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If Community Connections (CC) has been approached, the discussion often starts between Administration and the group or individual considering applying for a grant. A meeting of this nature is meant to vet the idea, discuss potential funding needs, review the typical grant application process, and relay the benefits of using Community Connections for the grant project or program. Community Connections charges an administrative fee, which becomes part of the project budget, for its role in assisting with the grant process and project life cycle. Often, individuals or smaller groups don’t qualify for grants because they don’t necessarily have a non-profit structure or the creditability expected in place. Credibility often comes with being a registered society, having experience and a track record, a Board of Directors, and support staff. Structure comes in the way of things like liability insurance, public transparency, reporting capability, acceptable accounting, and workers compensation coverage. In part, Community Connections was created to act as an umbrella society which has these capabilities and can therefore enable local individuals and groups to apply for grants and run projects and programs with integrity and responsibility.

Services CC may provide at this point in the grant development process are:

  • Discuss potential funding sources we have experience or familiarity with
  • Provide advice based on the nature or requirements of the project concept
  • Provide the names/contact information of funding source representatives and/or individuals who have done similar projects or applications
  • Contact fund providers for Q&A and feasibility where we have a relationship

One of the challenging tasks at this point in the process is finding funding source(s) which best fit the idea or concept project. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of organizations that can offer funding. The task of researching these to determine an appropriate fit requires a lot of work. Much can be done by browsing the internet. Regardless of the source, one needs to be willing to spend time working through the information provided to understand the objectives, qualification criteria, guidelines of each grant offering, and to truly determine whether applying to a particular organization is a good fit for the idea.
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