Competitive Grant Cycle Process
The Springfield Foundation awards competitive grants from a variety of funds created by our donors.
We offer one grantmaking cycle per year. Decisions for grant awards are typically announced at the end of November/early December. Please note that first consideration is given to applicants whose programs, projects, and services are closely aligned with the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy.
Applications for the 2025 Competitive Grant Cycle open on Monday, June 30th and close on Monday, August 11th at 4:30pm.
1. Check Your Eligibility
To be eligible for funding from the Springfield Foundation charitable organizations are required to:
- Be a nonprofit organization exempt from Federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, churches, or government units including public schools and municipalities. If you do not have a 501(c)(3), you may enter into an agreement with a qualified nonprofit that will act as your fiscal agent.
- Have a governing board, and conduct business without discrimination based on race, religion, gender, age, disability, or national origin.
- Provide programs and projects serving the Clark County, Ohio community.
- Provide to the Springfield Foundation a board approved diversity, equity, and inclusion statement.
The Springfield Foundation does not award grants from discretionary funds for the following purposes:
- Awards to individuals, including fellowships, travel, study, research, camps.
- Support for individual political candidates and/or lobbying efforts.
- Annual campaigns or dues.
- Endowments outside of the Springfield Foundation.
- Sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytizing.
- Fraternal, political, labor, athletic, and social or veterans’ groups.
- School bands and school choral groups, drill teams, or color guards.
- Annual fund drives or fundraising activities.
- Returning applicants who did not complete their previous grant requirements (i.e., reporting).
2. Read Our Grantmaking Strategy
Through our competitive grants program, we invest in nonprofits that are working to meet current community needs in the following fields: Arts & Culture; Civic Affairs; Education; Environment, Conservation, & Animal Welfare; Health; and Human Services. For more information on our grantmaking strategy, click here.
We also provide field of interest funding from endowments created by donors directed to a broad area reflecting their personal interests. There is no separate application for this funding. All applications are evaluated for their relevance to these areas which include:
- Animal Causes (spay/neuter)
- Arts (performing arts in schools and arts for individuals with a diagnosed mental illness)
- Children and Youth
- Conservation and Preservation
- Construction Trades (training and education)
- Environmental Activities
- Education
- Health (cardiac and respiratory ailments, cancer care, prenatal and postpartum programs, and dental)
- Homeless Shelters
- People with Disabilities (blind and vision impaired, deaf and hard of hearing, physical, developmental)
3. Attend or View a Grant Information Session
For those unfamiliar with the Foundation’s application process, you are encouraged to attend one of the Grant Information Sessions that are held in the spring. These workshops offer an overview of the grant application process. View the Grant Sessions and Workshops page for specific dates.
4. Apply for A Grant
The Springfield Foundation utilizes the user-friendly and efficient platform, GoApply, to streamline the process of accepting and reviewing grant applications. As this marks the initial year of the Foundation's utilization of the GoApply platform, we anticipate some transitional challenges, and therefore, we kindly request your patience and understanding during this process. If you have questions, please call 937-324-8773 or email lori@springfieldfoundation.org.
