Community Impact Fund grants
Multiply the impact of giving
Napa Valley Community Foundation is helping to create a more durable community by pooling resources from a variety of donors and investing in charitable projects in our community.
Impact and innovation
We always want to have the greatest possible impact with our grantmaking. We look for projects where a limited investment can make a big difference. This is important for us, given the relatively small size of our assets. We also seek innovative programs or pilot projects that attempt promising new ways to tackle existing problems. Often, we find that when we provide seed funding, our grant acts as a catalyst, inspiring others to invest.
Gaps and practicality
Napa County has some capital-intensive needs, such as affordable housing and expanding hospitals to meet increasing demands. Our county is also home to grantmakers who direct a large amount of funding to these projects. Since our assets are limited, we look for gaps where our resources can do the greatest good—programs, causes or places in our community that deserve attention but aren’t getting it. We take a practical approach to closing (or at least narrowing) those gaps with thoughtful grants that are relatively modest in size.
Flexibility and rigor
We recognize that many competitive grant programs, including some of ours, accept applications just once a year. This means that some critical community needs go unmet due to funders’ timelines. We know from experience that a $1,000 grant at the right moment can sometimes do more than $5,000 too late. We’ve developed some Community Impact Funds that allow us to review ideas and proposals year-round, so we can respond to needs as they arise. We also have designed a simple, but rigorous, application and review process. We ask tough questions, carefully review proposals, and draw upon experts who can help inform our decision-making.
Each Community Impact Fund has a unique grantmaking focus, as well as specific guidelines and application requirements.
