Within each of our focus areas, the C.E. and S. Foundation looks to invest in leaders, strategies, and programs to have the greatest impact in support of our grantmaking strategy. We are especially interested in projects that emphasize the following dimensions:

Impact: Changes in the quality, capacity, accessibility, or collaboration of programs.
Influence: Changes in policies, regulations, systems, practice, or public opinion.
Leverage: Changes in investments by other public and/or private funders.
Learning: Practices that encourage or advance the field of work and knowledge acquisition to powerfully advance desired outcomes, inform the specifics of a particular impact initiative, or cross-fertilize different initiatives.

Grant Process

Questions to Consider Before Inquiring about Funding:

How does this program or initiative fit within the C.E. and S. Foundation's areas of focus to help individuals become resilient and prepared for opportunities to engage and thrive?
How will the impact of this program or initiative be assessed with numbers and/or qualitative evidence of progress on one or more of the dimensions listed above? Who are you targeting and what will change for them as a result of your work?
Will this program or initiative influence changes beyond the articulated scope of work – within the organization or more broadly across the field or the community? Will it lead to changes in policies or practices more broadly within your organization or field of work?
Are there ways to leverage a C.E. and S. grant to attract other funding or influence other funding streams?
What do you intend to learn through this work? Are there opportunities for this project or initiative to generate learning that can be shared with the broader community to achieve greater impact?
What is the financial plan for sustaining this work over time?

Proposal Submission:

When we see a promising match between proposed work and the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy, we may invite a grantseeker to submit a proposal for funding. We accept proposals electronically through an online portal. If you are invited to submit a proposal, a member of our team will provide you with information to access the portal.

Our grant application requests applicants describe proposed projects/initiatives in terms of:

Background and statement of community need
Strategy and approach
Planned impact
Relevant partnerships and collaboration
Assessment plan
Implementation timeline
Budget with narrative
Plans for financial sustainability at the conclusion of the proposed grant period

The C.E. and S. Foundation’s grantmaking is largely focused on Louisville, Kentucky – and a few other communities with connection to the Foundation – to support individuals to become resilient and prepared for opportunities to engage and thrive. We invest in:

Caregiver Engagement to improve the quality and accessibility of early childhood (birth to age 5) learning development opportunities in the home and in professionally managed settings by supporting families and caregivers with practices that increase their effectiveness.
Social Emotional Support to increase the quality and accessibility of social-emotional support for children (birth through 12th grade) by developing that capacity within providers and programming.
Academic Support to increase the quality and accessibility of academic support for children (kindergarten through 12th grade) by developing that capacity within providers and programming.
Family and Household Stability to increase the stability of families and households with children in Louisville to provide a solid foundation for social-emotional wellbeing and academic achievement through supportive multi-faceted strategies that reflect the complexity of poverty.
Postsecondary Education Success to remove financial barriers to postsecondary attainment for graduates of Jefferson County Public Schools, primarily through the Evolve502 Scholarship Fund, and to provide academic and social-emotional support to those students to increase postsecondary graduation/certification rates.

Proposal Review Process and Timeframes:
The C.E. and S. Foundation invites and reviews proposals for funding on a quarterly basis. Our team works closely with grantseekers to guide them through our processes so that timeframes for proposal submission and board review are clear. Since the Foundation receives more proposals than it can fund, please do not interpret the invitation to submit proposal as a guarantee of support.

Reporting:
Foundation staff work with grantseekers and partner organizations to define meaningful measurement of program effectiveness and a plan and timeline for reporting.

Inquiring About Partnership:
Understanding that fund development requires a significant investment of an organization’s resources, we encourage potential partners not to submit unsolicited proposals.

To inquire about partnership with the Foundation, you may contact us through this online form and share a brief description of your work. We do our best to respond to inquiries in a timely manner and ask for your patience as our small team also works to maintain strong relationships with our existing partners.