Funding

Each funding opportunity offers its own eligibility criteria and applicant deadlines. Typically, we consider grants for the following:

• Projects: Specific sets of activities carried out over a defined period of time
• General Operating Support: Day-to-day expenses to carry out the organization's mission
• Capacity Building: Enhancing financing, governance, planning and other business capabilities
• Capital: Facilities or infrastructure improvements 

Who We Fund

• Colorado organizations classified as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3)
• Colorado public agencies, including state and local governments
• New or emerging organizations without 501(c)(3) status are permitted to apply through a tax-exempt organization acting as fiscal sponsor
   
  • The fiscal sponsor must maintain full discretion and control over any awarded grant funds and should have the organizational capacity to manage and accept the risks involved with fiscal sponsorship
  • The project must be aligned with the fiscal sponsor’s charitable mission
  • The fiscal sponsor’s board must approve the project as furthering the sponsor’s charitable mission before applying for a grant from The Colorado Health Foundation
  • For more information, download the Foundation's fiscal sponsor policy and sample memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Note: If a public support test requirement to retain public charity status applies to your organization, as a public charity grantee of the Colorado Health Foundation, it is essential that you ensure a grant from the Foundation will not cause your organization to lose its status as a publicly supported charity. 

Who We Don’t Fund

• Organizations that willfully discriminate against a particular class of individuals
• Organizations not abiding by all applicable local, state and federal anti-discrimination laws in hiring, employment practices and when providing services
• Individuals
• Scholarships and scholarship funds
• Programs that require membership in a certain religion or advance a particular religious faith (faith-based organizations may be eligible for funding if they welcome and serve all members of the community regardless of religious faith, provided they do not require participation in activities that are specifically religious)
• Programs operated by, or that benefit, for-profit organizations
• Debt retirement
• Fundraising events
• Endowments 

Before You Apply

1. Ensure your work aligns with our cornerstones and 10 priority areas
2. Review our funding opportunities and decide which one aligns with your organization’s work
3. Connect with a program officer to discuss your project or program ideas
4. Create an account in our grantee portal at least one week before applying.  

Applying

• We ask that applications are submitted electronically through our grantee portal. If you need another option, please send us an email or call 303-953-3600
• Please use the Google Chrome browser to ensure full functionality of the grantee portal
• Review each funding type for specifics around eligibility and deadlines.

Resources

• Instructions for online submissions and sample application
• Review our Grantmaking Glossary to become familiar with the terminology that appears throughout the application process
• The Colorado Nonprofit Association is a statewide coalition that connects nonprofits of all sizes
• Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Colorado details nine principles and 120 practices to help Colorado nonprofits assess and strengthen their work
• The Foundation Center offers FAQs, reference guides and information about writing grant proposals
• Introduction to Proposal Writing training course is offered live or online
• Grantmakers for Effective Organizations offers strategies and practices that contribute to grantee success

Program Officers are available at any time during the funding process, even before you apply for a grant. If you need assistance developing ideas or submitting a grant application, we encourage you to connect with a program officer online, or call us at 303-953-3600 or toll-free at 877-225-0839.

Note: If your work serves Alamosa County, Crowley County, the City of Pueblo, Eagle County, East Colfax Corridor, Montrose County, Morgan County, Otero County or Rio Grande County, please learn about our Locally Focused Work to connect with the program officers assigned to those areas. 

1. Who is eligible for a Colorado Health Foundation grant?

• Organizations based in Colorado and serving Coloradans
• Organizations classified as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3)
• Colorado public agencies, including state and local governments
• Tax-exempt organizations acting as fiscal sponsors may apply on behalf of, or in collaboration with, an organization that does not have 501(c)(3) status
   
  • The fiscal sponsor’s board must approve the project as furthering the sponsor’s charitable mission before applying for a grant from The Colorado Health Foundation. Please download the Foundation's fiscal sponsor policy and sample memorandum of understanding (MOU). If you have any questions about your organization's eligibility, please contact us at 303-953-3600 to speak with our grantmaking department

All organizations must abide by all applicable local, state and federal anti-discrimination laws in hiring and employment practices and when providing services.

2. Who is NOT eligible for a grant?

• Individuals
• Scholarships or scholarship funds
• Programs that require membership in a certain religion or advance a particular religious faith
   
  • Faith-based organizations may be eligible for funding if they welcome and serve all members of the community regardless of religious faith, provided that they do not require participation in activities that are specifically religious
     
• For-profit organizations or programs operated by, or for the benefit of, for-profit organizations (unless otherwise stated within a particular Funding Opportunity)
• Debt retirement
• Endowments, except as part of an initiative designed to help nonprofits achieve financial sustainability
• Organizations that willfully discriminate against a particular class of individuals

3. What type of grant support does the Foundation provide?

Typically, we consider grants for projects, programming and capacity building, but funding criteria vary based on the funding opportunity. On occasion, we also consider requests for capital funding if the proposed efforts have a demonstrable link to our community outcomes.

4. Does the Foundation make multiyear grants? 

Yes, many CHF funding opportunities are for multiyear grants. We encourage applicants to clearly outline the need for multiyear funding.

5. How long does it take to receive grant funding? 

The review process generally takes 90 days.

6. How does the Foundation decide who receives a grant? 

Each application is assigned to one of our program officers. The designated program officer will work with their team to review the proposal thoroughly and consider, among other things, the applicant's proposed strategy, organizational capacity to achieve the results and coordination with complementary efforts of other organizations. Priority is given to applications that are aligned with the specific funding opportunity’s criteria and The Colorado Health Foundation’s cornerstones.

7. Can I apply for more than one grant at the same time?

Yes, you can apply for more than one grant if they are for different programming or different priority areas. No grant applications are guaranteed to be funded.

8. Does the Foundation provide grants to agencies outside Colorado? 

Only when the project will provide a significant benefit to Coloradans.

9. What are the grant application deadlines? 

We have three annual deadlines: Feb. 15, June 15 and Oct. 15. When these dates fall on a holiday or weekend, the deadline will be the next business day.  

10. How can my organization apply for a grant? 

Grant applications are submitted electronically, using the Google Chrome browser. We recommend that applicants type answers to the proposal questions into a word processing document, then copy and paste the text into the appropriate section of the online application. This helps speed the process and helps you avoid losing unsaved responses. Complete instructions for online submissions can be found here. You can also download a sample application.  

If you are unable to complete an online application, please email Ryan Severts, Senior Director of Grantmaking Operations, or call 303-953-3665 for instructions about an alternative submission.

11. What financial information do you request in the application?

We ask that you describe how you will use the requested funding by providing a brief budget narrative. If you are applying for more than one year of funding, we ask that you include the total amount requested for each year. We also ask that you share with us other major sources of funding – financial or nonfinancial – for the program or project.

12. What should I do if my organization does not have audited financial statements? 

We request that you provide your most recent fiscal year's unaudited statements, including the profit and loss statement and balance sheet.

13. My organization is fiscally sponsored. Whose board, executive leadership and staff should I provide information for?

Please provide information for the applicant organization. In this case, information should reflect the fiscal sponsor.

14. If I am using a fiscal sponsor, what additional materials do I need to provide?

• Fiscal sponsor's financials (most recent full 12 months, audited if available within that timeframe)
• Fiscal sponsor agreement (please refer to the Foundation's fiscal sponsor policy and sample MOU)  

15. I submitted my application, but there's a mistake in it. Can I submit another one?

 If you discover a mistake in your application or have any technical difficulties, please call our Grantmaking Operations team at 303-953-3600.

16. I've submitted my application. What should I expect now? 

Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an email confirming receipt. Please note that the decision-making process may take up to 90 days. Once a decision has been made, you will be notified promptly.

17. Is my organization's information kept private when I apply online?

The Foundation takes your privacy seriously. We do not rent, sell or share information about you or your grant application.

18. How can I find out why my funding request was declined so that I can be more successful the next time? 

You can contact your program officer about the details of your application and the review process.

19. Why does the Foundation collect demographic data?

As The Colorado Health Foundation continues to center equity in all we do, we recognize a need to be clear and transparent with applicants and grantees about what we expect of them and what they can expect from us when it comes to deepening the Foundation’s equity orientation and practices for our operational and programmatic work.

As we work to advance health and health equity across Colorado, we are committed to doing the hard and necessary work of intentionally charting our path forward on our own organizational justice, equity, diversity and inclusion learning journey and practice. As such, we seek to engage with organizations who are at different points in their own learning journeys, including those who are miles ahead of us and those who are just starting this critically important work.

As part of this commitment to learning and evolving, the Foundation strives to understand how we and those we work with are advancing equity within our own institutions and the communities we exist to serve. Moving forward, we are requesting key demographic data from grant applicant organizations about themselves (their staff and board) and the communities they serve.

Demographic data requested includes identification related to race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and disability. There is also an option to share additional demographic data that does not fall within the above-mentioned categories. The information collected will serve as one data point, among many, in our effort to understand how those with whom we engage are approaching the work of advancing equity. Applicants have the option to enter data in “do not track” or “prefer not to say” options as well as to provide feedback on these questions overall.