CARES Grants

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Akron Community Foundation and the County of Summit have partnered to provide nonprofit organizations one-time grants of up to $50,000.00 for Summit County businesses: Summit County CARES Nonprofit Assistance. The total pool of funding is $6.5 million with $1.5 million devoted specifically to arts nonprofits.

The application period will close Friday, Oct. 16, at 11:59 p.m.
Grants will be announced the week of Nov. 16, 2020.

For more information, visit the Akron Community Foundation website.

Because this grant is very different from many arts grants, which rely upon very specific initiative plans and impact assessments justifying programs, here are some best practices to get you started:

Up to 50% of the award may cover general operating expenses with the other 50% being allocated to costs related to providing alternate programming during the pandemic and/or re-equipping your organization to re-open.

These might include (examples):

  • Funds for “COVID Safe Reopening” projects
    • Personal Protective Equipment
    • Plexiglass barriers
    • Hand Sanitizer
    • Ticket scanners
  • Compensation for individual staff members (whether regular employees or contractors) who are aiding in these projects
  • Funds for new, COVID-friendly programming
    • A/V equipment for producing a new video series
    • Hiring of a video crew to film a video
    • Increased bandwidth to support streaming video
  • Funds to convert previously-planned programming into a COVID-friendly format or creating new ways to deliver services.
    • Classes or events moved into a socially-distanced format like outdoors or online or NEW programs created in a socially-distanced format
    • Instructors, artists, or staff who execute these programs
  • Funding is for 2020, so all funds must be used by 12/30/2020
  • Language such as “a business interruption” or “an interruption of business” is appropriate to use.

This does not include:

  • Lost revenue of any type
    • Lost revenue for ticket sales
    • Compensating individuals for projects which did not take place
    • Reimbursement for supplies or equipment purchased for projects which did not take place
  • Funds for projects taking place after 12/31/2020

When applying, remember that justifying the impact of your program is not the emphasis of this grant. Instead, focus on discussing how you have been working safely to make the adjustments necessary to provide your services.