Community Grants Program (CGP)


Funded by our endowment to support our priority areas


The Community Grants Program is The Denver Foundation’s signature funding strategy, which is supported by The Fund for Denver, our permanent endowment. Our permanent endowment is made up of unrestricted gifts from dozens of donors to The Denver Foundation given in the past 100 years. These gifts are intended to meet the needs of today and ensure there are resources for building a better Denver far into the future. Learn more about The Fund for Denver here.

The Community Grants Program supports nonprofits in the seven-county Metro Denver region working in our four priority funding areas: economic opportunity, environment and climate, housing, and youth well-being.

This funding opportunity’s goal is to support organizations working to reduce disparities by incorporating community and constituent leadership and racial equity into their approach. Through the Community Grants Program, we aim to improve the lives of historically oppressed people living in Metro Denver, with a particular focus on people who live in low-income communities and communities of color. We seek to reduce racial and ethnic, and economic disparities. You can read the complete guidelines on our website.

Grant awards typically range from $20,000 to $50,000.

You can read the complete guidelines on our website.

ELIGIBILITY

  • Your work must be aligned with The Denver Foundation’s values.
  • Your organization must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or have a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor.
  • Your organization must be located in the seven-county Metro Denver region that addresses one or more of the goals described. You can read the complete guidelines on our website (and in Spanish).

Grant awards given in previous years are no guarantee of future grant awards.

Not eligible for funding: 

  • Capital campaigns
  • Building endowments or reserve funds
  • Membership campaigns
  • Sponsorships
  • Retroactive funding, i.e., activities, projects, or programs that will be completed before funding becomes available
  • Debt retirement
  • Grants to individuals (please see the Strengthening Neighborhoods program for opportunities)
  • Grants for re-granting purposes
  • Grants for medical, scientific, or academic research
  • Grants that further political doctrine or religious activities
  • Grants to private, parochial, or religious schools
  • Scholarships (for more information, please visit our website)
  • The Denver Foundation does not fund organizations or programs that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), physical or mental disability, pregnancy status, body type, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, except to serve a historically disadvantaged group.

Additional information

The Community Grants Program has two grant cycles. You can read the complete guidelines on our website (and in Spanish).

  • Cycle 1 applications open on Jan. 15, 2025, and close March 3, 2025. 
  • Cycle 2 applications open June 16, 2025, and close Aug. 1, 2025.  

We do not fund proposals that fall outside of our priority areas. Please check all that apply when filling out the application form. For information on other funding opportunities with different priorities, search our funding opportunities webpage