Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants

The Nonprofit Capacity Building Grant Program, administered by the St. Croix Valley Foundation, is a regional initiative designed to support nonprofit organizations in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The program is rooted in a deep understanding of the challenges faced by nonprofits in the St. Croix Valley, including rising community needs, staffing shortages, leadership transitions, and funding constraints. In response, the Foundation created this grant opportunity to invest in the people, systems, and strategies that enable long-term resilience and sustainability across the nonprofit sector. The program was developed following extensive consultation with nonprofit leaders and is intended to be adaptive to the evolving capacity-building needs of organizations in the region. Funding for this program is provided through the Nonprofit Stability Collaborative Fund, which was launched in April 2025 with support from Valley Funding Partners and major contributions from the Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation and the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation. This fund was established to address a pivotal moment in the nonprofit sector and to catalyze bold thinking, collaboration, and sustained investment. Grants are available through four distinct avenues: Experiences, Planning, Implementation, and System-Wide Infrastructure. Each funding stream supports organizations at different stages of readiness and need, providing grants ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 based on the selected track. The Experiences track offers up to $10,000 to support the learning and development of nonprofit professionals. This includes executive coaching, participation in leadership training, DEIB learning journeys, and peer learning communities. The Planning track provides up to $25,000 for strategic planning, organizational assessments, succession planning, or exploration of mergers and restructuring. Organizations ready to execute a well-developed plan may apply to the Implementation track, which offers up to $100,000 to support system upgrades, communications expansion, DEIB initiative rollouts, or hiring of temporary consultants. Finally, the System-Wide Infrastructure track provides up to $250,000 for collaborative projects that strengthen the nonprofit sector through shared data systems, joint training platforms, or regional back-office support initiatives. To be eligible, applicants must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that have been operational for at least five years and are located within the Foundation’s six-county service area: Chisago and Washington counties in Minnesota, and Burnett, Polk, St. Croix, and Pierce counties in Wisconsin. Organizations must have a current IRS Form 990 on file. Ineligible applicants include private foundations, government entities, sectarian religious organizations, fiscally sponsored programs, and organizations headquartered outside the service region. Capital projects are also not eligible. Applicants must register through the Foundation's grants portal to determine eligibility. Once eligibility is confirmed, the application will appear on the applicant’s dashboard. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, with quarterly review cycles. To be included in a review, applications must be submitted by November 30, February 28, May 31, or August 31, with notifications sent the following month. While the program is designed to remain open for up to three years, funding is limited and awards are distributed in the order that complete applications are received. Successful applicants may only have one active application under review at any given time and must submit a close-out report before applying again. Collaborative applications are welcomed, particularly under the System-Wide Infrastructure category, provided a lead organization is designated for reporting and fund management. In addition to the funding itself, the Foundation offers several support resources, including recorded webinars, consultant office hours, and a Nonprofit Capacity Building Resource Guide. These tools are designed to help organizations assess their readiness and align proposed projects with the grant’s objectives. For further information, applicants are encouraged to contact the Community Impact Team at the Foundation by calling 715-386-9490 or emailing [email protected]. A full set of guidelines and support resources are available on the St. Croix Valley Foundation website.