2019 Grant Cycle awards $365,000 to local nonprofits

Tags: Grant Cycle

Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation has completed its 2019 Community Grant Cycle. Every year, TTCF requests proposals from eligible North Tahoe-Truckee nonprofits for several areas of funding. These areas include: an open-competitive funding stream for any and all requests; nature grants from TTCF and Martis Fund*; the Queen of Hearts Women’s Fund; and aligned grantmaking through the Tahoe Donner Giving Fund.

2019 grantmaking highlights include:

• $365,000 in total funding- the most awarded since 2016!
• 37 funded requests
• $9,865- average grant award

We are proud to say that $170,000 was awarded in mission driven and unrestricted grants, that’s 47%! These grants represent some of the most difficult funding to secure from other sources. Thanks to our longstanding relationships with our local nonprofits, we can confidently award these trust-based unrestricted funds that ensure they can drive their mission forward. We also awarded another $70,000 in capacity building grants that help nonprofits build training, tools, and knowledge that strengthens their organizations.

The annual grant cycle is also an opportunity to see the big picture of what is happening in our community and how nonprofits are responding to emerging needs and trends. Right now, we are seeing a concerted effort to support arts and culture as an economic driver for our community. It was evident that prioritizing cultural infrastructure would have longterm significance for our local economy and to attract shoulder season tourism. In the area of environment, there was a focus on forest solutions, the resiliency of our more populated areas, and the support of science and data. TTCF focused on leveraging our funds in order to increase awareness of the local forest health crisis and potential solutions. And, of course, we saw our nonprofits continue to focus on the well-being of our families and residents.

We also hosted the annual Queen of Hearts Women’s Fund GEMS Event in early December. This event brings together the women and girls who have donated $1,000 or more to the Women’s Fund endowment. This endowment kicks off an annual grant cycle aiming to award $60,000 a year in four areas of impact. This year, Girls Giving Back (GGB), TTCF’s youth philanthropy project, took the helm and emcee’d the event. GGB is comprised of girls between 12-18 years old who have a passion for catalyzing community change. Through the work of hosting their own annual grant cycle, they learn skills in event hosting, meeting facilitation, fundraising, and the grants process. We are so proud to see these young women maturing into empowered community changemakers.

TTCF and our partners are proud of the opportunity to provide these grants to our local nonprofit community. Still, the need always outweighs the available funding and we were only able to fund 57% of the requested dollars. If you’re interested in learning more about local projects in need of funding, please call (530)587-1776 to set up a time to talk to Phyllis McConn, our Community Impact Officer.

2019 Grantees

Achieve Tahoe – Health and Human Services

Adventure Risk Challenge – Youth Development

Aim High – Youth Development

Arts For The Schools – Arts and Culture

Big Brothers Big Sisters  – Youth Development

Biking for a Better World – Recreation

Choices People-Centered Services  – Health and Human Services

Community of Writers – Arts and Culture

Conservation Science Partners – Environment

Emergency Warming Center – Health and Human Services

Friends of the Truckee Library –  Community Improvement

Gateway Mountain Center – Youth Development

Headwaters Science Institute – Education      

Humane Society of Truckee Tahoe – Animal Welfare

Lake Tahoe Dance Collective – Arts and Culture

Mountain Area Preservation – Environment

Nevada County Arts Council – Arts and Culture

North Tahoe Arts – Arts and Culture

Placer County Law Enforcement Chaplaincy – Health and Human Services

Positively Rolling – Youth Development                  

Sierra Community House – Health and Human Services

Sierra Nevada Alliance – Environment

Sierra Senior Services – Health and Human Services

Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships – Education

S.N.O.W. Museum – Arts and Culture

Tahoe Food Hub – Community Improvement

Tahoe Institute for Natural Science –  Environment

Tahoe Rim Trail Association – Environment

Tahoe Truckee School of Music – Arts and Culture

The Nature Conservancy – Environment

Trout Unlimited – Environment

Truckee Arts Alliance –  Arts and Culture

Truckee Donner Land Trust – Environment

Truckee River Watershed Council – Environment

Truckee Roundhouse – Community Improvement

Truckee Trails Foundation – Environment

UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center – Environment

*The Martis Fund is a collaborative project of the developers of the Martis Camp community and its members, Mountain Area Preservation (MAP), and Sierra Watch.