•  Mission
•  Our Values
•  Who We Are
•  CCHD Funding Practices •  Volunteer
•  Get Involved In Your Community
•  Bequest
•  Matching Gifts
•  Stock Donation
•  United Way
•  Sign Up for Newsletter
•  DD Corner
•  Online Evaluation
•  About the Collection
•  Who the Collection Helps
•  Resources •  Collection Materials
•  Faith-sharing Resources
•  Connect with a Group
•  Poverty Awareness/Action
•  Poverty Ride
•  Retreat
•  Youth/Young Adults
•  Quarterly Newsletter
•  Sign-up
•  E-greetings
•  Reflections •  Overview
•  Art Contest
•  Internships
•  Leadership Award
•  Resources/Activities

CCHD Community Organizing Grants Criteria and Guidelines

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s community organizing grants program is focused on supporting low-income led community organizations that bring individuals together and train them to identify and challenge policies and structures in their communities that perpetuate the cycle of poverty.

Only organizations that are not now receiving an organizing grant are required to submit an Eligibility Quiz. Eligibility Quizzes are accepted on a rolling basis between September 1st and November 1st. CCHD recommends submitting your Eligibility Quiz well in advance of the November 1st deadline, to help with our processing and to give eligible applicants more time with the next step in application.

Current CCHD community organizing grantees, which are eligible for another year of funding, will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to access the online application and interim report by mid-October.

Several years ago CCHD implemented a six-year rule policy. All organizations who have received funding for any period of six or more years since 1997 are ineligible to apply to CCHD for a three-year period. This policy applies whether the organization received funding for six years on a continuous or intermittent basis. It also applies whether the organization received funding for its current organizational structure, for leadership or formational initiatives, or for related organizations that preceded its current structure. After the three-year interval, these organizations will be eligible for funding requests for up to another six years before the same interval cycle will be repeated. Please contact the Grants Specialist in your geographic area to determine your eligibility for the current grant cycle.

Criteria

1. The activity for which funding is requested must conform to the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church.
2. The applicant organization must demonstrate both the intention and capacity to effectively work toward the elimination of the root causes of poverty and to enact institutional change. CCHD defines institutional change as
   
   
   1. Modification of existing laws and/or policies;
   2. Establishment of participatory and just social structures and/or redistribution of decision-making powers so that people living in poverty can be involved in policy-making that affects their lives. 
   
   
   
3. The organization’s efforts must benefit people living in poverty. At least 50 percent of those benefiting from the organization’s efforts must be people experiencing poverty.
4. People living in poverty must have the dominant voice in the organization. At least 50 percent of those who plan, implement and make policy, hire and fire staff (e.g., the Board of Directors, etc.) should be persons who are involuntarily poor (clergy, VISTA volunteers, students, etc. are considered by CCHD to be voluntarily poor).
5. The organization should demonstrate ongoing leadership development, because it is considered essential to the strength, depth, and sustainability of the organization.
6. The organization should demonstrate a clear vision for development of financial capacity that might include membership dues, grassroots fundraising, foundation, and/or corporate support.
7. The organization must be fully nonpartisan when engaging in political activities. Organizations engaged in partisan political activity are not eligible. 

Top of page

Guidelines

1. The organization’s efforts should directly benefit a relatively large number of people, rather than a few individuals.
2. The organization should generate cooperation among and within diverse groups, in the interest of a more integrated and mutually understanding society.
3. An applicant organization seeking "seed" or "matching monies" will also be considered. If requesting these monies, applicants should present positive documentation that other public and/or private sources will commit their funds to support the organization’s efforts.  

Ineligible for Funding

The following general classifications do not meet CCHD criteria and/or guidelines for community organizing grants:

1. Organizations with primary focus on direct service (e.g., daycare centers, recreation programs, community centers, scholarships, subsidies, counseling programs, referral services, cultural enrichment programs, direct clinical services, emergency shelters and other services, refugee resettlement programs, etc.)
2. Advocacy efforts where only staff, a few individuals, or middle to upper-income people are speaking for a particular low-income constituency without the direct involvement and leadership of low-income individuals.
3. Organizations controlled by governmental (federal, state, local), educational, or ecclesiastical bodies.
4. Research projects, surveys, planning and feasibility studies, etc.
5. Individually owned, for-profit businesses.
6. Organizations that would use CCHD money for re-granting purposes, or to fund other organizations. 

Organizations not now receiving an organizing grant are required to submit an Eligibility Quiz. Eligibility Quizzes are accepted on a rolling basis between September 1 to November 1. CCHD recommends submitting your Eligibility Quiz well in advance of the November 1 deadline, to help with our processing, and to give eligible applicants more time with the next step in application.  

Questions about grants? Email us at cchdgrants@usccb.org

Top of page