Process

The Process

Eligibility Criteria

Independent and fiscally-sponsored nonprofit organizations, networks, coalitions, individual service providers, micro-enterprises, or small businesses are eligible to apply. Priority consideration will be given to entities that are Black-led. See Section 1 (Application Information) below for further information on business applicants.
Applicants must be located in Los Angeles County.
Funds received from The Village Fund must be used to serve Los Angeles County’s Black communities.
Applicants must have a history of working with Black families and an ongoing commitment to empowering and supporting Black people.
Funds must be used to support one or more grantmaking strategies listed on the home page.
If funded, applicants must commit to participating in the AAIMM Ambassadors program. The program is a cohort-based learning community that meets once every quarter over the duration of the grant. An additional financial stipend is provided to organizations to support their ability to participate in quarterly convenings.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Only projects or services that cannot be billed to MediCal or another health insurer will be eligible for funding.
Only projects which cannot be paid for with other existing resources will be eligible for funding. We want to fund the unfunded needs/ideas.
Events such as conferences, workshops, symposiums, one-time trainings and/or briefings are not eligible for funding.
Political activity including lobbying, products, and online platforms are not eligible.

Submission Process

Application materials, bulleted below, must be submitted via a form, found here (form coming soon). Those materials must include:

Responses to the Application Questions.
Project budget (using only the budget template found here). Please upload the budget as a PDF with all relevant columns and rows visible.
Your organization's W9 or IRS letter of determination (if you have a fiscal sponsor, please send in their W9 or IRS letter). Individual service providers, micro-enterprises, or small businesses will need to apply using a fiscal sponsor. Please email VillageFundLA@investinkidsla.org if you are looking for a fiscal sponsor or need more information.

Fiscal Sponsorship

Fiscal sponsorship is an arrangement between a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and a project conducted by an organization, group, or an individual that does not have 501(c)(3) status. Fiscal sponsorship permits the exempt sponsor to accept funds restricted for the sponsored project on the project’s behalf. The sponsor, in turn, accepts the responsibility to ensure the funds are properly spent to achieve the project’s goals. (Definition provided by CharityLawyerBlog.com)

The California Black Women’s Health Project has agreed to serve as a fiscal sponsor for The Village Fund. If you do not already have a fiscal sponsor and are interested in seeking fiscal sponsorship, please contact Sonya Young-Aadam at sonya@cabwhp.org.

Review & Selection Process

Applications will be reviewed and scored by a community review committee representing the breadth of the LA County AAIMM Prevention Initiative. The committee will select 8-10 applicants based on the scoring criteria and will endeavor to choose a cohort that represents the geographic diversity of the County as well as a mix of programs, business services, and innovations offered by the applicant pool.

Awards

There will be 8-10 grants awarded, ranging from $5,500 to $33,000, depending on the nature of the project and The Village Fund’s total capital.

Grants are awarded on a one-year basis and may be renewed depending on community need, funding available, and if The Village Fund remains a good fit for your work.

Reporting Requirements

A final report will be due at the end of the one-year grant, which will be used for the evaluation, and will ask each grantee to share their progress on the work they were funded to perform, highlights, lessons learned, and new skills and/or competencies gained from the AAIMM Ambassadors Learning Community.

Definitions

Black-led is defined as: (Black Equity Collective definition)

A plurality of the Board of Directors is Black (i.e., are the largest racial group represented on the Board) and the Executive Director/Organizational Leader or the Executive Leadership is majority Black. This demonstrates that Black people are in positions of power to influence organizational culture, make strategic decisions around programming, operations, and use of funds, and have responsibility for the successful execution of the mission and vision.

Community presence

The applicant has pre-existing and long-standing relationships in the community for which it seeks funding support through The Village Fund, either because the applicant currently provides programs or services in the community that work to address racial disparities or because the applicant partners with others who do. It is expected that applicants do not see The Village Fund as an opportunity to “helicopter in” to a community or serve a population with which they have no prior relationship.

The Village Fund

African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Prevention Initiative

The Process

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