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Foundation Announces Series of Pandemic Response Grants

The Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation (GWCHF) has announced a series of Pandemic Response Grants designed to ensure residents’ basic needs are met during the pandemic and beyond. The grant opportunities will be available through the end of the year and will support nonprofit and governmental entities with missions that promote health and wellbeing.

"Many of our local nonprofits, health and social service agencies are experiencing a significantly increased demand for services," said Tina Crave, GWCHF President and CEO. "Our Covid Emergency Response Grants will support these agencies in ramping up capacity to meet community needs."

"At the same time, some nonprofit organizations are experiencing cash flow challenges due to the pandemic," added Crave. "Nonprofit Stabilization Grants will provide emergency operational cash flow to help stabilize nonprofit organizations whose viability has been threatened due to the pandemic. Perhaps more importantly, grants will provide resources for agencies to receive professional technical assistance to evolve strategy, operations or fundraising approaches to thrive in the post-pandemic environment."

The Foundation is offering three Pandemic Response Grant opportunities:

Technical Assistance Grants

Technical Assistance Grants will support nonprofit and governmental agencies in engaging consulting expertise to evolve agency strategy, operations and fundraising to successfully fulfill the agency’s mission post pandemic. "The past year has forced many agencies to consider making significant changes to mitigate the pandemic’s impact," said Margaret Hanrahan, GWCHF Board Member and Grants Committee Chair. "These grants will provide technical assistance to support nonprofit Boards in rethinking sustainability plans and making pivots to serve the community in a new environment."

Covid Emergency Response Grants

Covid Emergency Response Grants support safety net agencies actively meeting basic community needs (including food, shelter, safety, education, health) who are experiencing increased demand or expenses due to the pandemic.

"We provided over $100,000 in Emergency Response Grants to fill critical service gaps in 2020," said Hanrahan. "We are pleased to make additional resources available for local agencies supporting the most basic needs of our community."

Nonprofit Stabilization Grants

Nonprofit Stabilization Grants provide cash flow needed to stabilize nonprofit organizations whose viability is threatened due to the pandemic. Nonprofit Stabilization Grants can be utilized to support fundraising gaps due to local event cancelations in 2020. Stabilization grants may also support agencies experiencing a significant loss in program and operational revenue due to the pandemic. "Our goal is to ensure nonprofits who meet critical community needs survive the pandemic and rebuild their agencies to serve our communities over the long term," said Hanrahan.

To Learn More

Prospective applicants can view the request for proposals, complete with application details, on the Grants page of the Foundation’s website at www.watertownhealthfoundation.com. Organizations may apply for more than one grant opportunity.

Accepted proposals must directly support the communities served by the school districts of Dodgeland, Hustisford, Ixonia, Jefferson, Johnson Creek, Lake Mills, Waterloo and Watertown.

In addition to its Pandemic Response Grant opportunities, GWCHF is accepting applications for Community Collaboration Grants on an ongoing basis. These grants are designed to support collaboration and build community connectedness. Community Collaboration Grants provide support up to $10,000 for partnerships that build a sense of belonging between community members or enhance community spaces where individuals can be active together.

To date, the foundation has invested nearly $10 million in its five strategic, child-focused priorities:

To learn more about the foundation and supported initiatives, visit www.watertownhealthfoundation.com or Facebook at Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation.