Community Connections Grant

The Community Connections Grant is offered by the Boettcher Foundation, a private funder that supports projects in Colorado. Based on the provided program language, this opportunity is designed to strengthen connections between individuals and organizations by funding projects and infrastructure that help unite and enhance communities. The foundation describes these grants as one-time investments that often support the construction or renovation of facilities with multi-use space, shared locations that bring nonprofit organizations and cross-sector partners together, or strategic investments that help effective initiatives grow to a higher level of impact. The source material also shows that the foundation runs this program on a recurring basis with three funding cycles each year and begins the process through a Grant Inquiry Form. The purpose of the grant is not to provide unrestricted support, but to fund discrete, one-time projects that align with the Community Connections focus area. The examples provided in the source illustrate the intended scope. Funded projects have included a renovated downtown nonprofit hub in Alamosa that houses the Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley and offers affordable space for additional nonprofit partners, a major performing arts center at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, an expanded Food Bank of the Rockies facility in Aurora serving Colorado and Wyoming, and the Colorado Education Initiative's Rural Superintendent Academy. Taken together, these examples indicate the funder is interested in projects that expand shared use, improve access to community-serving infrastructure, deepen collaboration among organizations, or strengthen systems that benefit Colorado communities. The grant awards typically range from 20000 to 75000 dollars. Eligibility is limited to Colorado-based nonprofit organizations. The source does not expand eligibility to governments, schools, or businesses as applicant types for this specific opportunity, even though some funded examples may involve educational institutions or broad partnerships. The stated review process is competitive. Organizations first submit a Grant Inquiry Form, and only those inquiries that best align with the Community Connections focus area are invited to submit a full proposal. This makes the inquiry stage the required entry point for all applicants and the invitation to full proposal a gatekeeping step in the process. The source also notes a preference that organizations submit only one application per cycle across either the Rural Catalyst grant or the Community Connections grant, which indicates applicants should choose the most appropriate Boettcher Foundation grant program for a given cycle rather than applying to both in the same round. The funding is intended for one-time costs rather than recurring operations or ongoing service delivery. The source explicitly states that requests for general operational support, ongoing cultural programming, and ongoing social service programming are not a fit. It further states that the foundation does not fund, or does not prioritize funding for, general operating support, fundraising events, foundations or funds that provide financial assistance to individuals, capital projects and programs for religious purposes, organizations primarily serving animals, capital projects at K-12 charter, public, or private schools, hospital facilities, standalone affordable housing, and emergency service equipment or vehicles. These exclusions are important because they show the program is narrowly focused on community-connection projects with durable or strategic value, rather than general institutional support, recurring program expenses, or categories the foundation has screened out. No cost share or matching requirement is stated in the provided text. For 2026, the source lists three cycles. The Winter Cycle runs from February 2 through February 27, with invitation for proposal or declination on March 27 and funding notification on May 27. The Summer Cycle runs from May 18 through June 19, with invitation for proposal or declination on July 17 and funding notification on September 9. The Fall Cycle runs from August 3 through September 1, with invitation for proposal or declination on September 22 and funding notification on November 11. The source also states that staff review inquiries during the acceptance windows and typically respond within six weeks of receipt to inform organizations whether they will be invited to submit a full application. An additional notice states that the Grant Inquiry Form is currently closed but will be available again from May 18 through June 19, 2026, for Cycle 2, confirming that the next upcoming public entry point is the Summer Cycle inquiry window. Questions about the grants process for Community Connections Grants can be directed to grants@boettcherfoundation.org. No phone number, named staff contact, performance period, or PDF guidelines link is provided in the supplied source material.

Emphasize one-time project or infrastructure costs that unite and enhance communities; show how the work creates stronger connections among individuals and organizations; highlight shared-use space cross-sector partnerships or strategic growth; avoid framing the request as general operating support or ongoing cultural social or human service programming