$178,625 in Grants Awarded from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund

Matches needed for $500,000 challenge grant from Longwood Foundation.

In its seventh round of grants, the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund today awarded $178,625 to 11 nonprofit organizations providing services to communities throughout the state.

The grants will address a broad range of community needs during the pandemic. Grantees are:

In this seventh round, 40 applicants requested more than $1 million from the COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, which is housed at the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF).

The fund, which launched on March 18, has awarded $2 million to 91 Delaware nonprofits so far.

Based on the nature of the applications, these grants initially focused largely on immediate community needs.

Now, the grants have been broadened to address a combination of immediate needs and broader community needs, including the arts, culture, the environment, workforce development, animal welfare and others.

The fund will provide the final weekly grants opportunity next week. The deadline is noon on May 18. The grants program will then resume two weeks later, as described here.

The fund will accept additional grant applications on June 1 and June 15. The June grants will target nonprofit organizations – both large and small – playing key roles in various sectors, throughout the state.

While we cannot address the sustainability of every nonprofit organization, the goal of these grants is to strengthen the sustainability of the sectors traditionally upheld by nonprofits, including health and social services, education, the environment, workforce development, animal welfare, the arts, culture and others.

These grants target solvent nonprofit organizations with solid plans for long-term fiscal sustainability, strong leadership and management. The plans should be responsive to the changing environment for funding, as well as evolving community needs. Organizations with a history of serving underserved populations will be favored.

The application for June grants will be available late next week at delcf.org/covid-grants.

The council is actively raising money to be able to respond to community needs, said Stuart Comstock-Gay, who chairs the council.

“As the pandemic continues, the needs are growing and evolving,” Comstock-Gay said. “We are calling on the community to help local nonprofit organizations get food, shelter, medical care and other essential services directly to the people who need it most. We also must support our workforce, arts community and other sectors to restore our quality of life post-COVID-19.”

The Longwood Foundation, which previously gave $1 million to the Strategic Response Fund, recently awarded a $500,000 grant, with the stipulation that the DCF must raise a matching $500,000 from the community by May 30.

To make a gift that qualifies for the match, give at delcf.org/covid19-fund or contact Joan Hoge-North.

The Strategic Response Fund was established on March 18 to address the state’s emerging and evolving needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grantees are selected through a rigorous process that involves a diverse team of more than 50 community leaders representing all three counties and a range of areas of expertise. Final decisions are made by the COVID-19 Grants Council:

The fund will continue to award grants for as long as funding is available and community needs exist related to COVID-19. Through Memorial Day, applications are being processed weekly. Applications received by noon on Monday are reviewed, grantees are selected Friday morning, and funds are transferred Friday afternoon.

The application is open at delcf.org/covid-grants. The deadline for the next round of awards – the final weekly grants opportunity – is Monday, May 18, at noon.

The fund, which is being directed by Philanthropy Delaware President Cynthia Pritchard, already includes generous gifts from the Longwood Foundation ($1.5 million), New Castle County ($500,000), Welfare Foundation ($200,000), Crestlea Foundation ($100,000), Fund for Women ($100,000), Highmark ($100,000), Laffey-McHugh ($100,000), Discover ($75,000), DCF ($75,000), DuPont ($75,000), CSC ($55,000), M&T ($50,000), JP Morgan Chase ($30,000), Bank of America ($25,000), TD Bank ($25,000), WSFS Bank ($25,000) and others. The DCF also has waived all administrative fees for this fund, and credit card processor Stripe has waived fees up to $50,000, so that 100 percent of the funds are going to organizations helping people in need.

The Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund is part of the Delaware COVID-19 Emergency Response Initiative, a nonprofit collaborative response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The DCF, DANA, PD and United Way of Delaware are partnering to coordinate charitable resources to maximize impact statewide during this crisis.

To contribute, visit delcf.org/covid19-fund.