Applicants for funding should read and follow these funding guidelines

City of Creswell Mission Statement:

The City of Creswell exists to provide quality, reliable, and affordable city services to city residents and businesses creating a safe, livable, attractive community with a unique small-town atmosphere.

Purpose

The purpose of the City of Creswell’s Community Services Fund, managed by Creswell First!, is to assist those non-profit agencies and social service organizations that primarily serve Creswell’s residents and their basic needs.

Intent

Established by the City Council in 2013, the intent of the City’s Community Services Fund is to help nonprofit agencies and social service organizations with their work within Creswell city limits. This fund does this by providing grant awards for emergency needs, for matching fund requirements associated with other grant applications, for unique opportunities that arise outside of their annual budget cycle and normal program costs.

The use of this fund shall have a positive effect upon the basic needs of as many Creswell residents as possible. Basic needs include food, shelter, personal safety, and other needs, as identified by the requesting agencies and organizations.

Applicants do not need to be headquartered in Creswell but in order to be eligible, programs and resources must provide service to help Creswell’s residents.

The Community Services Grant Fund is administered by the city’s non-profit foundation, Creswell First!. Creswell First! shall announce the availability of funding, assist with the development of applications when needed, and screen applications. Determination of award is made by the Creswell First! in keeping with conditions written in this policy.

Creswell First! shall provide the City Council with an annual report stating the awards and providing progress reports about each funded project.

This fund is not meant to become a reliable source of funding. Creswell First! will make decisions based on the Review Criteria in this policy. Organizations may submit the same request each year, but there is no assurance of funding of any request. Each review year starts with a clean slate. This fund shall not be an applicant’s sole source of funding. Also, this fund is not intended for travel, meals or direct payment to individuals.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a grant, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Applicants must be a registered not-for-profit organization (recognized by the state of Oregon), or an organization or individual under the umbrella of an existing nonprofit organization;
• Programs and services must be accessible and delivered to Creswell residents;
• The majority of clients to be served by the proposed program or activity supported by the grant must reside with the City of Creswell.

Constraints

• The maximum award of $3,000 may be distributed to any one organization per calendar year. Creswell First! reserves the right to approve a grant that is less than the amount requested.
• Funds must be expended in full before additional funds may be requested.

Process

a) Pre-application period – Applicants will contact Creswell First! if they have questions regarding the Community Service Grant.

b) Applications due – Applications are due no later than November 30, 2023

c) Review – The following criteria will be considered when developing granting recommendations:

• Service to Creswell residents
• Total amount of funds available
• Total amount of all application requests
• Completeness of the application
• Addresses a compelling need in the community
• Increases reach/impact of social services to Creswell community
• Enhances opportunities for vulnerable population

d) Reporting

All successful applicants must submit a final report to Creswell First! upon completion of the project. To be included in this report:

1. Did you achieve your goals for this project?
2. Describe what your project accomplished and how did your project addressed a need in Creswell?
3. How many were served in total?
4. How the Creswell First! and the City’s Community Service Fund was publicly acknowledged?
5. Please submit a final fiscal report showing how the funds were expended.

If an applicant has requested funding from the Community Service Grant previously they must submit the final report for the previous grant before they will be considered for any additional award.

Emergency Requests

The City Council recognizes that from time to time an emergency may arise when an organization in need wishes to address Creswell First! directly, outside of the process outlined above. In these situations, the organization shall meet with the Board of Creswell First! to discuss the emergency and develop a request for action. Creswell First! will respond and report any action taken to the City Council.

Publicity

The City of Creswell requests that any funded organization announce the award in the media and in any of their publications and publicity, recognizing the City’s Community Services Grant contribution and Creswell First!’s role in facilitating the grant. Copies of news releases, clippings and newsletters are appreciated with the final report.

Sources of Funding

No property tax revenues will be used to fund community service grants. The funding for the grants will come from state funding sources such as cigarette and liquor tax and state shared revenues. Funding for the Community Services Fund is identified in the City’s annual budget and passed on to Creswell First! to administer and report actions to the city council.

Steps to Apply

1. Fill out and submit the form below (to the best of your ability) or download print the Manual PDF file and submit by mail.
2. Submit manual forms and these attachments by mail to:

Creswell Community Services Grant
C/O Creswell First!
P.O. Box 1
Creswell, OR 97426

Attachments:

Download Manual in PDF form:  Community Services Grant Process/Application
Note: Depending on your browser the form may appear in another window.  You can print or save it from there to your local computer.

Download Manual in Word (DOCX) form:  Community Services Grant Process/Application
Note: Depending on your browser the form may appear in another window.  You can print or save it from there to your local computer.

Fill out and submit the form below: