reporting back to the Foundation regarding use of the funds. Reports of past grants must be on file before an organization can apply for additional Foundation funds. Applications received from organizations with delinquent reports will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed.
Timing
The Community Foundation application process begins with a Letter of Idea (“LOI”). LOIs are due by 5:00pm on the last day of each month. LOIs will be reviewed by the Community Foundation upon receipt, and full applications will be invited from those organizations that qualify. Unsolicited applications that have not been requested as a result of a reviewed LOI will not be considered.
Review
Letters of Idea are reviewed for eligibility and competitive qualities by Community Foundation staff. Full grant applications are reviewed by a committee comprised of Indian River Community Foundation’s Board of Directors and other community members. First-time applicants may be required to participate in a pre-application grantee conference as a way for the Grants Committee to get to know the organization and better understand the funding request. Organizations who are applying for renewal funding for the fourth consecutive year may be required to have a pre-application review.