All grant proposals will be evaluated to ensure they conform to PCSB Community Foundation’s policies and its mission. All evaluations will be carried out in a fair and nondiscriminatory manner. The Foundation will consider supporting projects and initiatives that meet one or more of the following criteria: 

• Directly related to Foundation priorities and areas of interest.
• Include a strategy for leveraging other resources and support from the Community.
• Produce cost-effective, measurable results.
• Provide incentive and stimulation for the private and public sectors to work together in community problem solving.
• Encourage coordination with other efforts.
• Advance innovative and long term strategies that will address recognized needs.
• Demonstrate an ability to be sustainable or to obtain future funding if it will be needed.

• Applicants should be 501c3 certified organizations (or other non-profit status) whose mission or impact relates to supporting the Lower Hudson Valley and its community members.
• Awardees should also be able to demonstrate a need for financial support and a direct relevance to the Foundation’s areas of giving interest (see below).

• Education — Nonprofit programs for primary, secondary and post-secondary schools that raise student aspirations in the Community and enhance knowledge in specific areas such as economics, communications, business and public speaking, as well as initiatives that support the education process.
• Health and Human Services — Programs that are essential to the underlying medical care of the Community, as well as initiatives that focus on physical and mental wellness. 
• Youth Programs — Programs that improve the quality of life for children in the Community or that foster education, learning and leadership.
• Affordable Housing — Programs that provide, or encourage the creation of, affordable and/or low income housing in the Community.

The Foundation does not provide financial support for political organizations or candidates for political office or activities for sectarian purposes.

The Foundation does not generally make contributions to individual endeavors other than scholarships.

Organizations that believe they would qualify for financial support based on the criteria listed on this page can complete an online grant request today at pcsbcommunityfoundation.org/grant.

Unfortunately, once an online grant form is started it cannot be saved as a draft and resumed at a later time. Please take this into consideration before applying to avoid accidentally losing any of your work because your browser times-out or you need additional time to gather your data or supporting documents.

Nonprofits that meet the eligibility requirements can typically expect to hear back within 8-10 weeks.

Yes, eligible nonprofits can submit any time throughout the year. Grants are typically awarded on a rolling basis.

While yes, there is no limit to how many submissions a nonprofit can make a year, we ask nonprofits limit their requests to only once per quarter.

No, grant sizes are not typical and are based on the individual need of the organization and the strength of its grant request according to the evaluation metrics and criteria listed above. For example in 2021 PCSB Community Foundation donated over $350,000 to over 100 nonprofits in grant and sponsorship awards that ranged from $250 to $25,000 in size.

While any typical expectations vary widely based on the scope of the grant request, we value maintaining strong relationships with the organizations that we award grants to. Because we understand the vital ongoing work your organization does for our community — we hope to maintain open communication with recipients after a grant or sponsorship is awarded and when applicable will look for opportunities to help amplify awareness for your organization and the impact that your programs and services are making.

We encourage nonprofits when filling out a grant request form to share how the impact and overall performance of a grant awarded from PCSB Community Foundation will be measured or tracked by their organization/team through data collection or identifying key performance indicators (whether over the short term or long term).

Please reach out with your question or issue on our contact page and our grant administration team will follow up.