Annual Competitive Grants
Grant Cycle Opens: 1/8/25
Full Applications Due: 2/7/25
Final Notification: 6/6/25
Annual Competitive Grants
Grant Cycle Opens: 12/1/2025
Letters of Intent Due: 1/7/2026
Letter of Intent Notification: 2/2/2026
Full Applications Due: 3/2/2026
Final Notification: 5/22/2026
Upcoming Information Sessions
Monday, November 24 at 12:00-1:00 PM
Monday, December 1 at 12:00-1:00 PM
Please use the sample form(s) below as a reference when preparing to submit your Letter of Intent through the grants portal.
Download the Competitive Grant Letter of Intent (LOI) 2026 Form as a Word Document here.
Download the Competitive Grant Letter of Intent (LOI) 2026 Form as a PDF here.
To be eligible for the annual competitive grant competition organizations must meet the following criteria:
- Be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
- Be up-to-date with Internal Revenue Service 990 tax form filings and have filed for at least one fiscal year
- Be serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, or Citrus counties
- Be able to apply under the organization’s own tax exempt EIN
- Be in compliance with all requirements of previous funds awarded through Community Foundation Tampa Bay including reporting requirements
*Organizations may be asked to verify their eligibility prior to receiving an award.
Focus Areas For Competitive Grants
High quality adult education, training, and skill building that leads to employment and promotes personal and financial prosperity.
Eligible programs in this focus area may include, but are not limited to:
- Career readiness and employment
- Entrepreneurship
- Work based learning experiences such as, internships, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training
- Postsecondary training and education
Supporting a thriving environment that is resilient and sustainable for generations to come.
Eligible programs in this focus area may include, but are not limited to:
- Conservation
- Environmental education
- Environmental justice
- Environmental resiliency and disaster recovery
- Land preservation
- Protection of natural resources
Access to resources that address an individual’s health and wellbeing including basic needs such as food, shelter, safety, physical, and mental health services. This focus area has three separate categories: basic needs, mental health and trauma services, and health and wellness.
Eligible programs in this focus area may include, but are not limited to:
- Basic Needs:
- Clothing and other essential needs
- Emergency and transitional housing
- Feeding programs
- Safety, security, and legal services
- Transportation assistance
- Mental Health and Trauma Services:
- Mental health services
- Substance misuse rehabilitation
- Trauma informed care
- Health and Wellness:
- Community based medical clinics
- Diagnostic screening such as vision and hearing
- Educational and awareness programs
- Promoting healthy minds and bodies
Access to high-quality, affordable, personalized learning opportunities, from birth through high school.
Eligible programs in this focus area may include, but are not limited to:
- Career exploration
- Child and youth development
- Digital inclusion and digital literacy
- Early literacy programs
- Land preservation
- Kindergarten readiness
- Social emotional learning
Vibrant spaces and inclusive programming for residents to enjoy, thrive, engage, and work.
Eligible programs in this focus area may include, but are not limited to:
- Access to arts and culture for those with disabilities
- Arts and culture projects that addresses complex social issues
- Art programming in low-income communities
- Creating community spaces including gardens and parks
- Development of community art
- Facilitating community collaborations and conservations
- Career readiness and employment
- Entrepreneurship
- Financial literacy
- Work based learning experiences such as, internships, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training
- Postsecondary training and education
- Conservation and recycling
- Environmental education
- Environmental justice
- Environmental resiliency and disaster recovery
- Land preservation
- Protection of natural resources
- Basic Needs:
- Clothing and other essential needs
- Emergency and transitional housing
- Feeding programs
- Safety, security, and legal services
- Transportation assistance
- Mental Health and Trauma Services:
- Mental health services
- Substance misuse rehabilitation
- Trauma informed care
- Health and Wellness:
- Community based medical clinics
- Diagnostic screening such as vision and hearing
- Educational and awareness programs
- Promoting healthy minds and bodies
- Career exploration
- Child and youth development
- Digital inclusion and digital literacy
- Early literacy programs
- Enrichment programs
- Kindergarten readiness
- Social emotional learning
- Access to arts and culture for those with disabilities
- Arts and culture projects that addresses complex social issues
- Art programming in low-income communities
- Creating community spaces including gardens and parks
- Development of community art
- Facilitating community collaborations and conversations
.webp)
How Competitive Grants Work
After you submit your LOI, you will be notified by email if you are invited to move to the next step, which is a full application. The full application and all subsequent steps are submitted through the same online grant portal. If your letter of intent is denied, you are welcome to apply during the next appropriate grants cycle.
If awarded, you will then need to complete a grant acceptance agreement, and your grant check will be mailed.
If your full application is denied, you are welcome to apply during the next appropriate grants cycle.
Acknowledgment and Reporting
FAQs
Yes. As long as your organization’s programming directly serves residents in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and/or Citrus counties, you are eligible to compete for a grant.
To be eligible, organizations must be legally established as a nonprofit with 501(c)(3) status and have filed an IRS Form 990 at least once.
View Previous Grants Awarded for examples of proposals that have received funding in the past.
Competitive grants generally do not fund:
- General operating and administrative costs: costs associated with executing the proposed project are acceptable, but general operating funds for the organization will not be considered for funding
- Individuals: academic scholarships, rent, utilities, or other direct personal support
- Buildings/renovations: capital campaigns, building construction, or major renovations
- Fundraising: annual appeals, fundraising events, membership contributions
- Research: medical or scientific research
- Politics: political campaigns or direct lobbying
- Religion: programs that are sectarian in nature or primarily for religious purposes
Yes, if they directly support program delivery (e.g., a refrigerator needed for a culinary arts program).
Yes. Grants may support salaries if the position is directly tied to the project proposed for funding. Be sure to describe the role’s impact and provide data showing the need.
Organizations may request up to 30% of their most recently completed fiscal year’s total revenue, as reported on IRS Form 990. In the last grant cycle, awards ranged from $5,000 to $55,000. The average grant award was $28,700.
In the last grant cycle, awards ranged from $5,000 to $55,000. The average grant award was $28,700.
In a typical competitive grant cycle about 1 in 5 Letters of Intent (LOIs) receive funding. Of those invited to submit a full application, about 1/2 are funded.
Yes. The grant can supplement other funding sources.
Estimate the number of individuals who will directly benefit from your project. In some cases, this may include both participants (e.g., students) and audiences (e.g., attendees at free events). Use your best judgment based on meaningful impact.
Grantees must submit a final report within one year of receiving funds. The report includes:
- Demographic information for those served
- Measurement metrics for the project
- A final budget showing how funds were spent
No, only a final report is required.
There is no preference given to previous applicants.
Yes. Applicants may use generative AI tools when preparing LOIs and full applications. However, applicants remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of all submitted content. AI may be used to assist with drafting, formatting, summarizing, or clarifying information, but all AI-generated text must be carefully reviewed to ensure it is accurate, verifiable, and reflective of the applicant organization’s actual work and intentions.
.webp)
%20(1).webp)