Capacity Building Support
A new grant opportunity from Cone Health Foundation
Opportunity at a Glance
This new funding opportunity from Cone Health Foundation (CHF) offers capacity building support for strategically aligned community-based organizations primarily serving the Greensboro area. This grant opportunity may be a good fit for your organization if:
- You have an operating budget of $500,000 or less
- You have a capacity building project in mind that will help build your long-term sustainability, scale and impact
- Your organization is based in or primarily serving Greensboro, N.C.
- Your organization works in one of CHF’s priority social drivers of health, including: access to healthy food, education, safe and healthy housing, and economic mobility
This is a one-year, unrestricted funding opportunity. Grant requests up to $20,000 are welcome.
The application period is open from Monday, Aug. 25 to Friday, Sep. 19.
Why We’re Doing it
To create a Greensboro where health inequities no longer exist, we continue to invest in organizations making an impact in our priority social drivers of health: access to healthy food, education, safe and healthy housing, and economic mobility. At the Partnering for Health Equity gathering in January 2024, we heard from community-based organizations about the need for unrestricted funding and capacity building support to strengthen internal operations, scale impact, and ultimately work towards implementing systems-level change. This grant opportunity responds to that request, as outlined in the Greensboro Community Report, which guides our grantmaking strategy.
What is Capacity Building
Capacity building activities are those that strengthen an organization’s ability to carry out their mission. Oftentimes, capacity building efforts are focused on internal operations, systems, and processes.
Examples of capacity building efforts include:
- Leadership development and staff training
- Increasing advocacy and policy engagement
- Improving internal operations, including financial, legal, human resources, and/or IT
- Strategic planning and organizational goal setting
- Research, evaluation, and learning efforts
- Brand, messaging, and communications strategy (organization-centric)
- Developing partnerships and collaborative frameworks
Who Should Apply
Cone Health Foundation will support 501c3 nonprofits and community-based organizations working in four of our priority social drivers of health:
- Healthy food
- Education
- Safe and healthy housing
- Economic mobility
This grant is intended to catalyze small and mid-sized organizations – with an operating budget of $500,000 or less – for whom capacity building support will strengthen and sustain our grant partners’ work, elevate work to the systems level, and increase impact. We are also looking to support organizations that are:
- Based in or primarily serving the Greensboro area.
- Founded, led, and governed by people who reflect the communities they serve.
- Representative of place- and/or identity-based communities most impacted by historical inequities, including, but not limited to: people of color; LGBTQ+ people; people living with low to moderate incomes; immigrants and refugees; people who are involved with the justice system; and people with disabilities.
- Nonprofit organizations. Organizations without a 501c3 status but who have a fiscal sponsor can apply.
- Pursuing community-powered work that centers social and economic justice. Those efforts might include: mobilizing people and organizations, developing leaders, fostering connections, leading anti-racism efforts, and the many other ways to make justice-centered improvements in our communities.
Grant proposals are ineligible for funding if they:
- Promote specific political or religious views
- Engage in political or lobbying activities
- Already receive support through the 2025 Partnering for Health Equity grant
How to Apply
Click this link to submit your application.
The application period is open from Monday, Aug. 25 to Friday, Sep. 19.
Questions?
We are hosting several information sessions to answer any questions about the grant and how to apply. Here are session dates and times:
- Wednesday, 9/3 5:30pm to 6:30pm: Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship
- Wednesday, 9/10 at 1pm to 2pm (Office Hours – Virtual Session): Click here to register
If you have further questions or need support, please contact our Finance and Grants Manager, Luke Wallace, luke.wallace@conehealth.com
