In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the Community Foundation of New Jersey established the New Jersey Recovery Fund to support the immediate and long term needs of New Jersey’s communities and its nonprofit sector in response to the Hurricane. To date, national and regional foundations as well as individual donors have pledged nearly $5 million in support of this effort.
Today, the Community Foundation announced the guidelines for the New Jersey Recovery Fund, which focuses on five overarching areas:
- Public information and community engagement
- Reframing the conversation: policy reform to support resiliency and sustainability
- Innovative community/regional planning demonstration projects
- Environmental protection and restoration
- Community-driven/participatory arts projects
In addition to inviting targeted proposals from specific organizations, the Community Foundation has designed a process that is open to a broad array of possibilities and partnerships. Communities and nonprofit organizations, as well as partnerships which may include individuals, nonprofits, businesses and municipalities are invited to submit their best ideas for consideration.
In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants should be based in New Jersey or partner with a New Jersey nonprofit organization or municipality, though exceptions may be made (see the guidelines for further details).
The Fund will support catalytic ideas and projects with an emphasis on innovation, collaboration, resiliency and sustainability as New Jersey recovers from Hurricane Sandy. It is not designed to provide disaster relief funding for businesses, individuals or nonprofits.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
In coordination with the Community Foundation, the Dodge Foundation will be managing the online application process. All applicants must first submit an online letter of inquiry. After a thorough review of the letters of inquiry, applicants that are invited to apply will be asked to submit a full proposal.
DEADLINES:
- Online Letters of Inquiry may be submitted any time between February 4 and February 25th, 2013.
- Applicants that are invited to submit a full proposal will be notified no later than March 6, 2013.
- Proposals from applicants invited to apply will be due no later than March 22, 2013.
All inquiries and proposals will be reviewed and grant recommendations will be made by participating contributors to the Fund. Grant awards will be disbursed by the Community Foundation of New Jersey.
For full application details, guidelines, and a link to Dodge’s online application system, please visit the New Jersey Recovery Fund pages on the Dodge website.
Image of Sea Bright, NJ after Hurricane Sandy is courtesy of Community Foundation of New Jersey