Grantmaking for
Central Indiana Racial Equity Fund

• Central Indiana, Black-led 501(c)(3) organizations. Eligible organizations must have a 501(c)(3) tax exempt designation OR use a fiscal sponsor that has a 501(c)(3) designation. Organizations without this particular tax exempt designation will be disqualified from consideration. 
• The CIREF steering committee defines a Black-led organization as having a majority (50% or greater) Black board of directors and executive leadership (this includes the executive director and other senior leaders). 
• Organizations must have experience operating a program aligned with one of the CIREF priority areas for at least three years 
• Organizations may use a fiscal sponsor or fiscal agent to apply on their behalf but must provide information on plans to become an independent nonprofit. 
• Organizations must have annual revenue between $25,000 and $249,999. 
• Organizations that submitted applications in the first CIREF round may apply. 

Black-led organizations seeking to strengthen their internal infrastructure in one or more of the following areas: 

1. Fund Development/Grants Management 
2. Board Governance and Planning 
3. Program Development and Evaluation 
4. Financial Management System 
5. Communications/Technology 

• Grants awards range from $25,000 to $75,000 
• There are three categories of awards: 

*Example: A total grant award of $25,000 could be used over a one-year or a two-year period. 

1. Eligible organizations must operate at least one existing program aligned with CIREF priorities for three years or more. 
2. Funds must be used to secure resources or expertise to improve the organization in one or more of the designated funding categories. No portion of this grant may be applied to the implementation of the program.
3. The Fund will provide guidance to awardees in the use of capacity-building resources.
4. Eligible organizations must submit a current board of directors list. 
5. Awardees will be required to participate in special convenings facilitated by the Fund and provide regular reporting for the duration of the grant period.
6. Organizations must submit current Form 990 or financial statements with the application.

• Non-Black-led organizations 
• Requests for organizations and programs operating outside of CIREF’s priority areas 
• Organizations with programs operating for less than three years 
• Funding to support the implementation of a program or service 
• Direct awards to individuals.  

• Central Indiana 501(c)(3) organizations currently offering one or more programs aligned with the CIREF priority areas and seeks to scale up the work. Organizations without a 501(c)(3) tax exempt designation will be disqualified from consideration. 
• Program(s) must have documented outcomes demonstrating the potential for greater success, if properly scaled. 
• Organization must have annual revenue of $250,000 or greater. 
• Non-Black-led organizations are eligible to apply, but they must partner with a Black-led organization to carry out the scaling strategy.  
• Black-led organizations may apply as the lead and do not need to partner with other organizations, although it is highly recommended. 
• Black-led organizations collaborating with other organizations, but not serving as the lead, may also apply for Category A.  
• Organizations that submitted applications in the first CIREF round may apply.

​Organization must select one of three scaling strategies to apply to an existing program or programs: 

1. Service reach – organization seeks to reach more people (ideally, justice-involved youth/adults or families) 
2. Service expansion – organization seeks to add an additional evidence-based program or service to enhance their overall program model 
3. Service replication – organization seeks to replicate their proven/documented program in other geographic areas throughout Central Indiana. 

• Grant awards up to $300,000 based on the annual revenue of the organization.  
• There are two categories: 

*Example: A total grant award of $150,000 could be used over a one-year or a two-year period.  

General Criteria 

1. Organization must provide information on the program(s) to be scaled including alignment with the CIREF priority areas. 
2. The program(s) to be scaled must have been in operation for three years.  
3. The organization must build on the success of its past work and demonstrate outcomes achieved. 
4. Organizations must describe efforts to work with and learn from people who have been systematically oppressed and/or excluded, as well as efforts to engage area residents. 
5. Organizations will have up to two years to implement their scaling strategy. 
6. In addition to completing the entire application, organizations must submit additional documentation including: 

• Organization’s current board of directors list 
• Current Form 990, financial audit or financial statements 
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with partners (if applicable) 
• Logic model (optional)

• Requests for projects outside of CIREF’s priority areas 
• Organizations offering a series of activities or events versus a complete program. 
• Applications submitted by non-Black-led organizations without a Black-led partner organization  
• Requests for programs operating less than three years 
•  Requests that do not directly serve or impact justice-involved youth or adults or provide opportunities that reduce and/or prevent their participation in the criminal justice system 
• Requests that do not primarily support African-American youth and/or adults 
• Direct awards to individuals.  

Please read the guidelines, and if you have questions, plan to attend one of two virtual application assistance workshops that will be offered. Recognizing that this may be the first time many organizations apply for a capacity-building grant, the CIREF steering committee is taking some additional steps to provide support for all organizations interested in submitting applications, including these assistance workshops. At each virtual workshop, attendees will:

• receive an overview of the application guidelines and instructions for submitting an application, and
• have the opportunity to ask questions of the assistance team.

In addition to the assistance workshops, for applicants who still have questions – particularly as it pertains to completing the application—office hours will be established for applicants to attend virtual sessions with a small number of other applicants to address questions specific to their applications. All sessions will be virtual. Here are the dates and times:

Application assistance workshops:

• 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. on April 20
• Noon – 1: 30 p.m. on April 27

Office hours sessions:

• Noon – 1:30 p.m. on May 4
• 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. on May 11

We selected times during the day and evening to accommodate diverse work schedules.

Register to attend any of these opportunities here.

No. Recognizing many organizations may have similar questions regarding how they should respond to this opportunity, we will offer assistance workshops and office hours to allow maximum opportunities for individuals to raise questions or seek clarifications in lieu of scheduling individual meetings with CICF staff managing the Fund or the CIREF steering committee.  

If an interested applicant does not represent a registered 501(c)(3) organization by the IRS, to ensure compliance with U.S. Code, they must partner with a 501(c)(3) organization to serve as the financial administrator for the grant. The fiscal sponsor or fiscal agent typically has no influence on use of funds and serves as a pass-through, charging a small administration fee (usually no more than 7%) for the handling of a grant on behalf of the recipient organization. The optimal fiscal sponsor/fiscal agent will be mission aligned and provide a low to no-cost solution for applicants to receive charitable contributions.

In the prior grant-making guidelines, the CIREF committee expressed interest in investing in opportunities that support Black-led organizations serving African-American youth and/or adults. Moving forward, the CIREF committee developed specific guidelines regarding the definition of Black-led organizations.  For the purpose of this grant-making round, CIREF defines a Black-led organization as having a majority (50% or greater) Black board of directors and executive leadership (this includes the executive director and other senior leaders). Applicants will be required to: 1) provide additional information regarding the race and gender of board members, executive leadership, and staff as part of the application, and 2) submit a current board list. 

Yes. Black-led organizations may apply for Category A and be included on a team for Category B as long as they are not the lead organization for the Category B application.

If an organization received an award in the first round, the organization may apply for one of the categories in this round.  An interim report for the first round grant must be submitted to ciref@cicf.org prior to being considered for funding in the second round.

Yes. For organizations applying for Category B, if your application is selected as one of the finalists, members of your project team will be required to participate in an interview conducted by the CIREF steering committee.  More instructions will be provided to organizations selected as finalists. We have set the date for interviews for June 17, 2021. Organizations applying for Category A will not participate in interviews. 

We welcome additional questions the guidelines may not cover. Please submit your inquiry to ciref@cicf.org.  Someone from our team will review all questions and respond.