The Western Kansas Community Foundation has three different funding opportunities. Each application comes with its own set of guidelines and application dates. Specific information about each funding opportunity can be found below. All applications are available in our online grant system which can be accessed from our Grant Application page.

All APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY 11:59 PM ON THE DAY OF THEIR DEADLINE (ONLINE ONLY), NO EXCEPTIONS.

We HIGHLY suggest you submit your application before the deadline in case of any technical difficulties.

General Funding Guidelines:

(To view guidelines for specific applications, continue to the bottom of this page and click on the grant you wish to learn about.)

Who Do We Fund?

The Foundation restricts its support to 501(c)(3) or other exempt organizations/groups or the government equivalent (i.e. public schools, city/county/state entities, churches, etc.), who serve Kansas counties which are also served by the Western Kansas Community Foundation. These counties include Finney, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Lane, Meade, Morton, Scott, Seward, Stanton, Stevens, and Wichita County. 

The Foundation encourages grant requests that:

• Fall in line with the WKCF mission statement - "Enriching Western Kansas life through philanthropy, leadership, and collaboration."
• Will have a broad impact on the quality of life for a large number of people within the WKCF service area.
• Propose ways to address community issues and problems.
• Leverage other sources of support.
• Stimulate others to participate in addressing community issues.
• Are innovative, a new initiative, or an enhancement of an existing program.
• Are responsive to changing or emerging community needs.
• Are sustainable over time.
• Are collaborative with other organizations for a broader impact.

The Process

The Foundation's Grant Committee will meet after the appropriate application deadline to review all submitted grant applications for that cycle. The Grant Committee will make its recommendations to the full WKCF Board of Directors. Applicants will be notified of the Board's decision as soon as possible after the Board meeting at which your application is considered. WKCF Board meetings typically occur on the third Monday of each month. Award and denial notifications will come in the form of an email as well as being marked on your application in the online grant application system. A Final Report is required of all awarded requests within one year from the initial application deadline. The Final Report form will become available in the online grant application system once an application has been approved and must be submitted back to the Foundation through that system.

**If you have been awarded a grant, and you determine that your program needs to vary from what was presented and funded in the original grant application, or if you are approaching the one-year deadline for the completion of your grant, and your program/project will not be completed by the deadline, you MUST formally request a deviation or continuance of your program from the Foundation. You may make such requests by following the instructions on our Deviation & Continuance Request page.

Additional Information

Due to the number of requests the Foundation receives, it is not guaranteed that every project will be funded or that full requests will be met. Each grant request will be reviewed and evaluated on its own merit based on the contents of the application. For this reason, it is important to provide clear and complete responses to all information requested. 

Applications must be submitted in full through the online grant system in order to be reviewed. Applications received outside of this system will not be eligible for review. Grant funding must be expended within a one-year period from the date the application was due. Upon fully expending grant funds, a Final Report is required, including receipts and proofs of expenditures. Organizations may choose to submit final reports as soon as funding is expended, or may wait until any related programming has taken place if it did not occur simultaneously, as long as reporting happens within the one-year reporting deadline. Final Report documents can be found with your application in the online grant application system.