CFO opens 2023–24 competitive grant programs

The first grant rounds from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks for 2023–24 are now open. The CFO’s annual competitive grant programs are supported by a $3.5 million grantmaking budget — the largest in the foundation’s history. More grant programs will open throughout the year for eligible nonprofit, civic, educational and faith-based organizations across central and southern Missouri.

The CFO’s competitive grantmaking programs are made possible by donors who make gifts that are unrestricted or focus on a general field of interest such as youth, health or education, as well as external partnerships in which the CFO administers grant programs on behalf of funders like the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation, the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation, and — new for this cycle — Delta Dental.

Open Now

• Jewell Schweitzer Collective Impact (Springfield area): $130,000 for collaborative projects that address priorities identified in the Community Focus Report for Springfield & Greene County. Closes Jan. 18, 2024.

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (Springfield and regional): $120,000 for projects that improve the quality of life for underserved and underrepresented residents. Closes Oct. 5.

• Inclusion & Belonging (Springfield and regional): $40,000 for smaller grant requests to create equitable participation and engagement in local communities. Applications reviewed and awarded through mid-June 2024.

• Holocaust Education (Springfield and regional): $6,350 available for educators, clergy and other community leaders to visit the Holocaust Museum in St. Louis or the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Applications reviewed and awarded through mid-June 2024.

Opening Soon

• Delta Dental Rural Youth (regional): $130,000 to support dental hygiene projects for children in rural communities. Opens Sept. 1.

Opening Later

• Coover Regional/Rural Schools Partnership: Late 2023

• Coover Regional: Early 2024

• Musgrave Multi-Year Impact: Early 2024

• Arts & Culture: Spring 2024

• Various Field-of-Interest programs: Spring 2024

In addition to these programs, the CFO’s regional affiliate foundations provide grantmaking programs throughout the year for their respective communities across central and southern Missouri.

Agencies can begin the application process at cfozarks.org/applyforgrants. For more information about these and other grant programs, visit cfozarks.org/grants or follow the CFO’s social media pages.

Founded in 1973, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks is marking its 50th anniversary in 2023 as the region’s largest public charitable foundation serving a network of donors, 53 regional affiliate foundations — including the Cape Area Community Foundation — and nonprofit partners across central and southern Missouri through its mission of resource development, community grantmaking, collaboration and public leadership.