The Rural Vitality Grant is a new grant being offered in a collaboration with the Fond du Lac Area Foundation and the Beaver Dam Area Foundation, along with Compeer Financial, to sponsor the development of nonprofits in rural communities.
It aims to support most cities in Fond du Lac County and Dodge County. Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac are not included as their population size is too large.
“The intention is to support rural vitality in local communities, focusing on the launch and establishment of new and ongoing programs or projects, as well as enhancing current services in those communities,” Executive Director of the Fond du Lac Area Foundation, Greg Giles, said.
This year marks the first year that they are offering this grant which will be a multi year grant. Past years have only allowed for one time grant payouts, however this one will last three.
$150,000 is the total amount available. The amount given and the number of organizations they are able to support depends heavily on the needs of those that are accepted.
The individual amounts that will go to nonprofits can range from $10,000-$50,000 and is dependent on what that group needs. This means that anywhere between three and 15 nonprofits could be selected.
Funding is only available for certain nonprofit projects. The requirements are that the money must be used in one of the following areas:
Agriculture
Community Development
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development
Housing Expansion
Youth and Adult Leadership Development
Rural Education
Workforce Development
Additional requirements are:
Must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or school district
Community must be 10,000 people or less
Rural micropolitans with population less than 50,000
Requests for money that would go to the following are not accepted. Sporting teams, activities, recreation, food insecurity, homelessness, arts and culture-related activities, scholarships and endowments.
Applications close on Sunday, Nov. 15 and they will be reviewed for around a month to determine which ones are accepted.
“If things go to schedule, we’re hoping to have the first year’s commitments to organizations before the end of the year. We’re pretty excited because it’s always nice to get these dollars into the hands of these communities,” said Giles.
When asked why these grants are important for rural communities and nonprofits, Giles said that becoming economic engines is a challenging aspect. If a community is trying to solve an affordable childcare concern, they may need a little extra help to get them the resources or manpower to solve it.
Their grants have a wide variety of impacts. For example, a high school in Dodge County received a $16,000 digital printer from one. With this, they were able to not only teach their students how to print vinyl signs, but they are able to print signs for businesses in the community. It even turned into an entrepreneurial opportunity and taught the students more than just printing.
Giles commented, “It’s really putting dollars invested in these areas that have a lot to offer but in many cases, they might not have those resources.”
Additional information and guidelines can be found by going to their website at https://fdlareafoundation.com/apply-for-a-grant/.
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