Arlington Tomorrow Foundation Marks 5 Years of Contributing to a Thriving Arlington and Modifies Application Process
To celebrate five years of service to the City, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation recently fine-tuned operations by announcing changes to its processes, restating its mission and by launching a new logo and website as a way to celebrate its history and to recommit the organization to its unique role in the community.
The charitable Foundation - dedicated to "contributing to a thriving Arlington by supporting the causes which benefit our citizens and enhance the natural surroundings and lifestyle of our city" - unveiled a number of tweaks to its procedures on Sept. 19 at a community meeting.
"We believe the Foundation has a solid base line and wanted to further build on our success," said Carolyn Mentesana, executive director of the foundation. Since the inception in 2007, the foundation has awarded $7.3 million in grants to 252 projects or programs designed to improve the quality of life in Arlington.
Grant Application Modifications
Among the changes are four major differences in the grant application process, which will go into effect Oct. 1, 2012:
- The foundation will accept grant applications year-round as opposed to operating with two application deadlines per year - each fall and spring.
- The organization pared down the number of grant categories from 10 to three - people, nature and lifestyle - to better capture the Foundation"s funding priorities.
- Caps previously assigned to each of the funding categories have been eliminated
- The Foundation will no longer consider an organization ineligible to apply for two years if the group had received a grant in two consecutive years.
"[These adjustments] are in keeping with the board of director"s interest in building on our history and on the Foundation"s potential to make meaningful projects and programs possible " Mentesana said, also mentioning that the foundation expects to award up to $1.5 million in grants to local programming during the upcoming fiscal year.
Past grant recipients are excited about the improvements.
"I think the changes are wonderful," said Patti Diou, executive director of the Levitt Pavilion, noting that the elimination of the sitting-out period benefits organizations like hers. "The new format really opens it up to bigger projects or different projects - not necessarily for us but across the board for all nonprofits."
Applicants can expect the two-step process to take four months to five months from beginning to end.
Helpful Resources
- ArlingtonFoundation.org
- Grant Eligibility
- How To Apply - Step-by-step instructions
- Letter of Inquiry Instructions
- Video of Sept. 19 Meeting Announcing Changes
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