Funding Goals

Every three years, The Community Fund conducts a thorough Needs Assessment to determine that our grants are funding the most critical local needs. In the fall of 2017, we revised our funding goals to reflect our recent Needs Assessment. All grants must correspond with the funding goals described below:

2018-2020 Grant Funding Goals

Basic Needs​

Fund services that meet critical basic needs such as food, housing, and emergency financial assistance.

1. Reduce food insecurity by improving access to nutritious, affordable food.
2. Move individuals from homelessness to stable housing by promoting access to affordable housing options, emergency shelter, and collaborative case management.
3. Provide emergency assistance programs to help residents attain financial stability by helping fund requests for utilities and rent.

​Indicators/Measurement:

• % of residents that are food insecure, # of residents accessing food
• # of homeless (chronic homeless, youth homeless, families homeless)
• # of housing placements, # of positive exits
• # of people helped through financial assistance and degree of stability six months later

Youth Success

Cultivate success and reduce achievement gap from birth through high school graduation to prepare youth for post-secondary education and employment.

1. Improve school readiness for young children.
2. Enhance academic performance and social-emotional well-being for underserved youth, including immigrant children.
3. Improve access to physical and mental health services.
4. Build youth developmental assets to promote positive decision-making and reduce risky behaviors.
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Indicators/Measurement:

• Preschool student benchmarks to measure kindergarten readiness
• School engagement, attendance, and grade-level academic performance
• High school graduation rates
• Evidence-based indicators of mental and physical health
• Social-emotional well-being (assets) measurements and improvements

Self-Sufficiency

Promote independence, economic security, and access to community-based physical and mental health services and substance abuse treatment.

1. Teach skills to secure and retain employment and earn a living wage.
2. Improve access to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.
3. Increase awareness of research and community resources for substance abuse prevention.
4. Improve opportunities for immigrants through language skills, education, employment resources and legal services.
5. Promote educational and employment opportunities for young adults, ages 18-25.
6. Support functional independence for developmentally disabled clients, elderly and their caretakers.
   
   

Indicators/Measurement:

• # of job placements and enrollment in job programs and ESL classes
• Evidence-based indicators of mental health and availability of clinical treatment, % of population served achieving stability
• Indicators of substance abuse prevention and treatment success: % completing treatment without relapse, % of population receiving mental health support for co-occurring disorders
• Cost in avoidance of emergency room visits and hospitalization
• Post-secondary education and employment opportunities, # of job referrals for 18-25-year-olds
• # enrolled in programs enabling disabled and elderly to continue to live at home with caretakers

View the summaries of our needs assessments here: Food Insecurity, Homelessness, Immigration, Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Youth Success.

Grants Eligibility

The Community Fund of Darien invests in the community by making grants to vital, nonprofit human services organizations that meet our eligibility criteria and our funding goals of Basic Needs, Youth Success, and Self-Sufficiency. Large grants ($10,000) minimum are made at the end of our June fiscal year. New grantees can apply for a small grant (under $5,000) in our fall grant cycle. All grants are by invitation only.

To qualify for a grant, an organization must:

• Be a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization
• Serve human services needs of residents in Darien, Stamford or Norwalk
• Request funding for a program
• Provide measurements of outcomes to demonstrate impact
• Adhere to a non-discrimination policy on the basis of age, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental disabilities, gender or national origin or any other characteristic protected by law in all aspects of organizational operations including hiring, leadership, and service provision
  
  

Grant applications must conform to the format and content specifications provided in the application form. Late or incomplete applications may not be considered. The Community Fund will evaluate all grant applications based on the criteria outlined by the Grants Executive Committee. The Community Fund may not approve a request even though it meets the established criteria and the organization was invited to apply. The Board reserves discretion to award or deny grants as it deems appropriate, acting in the best overall interest of The Community Fund’s donors, staff and volunteers.

Eligibility for a Community Fund Small Grant:
Small Grants will provide funding for general operations and special initiatives for programming and/or activities that demonstrate a positive impact in meeting identified human services needs in the Darien, Norwalk and Stamford community. These needs must fit within the 2018-2020 funding goals in the categories of Youth Success, Basic Needs, Self-Sufficiency. Maximum funding amount: $5,000. Applicants will not be eligible for a repeat award more often than once in every three years

Ineligibility: The Community Fund of Darien generally will NOT fund grants for:

• Individuals (except Touch a Life Fund)
• Annual appeals or membership drives
• Fundraising events or capital campaigns
• Religious activities, projects or organizations which do not serve the general public on a nondenominational basis
• Political or lobbying efforts
• Endowment campaigns
• Scholarships or conference fees
• Any purpose not fitting within the 2018-2020 Community Fund funding goals

Small Grants

In December 2018, The Community Fund of Darien awarded $21,500 in small grants (grants under $5,000) to seven local nonprofits):

$5,000 CT Food Bank
$3,500 Filling In the Blanks
$3,500 Future 5
$3,500 Human Service Council Norwalk School Based Health Clinics
$3,500 Stamford Public Education Fund
$1,500 Stamford Cradle to Career (*3 year grant)
$1,000 At Home in Darien

Future 5
$3,500

In December 2018, TCF awarded a small grant to Future 5, an organization that helps motivated low-income high school students in Stamford by providing one-on-one coaching, character building workshops, and college and job preparation programs.