Organization Support Grants

Organization Support Grants are offered by the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation to provide general operating support to eligible nonprofit organizations based in Linn County, Iowa. The opportunity is intended to support an organization's overall operations rather than project- or program-specific direct costs. Eligible applicants must be headquartered in Linn County, have current IRS 501(c)(3) public charity tax-exempt status, and have an operating budget of less than $5 million. The Community Foundation states that it is committed to equity in its grantmaking strategy and maintains a Grantmaking Equity Statement adopted by its Board of Directors. Funding is structured according to organizational size. Organizations with operating budgets greater than $150,000 may request a maximum of $30,000 per year. Organizations with operating budgets below $150,000 may request up to 20 percent of their operating budget, rounded up to the nearest $100. The Community Foundation generally does not fund more than 20 percent of an organization's operating budget through the combined total of Program Support and Organization Support grants in a year. Organizations that are primarily volunteer-driven or have very small operating budgets are instructed to contact the Program Officer to discuss an eligible request amount. Grant duration is 12 to 24 months. Organizations less than two years old, based on the date of the IRS determination letter, and organizations using the short application option are limited to a single-year request. Organization Support funding may not be used for capital infrastructure or bricks-and-mortar projects, fundraising events and activities, project- or program-specific direct costs, re-granting awarded funds to other nonprofits, or travel outside the region. Religious activities and efforts supporting an organization's core religious mission are also ineligible, and organizations whose core mission is religious are not eligible for this general operating support opportunity. Expenses that have already occurred or that will occur during the approximately 12-week grant review period following the application deadline are ineligible. No matching or cost-share requirement is stated in the provided information. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations meeting the stated Linn County, tax-status, and operating-budget requirements. Organizations with an active Organization Support Grant cannot apply again until permitted by the program's timing rules. For example, an organization receiving a one-year Organization Support Grant in the fall of the previous year may not apply again until the fall of the current year. An organization that requested a time extension to complete a previous grant should contact the Program Officer to confirm eligibility. A shorter application option is available to organizations with budgets under $150,000 that request $5,000 or less for a single year. Applications are accepted online through the Community Foundation's application system, and all required information must be entered directly into the online portal. Reference and planning documents are available, including 2026 Organization Support Grant Information, but the provided source states that these documents are for reference and planning only rather than substitutes for online submission. The Community Foundation maintains conflict-of-interest standards applicable to grant committees, its board, and staff, including recusals in cases of conflict. The source also states that review processes are methodical and transparent and that scoring criteria for competitive grant applications are available. No specific application questions, required uploads, award notification date, or quantified number of awards are supplied in the provided material. Two Organization Support Grant deadlines are stated for 2026: Friday, March 6, 2026, and Friday, September 11, 2026, both at 4:30 p.m. Central Time. As of August 13, 2026, the March deadline has passed and the September 11 deadline remains upcoming. The provided material does not state an application opening date, a required pre-application or letter-of-intent deadline, or that the program operates on an expressly annual, biennial, or other recurring schedule beyond the two specified 2026 deadlines. Questions about the opportunity may be directed to Program Officer Casey Baustian at casey.baustian@gcrcf.org or 319.774.2378. The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation's general contact information is 324 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401, info@gcrcf.org, and 319.366.2862.

Confirm eligibility before applying if the organization has an active Organization Support Grant or received an extension on a previous grant; organizations with very small budgets or primarily volunteer-driven operations should contact the Program Officer about an eligible request amount; account for the Community Foundation's general limit of 20% of operating budget across Program Support and Organization Support grants per year; review the available scoring criteria for competitive grant applications.