Women’s Giving Circle Grants

OVERVIEW

By hosting the Women’s Giving Circle, the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF), has made a commitment to building philanthropy in its local community.

The Women’s Giving Circle is an initiative of the Catholic Community Foundation inspired by a new generation of philanthropists and donors. Each Giving Circle member is an active participant in the community grantmaking process. The members come together as a group, pool charitable donations from all their members, and then make collective decisions about to whom to grant their pooled money. This is often referred to as “pooled philanthropy.”

CCF is fostering generosity in the local community by providing opportunities for members of the Women’s Giving Circle to join together, magnifying their philanthropy into more impactful grantmaking.  

Since its start in 2016, the CCF Giving Circle has awarded $1.4 million in grants to over 70 local organizations of the New Orleans metropolitan area. In 2024 alone, CCF Giving Circle awarded grants totaling $202,000 to 25 non-profit organizations.

ELIGIBILITY FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Grants are awarded to Catholic-affiliated, non-profit organizations that serve the spiritual or corporal needs of the people within the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Geographic Focus:  Applications must demonstrate that grants will be used to serve and impact people within the 8 civil parishes comprising the Archdiocese of New Orleans.  These include the civil parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Washington.

Base Eligibility: 

• A beneficiary organization must qualify as a not-for-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• A beneficiary organization must have practices that are aligned with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Check the link to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for clarification:   https://www.usccb.org/

Further Eligibility Requirements:

 (Note that organizations are found in the local Catholic Directory prepared by The Clarion Herald.  Please contact The Clarion Herald for more information and/or for any questions regarding eligibility for inclusion in the directory.) 

• Programs that are Catholic and programs that are faith-based are the foci of the “giving” of CCF’s Women’s Giving Circle. These programs are the preferences of the Giving Circle.
• Catholic parishes and schools of the Archdiocese of New Orleans typically do not qualify.
• Preferred programs share the following characteristics:  Sustainability, Collaboration, and Operation with more than one funding source.
• The Women’s Giving Circle seeks to fund project proposals that do the following:
  1. Have a well-planned approach and address a clearly identified need with   clearly stated goals, objectives, and means of measuring outcomes
  2. Help fulfill the primary mission of the organization.
  3. Are likely to continue and expand after the grant period, becoming self-sustaining.
  4. Provide creative solutions and demonstrates efficiency in its use of funds.
  5. Support the mission of the Church and its ministries.
• The beneficiary organization is asked to submit its prior year-ending financial statement and the current year’s budget during the application process. All sources of funding should be included in the financial statement.
• Beneficiary organizations primarily funded by private philanthropy sources are preferred.
• Government funding is a consideration in the grant-making decision process. 
• Funding projects that are not recommended for funding include:  

            --Annual drives or annual giving campaigns

            --Organizational endowment

--Capital projects, fixtures, furniture (except for items that directly benefit project participants)

--Direct or indirect administrative costs

--Purchase of event tickets or event sponsorships

--Deficit reduction

--Political activities or political action committees

 Funding Focus Areas:

• Three focus topics will rotate every year in this cycle 
• Each year these 3 topics for grant program consideration rotate:
  1. Children and the Family
  2. Women
  3. Innovation
• The grant focus area for 2025 is Children and the Family.
• The upcoming year’s focus will be posted on the CCF website by October 1 of each year. 

Other Considerations/Requirements:

• Grant monies must be used solely for the purpose for the funds were applied and approved.
• Monies awarded for the project should be expended within one year of the grant award.
• Organizations are limited to one grant proposal for consideration during a single grant cycle.

GRANT APPLICATION OVERVIEW

• Grant applications will be accepted in January and February of each year. Organizations will be notified before March 7 if they are to be considered in the grant process.
• The grants process will be a three-phase process. 
  1. Phase I is the Pre-Application phase. Organizations are asked to complete a Recipient Organization Interest Form by November 30, 2024.

The Form is below. (Submission of form will give the Women’s Giving Circle leadership a heads-up for how many organizations plan on applying for a grant. LOI also places the potential beneficiary organization on the mailing list for all future addendums and modifications to that particular application, including potential deadline changes.)

1. Phase II is the Grant Application. This includes a Grant Narrative and Financial Records. The application window will be open between January 6 and February 7 of 2025.
2. Phase III is the Women’s Giving Circle Grant Impact Bus Tour.  At this fall event, the beneficiary organization is asked to submit an impact report outlining the impact of the grant from the Giving Circle that had been awarded in the spring.  The organization may also asked, if appropriate, to be available to host a “site visit” by the Circle.

If you have any questions about your organization or program’s eligibility, please   contact Kathi Zimmerman at (504) 527.5794 or at [email protected].

Form of Intent