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Multiyear General Operations Grants

KZCF offers grants with a three-year commitment to support general operations for organizations serving Kalamazoo County. This grant type is a good fit for organizations that have received grant funding from KZCF in the past five years.

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Grants at a Glance

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$25-175K

$50K Average

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Multiyear Award

3-Year Grant Term

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Application Opens

Feb. 12, 2025 

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Application Deadline

March 26, 2025, by 5 p.m.

Grant Details

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Eligibility Criteria

  • Organizations must be a nonprofit 501(c)(3), registered religious institution or public entity (i.e., governmental agency, public school, educational institution, city council, public library, municipal office, etc.), or a project with a current eligible fiscal sponsor.
  • Organizations must connect to at least one of KZCF’s WHEN priorities.
  • The organization or its programming must be located in Kalamazoo County.

What KZCF Grants Do NOT Fund

  • Projects that intervene in any election or support or oppose political candidates for voter registration or lobbying purposes as outlined by the applicable IRS code
  • Annual appeals or event sponsorships (See KZCF sponsorship opportunities.)
  • Episodic and/or one-time programs and events (See KZCF sponsorship opportunities.)
  • Direct funding for individuals
Additional restrictions for this grant type include:
  • Organizations can apply once every three years.
  • Organizations receiving multiyear grants will generally not be prioritized for Annual Responsive Grants.
  • Funding commitment could be subject to change based on annual availability of KZCF funds.

Funding Opportunity & Amounts

In 2025, there is one opportunity to apply for a multiyear grant. The next opportunity to apply for this type of grant will be in the spring of 2028. If a grant is awarded, you will be in a three-year grant term.

Multiyear grant awards range from $25,000 to $175,000 with an estimated average award of $50,000. Grants will be for the same amount each year.

  • An estimated $5 million is available to fund approximately 60 to 80 organizations.
  • Ten percent of the funds available are earmarked for organizations that build capacity for the nonprofit sector or that serve as backbone institutions for collective impact or sector coordination efforts.
  • If funded, the grant term will be from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028.
  • Awards will be renewed annually after the annual reporting is completed and the new grant agreement is signed.

Application Submission Requirements

Be aware that your online application will need to be completed in one session. To help the process go smoothly, we suggest that you gather all of the submission documents and use one of our application templates below to prepare your answers before you start.

  • An organizational budget
  • One to three proposed outputs or outcome data points that will be evaluated annually, including projections for each point
  • A collection of demographic information, including the racial/ethnic identifications of staff, board members and clientele
  • An indication of significant leadership changes at the organization or board level
  • An indication of any findings related to a financial audit in the past two years
  • An explanation of the current standing of the board, including the number of members, their relation to the executive director and the governing bylaws
  • Narrative responses to questions about your request

Annual Reporting

Funded partners must engage in an annual reporting process each year during the three-year grant period. The annual report will include two components:

  • An opportunity to engage in a grant reflection conversation with a Community Impact officer (CIO) prompted by the CIO.
  • A submission of summarized data through a provided form.
Required information to be submitted includes:
  • Total number of individuals served across the grant year.
  • Combined geographical information for those served, collected by either township/city, zip code or school district. This information will be collected in a percentage format.
  • Combined racial/ethnic demographics for those served, collected in commonly utilized categories. This information will be collected in a percentage format.
  • Actual numbers for the impact data points that the applicant identifies within the application. See the Reporting section for details.

Get started with this grant — it’s easy!

Apply Online

Submit an online application by the next deadline (once every three years). Be sure to gather your required submission documents and use our application templates to prepare before you start.

Sign Your Grant Agreement

The outcome of your request will be sent via email by the end of June. If a grant is awarded, you’ll receive a grant agreement to sign and return.

Payment Sent — Keep in Touch!

An annual report will be required each year of your grant period, and we encourage you to contact your CIO at any time with questions about your grant or guidance in your transformational work.

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    Grants got you stumped? 
Ask Kari.

    To learn more about our grantmaking process, get guidance with your grant-writing, or ask any lingering questions, contact Kari Benjamin Hamann via the contact form or call 269.381.4416.

    Not a Match? Explore More Grants!

    KZCF has many grant options to fit your nonprofit, business or organization needs.

    Annual Responsive Grants

    Capital Grants

    Mobilizing Grants

    Grant Resources at the Ready

    Visit the Blog for More

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