Telluride Foundation Community Grant Program

The Telluride Foundation Community Grants Program is an annual competitive grant program designed to support local organizations addressing community issues that are consistent with the Foundation's mission. The program represents the Foundation's sustained community grantmaking effort and emphasizes both measurable outcomes and the development of financially healthy nonprofit organizations. Community Grants are awarded once each year, with final grant decisions made at the end of December and awards distributed throughout the following year. The source also references the Foundation's 25 years of giving and a grant award database documenting its grantmaking activity. The Community Grants Program supports work across seven stated focus areas. Early Childhood Development funding is intended to increase children's school readiness. Education funding supports the development of 21st century learning skills for children and adults. Environment and Climate funding is intended to protect and preserve surrounding natural areas. Arts and Culture supports participatory and quality art experiences. Health funding encourages and promotes lifelong health. Human Service funding supports a strong and inclusive safety net that builds opportunity. Athletics funding promotes participation that leads to life skills. Applicants should therefore connect their proposed work to one or more of these identified community priorities and demonstrate how the proposed activities advance the applicable focus area's stated objective. The provided source does not state specific minimum or maximum grant amounts, total program funding, the expected number of awards, or a required matching or cost share contribution. It also does not provide detailed allowable or prohibited expense rules. Applicants are directed to the Community Grants Guidelines for everything needed to begin an application and for additional information, but no complete URL or the contents of those guidelines are included in the provided material. Because those details are not present in the source, no award floor, award ceiling, total program funding, number of awards, or additional spending restrictions can be verified from the information provided. The program is described as supporting local organizations and as focusing on financially healthy nonprofits, but the provided source does not define the exact geographic boundaries that determine whether an organization is local. It also does not provide detailed organizational eligibility rules such as required tax status, fiscal sponsorship requirements, treatment of faith based organizations, organization size requirements, or specific exclusions for other organization types. The source therefore directly supports nonprofit organizations as an eligibility category but does not support expanding eligibility to government entities, businesses, individuals, educational institutions, or other predefined applicant categories without additional guidelines. Applications are submitted through an online application, with a link referenced on the Community Grants page. The deadline for the Community Grants cycle is October 9, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. The source also announces an informational webinar scheduled for Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. via Zoom, with registration available through a referenced link and a recording expected to be available after August 27. The webinar is informational and is not described as a required pre application step or as a condition for advancing to application review. The provided source does not enumerate application questions, required uploads, narrative requirements, financial attachments, or other application components. All Community Grant applications are reviewed by the Telluride Foundation's Grants Committee. The committee consists of 10 members of the Foundation's Executive Board and Leadership Council and represents a broad base of individuals, including full time local citizens and second homeowners. Grants Committee members serve an average term of two to three years. The Grants Committee reviews applications and provides recommendations to the full Executive Board and Leadership Council for final review and approval. Foundation staff processes and prepares applications for committee review and assists the Grants Committee, but staff does not vote on grant award decisions. Final action on the committee's recommendations is taken at the Foundation's December meeting. The Community Grants Program recurs annually. For the current cycle, applications are due October 9, 2026, and awards are made at the end of December, with awarded funds distributed throughout the following year. Based on the explicitly annual cycle and the current October deadline, the next cycle is anticipated in October 2027 for internal tracking purposes, although an official 2027 deadline is not stated in the provided source. General Foundation contact information is Telluride Foundation, 220 E. Colorado Avenue, Suite 106, PO Box 4222, Telluride, Colorado 81435; telephone 970-728-8717; fax 970-728-9007; and email info@telluridefoundation.org.

Align the proposed work clearly with an applicable Community Grants focus area and its stated objective; demonstrate measurable outcomes; be prepared for the Foundation's emphasis on financially healthy nonprofits.