Grants to Green Program

Summary

Note: After ten years of supporting nonprofits in greening up their facilities, the partners have determined that the Program Year 2018 will be Grants to Green’s final grant cycle.

Grants to Green is a collaborative grant program of The Community Foundation, and Southface Enterprise Institute. The program offers grants to nonprofits to encourage nonprofits to renovate, expand or construct buildings that are energy and water efficient, that make minimal draws on non-renewable resources and give high priority to respecting the physical environment.

Specifically, facility renovations or expansions may receive funding for:

• Labor costs associated with the implementation of improvements recommended by the audit
• HVAC system upgrades to more efficient units
• Water-efficient fixture replacement, such as low-flow toilets and faucets
• Lighting upgrades
• Building envelope improvements, such as air sealing and insulation

Grants to Green accepts requests for solar energy projects. For new construction projects, Grants to Green will consider Innovation project requests from organizations that can present a compelling and unique case expressing how Grants to Green implementation funding will support advancement of their high-performance building project. 

Among other requirements, the nonprofit must be classified as a 501(c)(3) organization with the Internal Revenue Service and be in good standing with the Georgia Secretary of State's Office as a nonprofit. The organization and building must be located within the Atlanta metropolitan area, organization must have at least one full-time employee, and must be in operation as a nonprofit for at least 2 years before applying for the grant. Nonprofits that have discriminatory policies and/or practices on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, gender, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information or political beliefs are not eligible for the fund. Nonprofits must provide matching funds (cash or in-kind). Amount of required match is dependent on the organization's budget. The maximum amount of the grant request is dependent upon the number of projects the nonprofit is willing and able to match. 

See the program guidebook for more details and for application materials.