Strategy Grant Guidelines

• Supporting workforce development programs (for example employment skills and job training leading to employment and long-term economic independence)
• Expanding small business strategies that create new jobs (for example infrastructure related to micro-lending or entrepreneurship programs)
• Contributing to place-based economic development projects that build on local assets and retain wealth within our communities (for example assisting handmade or cottage industries, value added agricultural production, preserving working farms or heritage tourism)
• Helping residents access and maintain safe and affordable housing (for example implementation of local or regional housing plans, workforce housing, permanent housing for at-risk populations, home repair or energy efficiency programs, or financial literacy programs)
• Promoting or implementing smart growth principles including recommendations from the Region A Mountain Landscapes Initiative Toolbox (PDF, 125MB)
• Providing employment for disadvantaged populations (for example rehabilitation centers or grassroots cooperatives)

• Supporting nonprofits who advocate for expanded early education access (for example promoting access to More at Four or increasing the childcare reimbursement rate in a county)
• Establishing and/or increasing high quality afterschool and summer programs that academically and socially benefit at-risk students (for example collaborative efforts to provide afterschool resources for middle school youth)
• Creating or improving school-community partnerships that reduce the achievement gap and academic disparities among students (for example mentoring, models that build successful coordination between schools and local community service providers, increasing support for disadvantaged children and families within and outside school)
• Improving the ability of families to learn and develop skills to more effectively participate in their children's education (for example improving family literacy skills or parent/caregiver education programs)

We encourage you to view the statewide foundation report , "Education is the Foundation" (PDF, 2MB) for background information.

• General operating expenses (except for specific costs including staffing directly related to the proposed project)
• Capital support including feasibility studies and architectural designs
• Recreational programs and equipment such as playgrounds
• Festivals or one-time events such as exhibits, performances or fundraisers
• Scholarships or direct support of individuals including one-time emergency assistance
• Activities taking place or expenses incurred before grant decisions are made
• Sectarian religious purposes
• Partisan purposes
• Veteran affairs
• Endowment, deficit funding or debt retirement

• nonprofits with significant unrestricted revenue such as hospitals
• private schools, clubs, and childcare centers
• EMS or fire departments
• organized sports programs
• state or national organizations, unless funding is sought for a portion of the program that directly benefits WNC, and local people assume leadership