Grantseeker FAQs

All potential applicants should review and identify the TFEC funding opportunity or opportunities that best meets their current need and service area at. www.tfec.org/nonprofits/grants-overview/. Applicants may begin an application at any time by clicking on the desired funding opportunity; applicants are not required to contact TFEC prior to beginning an application. However, the Community Investment Team is happy to answer your questions and may be reached via email at grants@tfec.org or phone at 717-236-5040 to discuss a project.

Yes, all potential applicants are welcome to attend an orientation with a member of our Community Investment Team. Send an email to grants@tfec.org to request an orientation.

Prior to the meeting, all potential applicants should visit https://www.tfec.org/nonprofits/grants-overview/ and identify the TFEC funding opportunity or opportunities that best suit their present need and service area.

Yes, all applicants are invited to contact the Community Investment Team at 717-236-5040 or grants@tfec.org to discuss a proposed project or application. Applicants may also request one review of their draft application materials by them as well, prior to submission; please note that requests made later than two weeks prior to the grant submission deadline cannot be honored. Questions are welcome at any time.

Yes.

Applicants may apply to multiple grant opportunities, but may not submit more than one grant application to each opportunity. When applying to multiple grant opportunities, do not seek funds for identical services and/or programs within identical regions. However, you may seek grant funds for the same service and/or program, if serving a separate region.

Yes, applicants may apply to multiple grant opportunities, but may not submit more than one grant application to each opportunity. When applying to multiple grant opportunities, do not seek funds for identical services and/or programs within identical regions. However, you may seek grant funds for the same service and/or program, if serving a separate region. 

TFEC and its grant opportunities do not fund individuals, capital campaigns, religious organizations for the propagation of religious doctrine, advertising, direct lobbying to influence legislation, and retroactive projects. All applicants must also adhere to the posted grant guidelines for additional information regarding eligible or ineligible activities within each grant opportunity.

Each grant proposal is evaluated upon adherence to the posted grant guidelines, provided criteria for evaluating proposals, and connection to the stated funding priorities of each grant opportunity. Specific criteria for evaluating proposals will be found within the posted grant guidelines.

No, but you may provide a link to information that you would like to share in your narrative or in any supporting materials. Please check all links prior to inclusion.

The maximum request and/or average grant amount may be found within the posted grant guidelines for each funding opportunity. TFEC will not fund 100% of any project and grants are frequently awarded at lower levels of funding. Funding for retroactive projects (reimbursement of program activities that have occurred prior to the grant application) is not permitted.

TFEC does not require matching funds for a proposed project. However, TFEC is unable to fund 100% of any project and asks that applicants demonstrate where the remaining supporting funds for the proposed project will come from. Please note that a grant review committee may choose to conditionally award an application upon the organization’s ability to leverage additional funding from outside sources.

Sustainability and planning for sustainability from a project’s beginning is very important. TFEC believes that funding through our grantmaking process should be used as a piece of the puzzle to develop a comprehensive strategy to sustain vital programs and services. We are most interested in organizations that demonstrate the ability to leverage additional community resources and partnerships to ensure continuation of the project after TFEC funding has ended.

Our grant opportunities are available annually through 1 of 3 grant cycles with deadlines of February 1, May 1. and August 1. Please visit our website for the deadline date of the grant opportunity you are seeking to apply to.

All TFEC grant applications are submitted through our online portal. Each application for each grant opportunity must be submitted separately.

Yes, the provided grant application contact will receive an email from the Community Investment Team stating the application has been received and is complete. If materials are missing or incomplete, the Community Investment Team will contact the provided grant application contact prior to disqualification of the application.

Applicants must follow the grant guidelines for each funding opportunity and submit the required information. If an applicant submits an incomplete application, the Community Investment Team will send an email to the applicant’s appointed contact to make the required changes. If the Community Investment Team does not receive the information within the next 3 days after the first email, the application will be considered incomplete and will be denied by TFEC. An application that is submitted after the application deadline will be eliminated from consideration.

If an applicant submits an incomplete application, the Community Investment Team will send an email to the applicant’s appointed contact to provide the missing components. If the Community Investment Team does not receive the information within the next 3 days after that email, the application will be considered incomplete and will be denied by TFEC.

Organizations who submit a grant application to the February 1 deadline will receive a notification letter on or by June 1 of the same year. Organizations who submit a grant application to the May 1 deadline will receive a notification letter on or by August 1 of the same year. Organizations who submit a grant application to the September 1 deadline will receive a notification letter on or by December 1 of the same year. Some grant opportunities may use a slightly shorter timeline, see the grant guidelines for the opportunity you are interested in.

Each grant term consists of 12 months unless otherwise stated within the grant guidelines. Proposed projects may take place at any time during the proposed grant year. We encourage applicants to review the specific grant guidelines for each funding opportunity available with TFEC.

TFEC seeks both quantitative and qualitative measures of success and asks grantees to state how project success will be measured within their grant application. All grantees are required to complete Final Evaluation materials that address the success of the carried out work in comparison to the proposed work. TFEC frequently conducts scheduled site visits during or following the grant year to supplement provided information.

Yes, all grant recipients are required to submit a Final Evaluation. A copy of the required evaluation form is included in the grant award packet and all Final Evaluation forms are available for download on the Grantee Toolkit Page Please note that it is the grantee’s responsibility to contact the Community Investment Team should the grantee need to seek any grant project changes. All grant shifts are submitted to TFEC and the respective grantmaking committee for evaluation, approval, and/or denial. See additional details below.

The grantee shall provide in writing a request for any modification to this agreement, including shifts and extensions. For shifts in budgets or funded activities, TFEC must be notified at least 6 months before the end of the contract period. For contract extensions, TFEC must be notified at least 1 month before the end of the contract period. All requests can be sent to grants@tfec.org.

If using a fiscal sponsor, you will need to apply using that organization’s information during registration such as; Organization Name, Address, Federal EIN, Executive Director/CEO/President Contact Information. The Fiscal Sponsor organization will also need to review and sign off on the application before submission. There will be instructions in the application on how to send them a copy of the application to review and sign off on. The organization acting as your Fiscal Sponsor will receive notification of whether or not a grant has been awarded. If a grant is awarded the Fiscal Sponsor be required to execute the Grant Agreement and awarded grant funds will be sent to the Fiscal Sponsor to be allocated to your organization appropriately. The Fiscal Sponsor will be responsible for ensuring the funds are used as indicated in the original proposal and/or Grant Agreement. If using a fiscal sponsor, be sure to follow all direction under the “Fiscal Sponsor” heading within each grant application

The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC), founded in 1920 by Donald McCormick, is a community foundation, incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. TFEC accepts gifts from individuals, families, organizations, institutions, and through bequests and planned gifts all of which make up its permanent and non-permanent fund portfolio. Investment returns earned from these funds are returned to the community through TFEC’s discretionary and donor-designated grantmaking programs. TFEC’s discretionary program service area is the South Central Pennsylvania counties of Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon, and Perry, and the Dillsburg Area. Our donors can also distribute grants to many qualified charitable organizations across the United States and internationally.

Yes! TFEC’s mission is to inspire giving by partnering with donors to achieve their charitable goals, and strengthen our local communities by investing in them now and for future generations.

TFEC is home to five regional foundations. Each of these regional foundations serves a particular geographic area and has their own grant guidelines, grant deadlines, and grant review committees. Each regional foundation’s grant information is posted on TFEC’s website.

TFEC’s regional foundations are:

• Dillsburg Area Community Foundation
• Franklin County Community Foundation
• Greater Harrisburg Community Foundation
• Mechanicsburg Area Community Foundation
• Perry County Community Foundation

TFEC believes that all voices are vital for our region’s future. We promote equity and embrace the diversity of individuals, ideas, and expressions. We are prudent and grateful stewards of the assets, time, and talent entrusted to us. We value creating permanent legacies that support long lasting community change. We will accept nothing but the highest standards of honesty, mutual respect, confidentiality, and transparency.

There are multiple online tutorials and resources available here:

Applicant Tutorial: Step-by-step instructions on how to complete an application and different features of the site that can help you along the way.

Collaborator Tutorial: Instructions on how to invite the CEO/President, Board President and Fiscal Sponsor to view and sign off on your application. 

You can also contact The Community Investment Team at grants@tfec.org.