This year, a total of 3 (three) grants will be awarded in the amount of $116,000 each.

 Please read the following guidelines before you begin your application.

  Application Opens April 25, 2024 at 12:00 pm Eastern time
  Application Deadline May 24, 2024 by 6:00 pm Eastern time

Please note that the email address/account used for the submission of the application will receive all official communications from Impact100 Traverse City's Submittable account, including questions or requests for additional information via the Submittable platform and official selection or declination notifications. Thus, the submitter should be someone who will be monitoring the account and application for the duration of the review period.

Applicant Eligibility: In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants who would be receiving the grant funds (either as the recipient or as a fiduciary with a co-applicant) must be:
 

• A tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code
• Based in Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, or Leelanau counties.
• Free of legal actions declared: including current or pending conflicts

 
Initiative Eligibility: In order for an initiative to be eligible for funding, the proposed initiative must:
 

• Serve residents of and expend funds fully in Impact100 Traverse City's five-county region described above. 
• Be transformational and increase the breadth and depth of an organization through innovation, deepening, or expansion

                  Innovation:  new program or capital project, or services delivered in a new way
                   Deepening:  more services of the same provided more often to the current population
                   Expansion:  expanding the service to a new population

• Have a total project budget for at least the full amount of the Impact100 Traverse City grant amount noted above. 
• Expend funds within 24 months of the award date, unless Impact100 Traverse City is promptly notified of timeline changes and approves an extension.
• Rank our Focus Areas in order of applicability to the initiative.
• Have a plan for sustainability beyond the grant award period, when Impact100 Traverse City funds are no longer available.

 Please note that the following purposes or initiatives are deemed ineligible for funding:
 

• Debt reduction, operational deficits, operating expenses or overhead. (Note: operating funds may be requested if applicable to a new initiative/project to be funded by Impact100 Traverse City)
• Grants to individuals
• Endowment funding
• Interim or bridge funding
• Partisan, legislative or political activity
• Capital improvements or renovations to property for the grant project where the applicant organization may be denied access to at some point in time
• A project of an individual church, religious organization, or body of worship for its own benefit

In order to be considered for funding, applications must be complete and include all of the required information and attachments. If an applicant fails to meet the aforementioned criteria, the application will not be considered for funding.

Grant Award/Reporting Period: The award/reporting period for this grant program is generally 15 months, beginning November 1, 2024 and ending on February 1, 2026.  

Funding Schedule and Reporting Requirements: Applicants who are awarded a grant will receive their initial distribution (typically 25% of the grant total) on November 1, 2024. The typical reporting/funding schedule for the rest of the cycle is as follows:

• February 1, 2025 - first progress report due; second distribution (25% of the grant total) will be released after the report is received
• May 1, 2025 - second progress report due; third distribution (25% of the grant total) will be released after the report is received
• September 1, 2025 - third progress report due; fourth distribution (final 25% of the grant total) will be released after the report is received
• February 1, 2026 - final progress report is due (note that if the funded project is not fully completed as of this date, grantees will be required to submit one or more additional reports through completion of the project)

The awarded funds must be used/expended within 24 months of the award date, unless an extension is otherwise granted by Impact100 Traverse City.

 The aforementioned are guidelines and may be adjusted at Impact100 Traverse City's sole discretion depending on several factors, including but not limited to a grantee's particular situation. Each grantee will be required to sign a contract detailing their specific payment and reporting schedule before receiving funding.

Accommodations and Language Access: Grant funds may be used to support American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter services, language interpreters and translation services, or the purchase of adaptive equipment to support activities that help to ensure individuals with disabilities, Deaf and hard of hearing individuals and persons with limited English proficiency should have meaningful and full access to their programs, as related to the proposed initiative. For example, applicants proposing to use grant funds to create website, videos and other materials must ensure that they are accessible to persons with disabilities.

Review Process: The grant application process is competitive and all applications will be reviewed by Impact100 Traverse City members that volunteer to serve on our Grant Review committees. First, applications will be assigned to one of our five Focus Area Committees, which are:
 

• Arts & Culture - Charitable initiatives that cultivate, develop, educate, and improve the cultural climate 
• Education - Charitable initiatives that further the ability to educate and improve education
• Environment, Preservation, & Recreation - Charitable initiatives that preserve, enhance, revitalize, or restore facilities and surroundings  
• Family - Charitable initiatives that strengthen and enhance the lives of children and families 
• Health & Wellness - Charitable initiatives that positively impact mental or physical health and wellness 

 The applications, including the financial information and attachments submitted with the application, are read, reviewed and scored by the members of the assigned Focus Area Committee. Applications that move beyond the initial review phase will then be reviewed by volunteer members of our Financial Review Committee (FRC), with a deeper focus on the provided financial information and conditions. Once the FRC review is completed, the Focus Area Committees will then each select applications to move on for a scheduled site visit. Once site visits are completed, the Focus Area Committees will each select their finalist(s). The selected finalists are announced at the Meet the Finalists event. Finalist Executive Initiative Summaries are then circulated to Impact100 Traverse City members in advance of the Annual Meeting.

 At the Annual Meeting, representatives from each of the finalist organizations will provide a short ten-minute presentation to our membership. Presentation time is subject to change and confirmed at the Meet the Finalists announcement. After all finalist presentations are completed, the winning grantees will ultimately be selected by rank voting from the membership. The winners will be announced at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.

 Visit https://www.impacttc.org/grants/ for additional information about the Impact100 Traverse City Grant Application Process.

 If you have remaining questions that are not addressed either above or at the weblink, please email: grants@impacttc.org.  Specific questions pertaining to grant applications should not be sent to individual Impact100 Traverse City members, and will not be answered. Instead, please email such questions to the official Grant Review Committee email address above. Official responses from Impact100 Traverse City related to grant applications will be provided only through grants@impacttc.org.