Grants

Application & INFORMATION

Downloadable Applications

Grant Application

Grant Application Cover Sheet

*All submissions can be sent by email to info@portagefoundation.org or mailed to The Portage Foundation 138 E. Main St – Suite 201C, Kent, OH 44240.

Our Grant Process: What you need to know

Our Guiding Principles

The Portage Foundation is the only community foundation in Portage County. We embrace the unique responsibility of a community foundation – to provide funding assistance for programs throughout our geographic area that have an impact on improving lives and strengthening our community. We are proud to serve the needs of the region. Portage Foundation grants are as diverse as Portage County. Our grant process is designed to focus on the following guiding principles:

Organizational Strength

We support efficient and effective nonprofit organizations with the capacity to significantly improve the community. We value organizations that demonstrate sustainability, honesty and transparency, and those that remain true to their mission.

Community Impact for the Region, Addressing Root-Causes of Problems

We support collaborative efforts that help individuals, families and neighborhoods thrive by addressing immediate needs while also creating widespread improvement within Portage County. We prefer to fund organizations that address the underlying cause of a problem to make a lasting improvement.

Accountability

We honor the charitable intentions of our donors to help them meet current and future needs of our community. We serve as stewards of our donors’ community investments. We hold ourselves and our grantees to the highest standards of ethics, integrity, service, and fiduciary responsibility.

Capacity Building in the Nonprofit Arena

We support efforts that build governance, management, financial and organizational capacities of nonprofit agencies and the nonprofit sector as a whole. We also strive to create partnerships that address duplication of service, promote collaboration and coordination of services, and work toward effective and efficient use of funds.

Inclusiveness in the Region

We honor the diverse strengths within our community and support organizations whose missions promote inclusiveness. Our work also serves the region – including Atwater, Aurora, Brimfield, Garrettsville Hiram, Kent, Mantua, Ravenna, Rootstown, Streetsboro, Windham, and other neighboring communities. Our grants have impact in Portage County, surrounding areas that border our county, and in the region.

What we Do fund:

The Foundation’s grant-making areas are aligned in six categories: Arts and Culture, Economic Development, Education, Environment, and Health and Human Services. Animal Welfare and Youth Enrichments are among other areas in which donors have created funds to provide support.

Funding requests that align with the goals of our fund holders include (but are not limited to):

Program and program support
One-time grants for special projects
Seed money for start-up initiatives
Community projects that are collaborative and sustainable
Grantees may be invited to submit a second proposal in a subsequent funding cycle based on the outcome of a grant currently funded and depending on the availability of funds
Scholarships