Community Needs Grants (up to $25,000)

The Scranton Area Community Foundation makes grants from our Unrestricted General Endowment Fund (Community Needs Fund) to foster good ideas that have the potential to strengthen our community and enrich the lives of the people of Lackawanna County.

We respond to community needs and opportunities with grants in diverse fields such as children and youth, education, animal welfare, arts, human services, seniors, environmental, housing, and veteran’s issues.

Through our grants, we provide support to 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, schools, and government entities that work to address the needs of people living in the Lackawanna County region.

Applications will be reviewed by Foundation Leadership and the Grants Distribution Committee. Grant applications are assessed and evaluated according to specific criteria including but not limited to:

• Impacto en la comunidad: El proyecto debe estar bien definido y responder a una necesidad de la comunidad. El proyecto debe indicar una población atendida definida, indicar cómo repercutirá en la calidad de vida del condado de Lackawanna y ofrecer resultados cualitativos o cuantitativos medibles en un plazo determinado.
• Organizational Capability: Organizations should present a well-defined mission; A demonstrated record of success; A financially sound structure; and leadership and staff with proper expertise to complete the project.
• Project Feasibility and Sustainability: The application should include an appropriate budget for the project, and should detail how the project will be completed. Other funders and future funding of the project should be identified.

Spring 2023 Community Needs Grant Cycle Deadlines

Plazos para presentar un Carta de intenciones (LOI) for a Community Needs Grant:

• Miércoles, Marzo 15th, 2023
  • If invited to apply, applications will be due: Sábado, Abril 15th, 2023

Ready to apply?As part of our ongoing commitment to building the capacity of our nonprofit professionals and to better serve our grant seekers, our grant application process is now streamlined through our online grant management portal. All grant requests are handled through the online portal.

The grant application process generally begins with submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the online portal. To submit an LOI, you will need to log on to your organization’s account in our online grant management portal. If your organization does not have an account established, you will need to create an account*.

*If you are unsure of your organization’s account credentials, please contact your organization’s leadership to inquire or email us at grants@safdn.org for further instruction.

Other 2023 Grant Opportunities

In addition to Community Needs grants, This year we will offer the following grant opportunities from our Unrestricted General Endowment Fund (Community Needs Fund):

• Subvenciones para necesidades críticas (up to $5,000) which are made for emergencies or pressing, unanticipated needs to 501c3 organizations in the Lackawanna County region.
  • Las Cartas de Intenciones (LOI) para Subvenciones para Necesidades Críticas se aceptan y revisan de forma continua a lo largo del año.

• Subvenciones para actos comunitarios (up to $1,000) which are made to support community events hosted in the Lackawanna County region, which add value to the overall community and enrich the lives of those in our area. This program is not intended to support fundraising events.
  • Las Cartas de Intenciones (LOI) para las Subvenciones para Eventos Comunitarios se aceptan y revisan de forma continua a lo largo del año.