Snohomish County announced Monday it will be making more than $2 million available to local non-profit organizations to support organizational stabilization and capacity-building for addressing the COVID-related needs of community members.

The Nonprofit Stabilization and Capacity-Building grant program is part of the county’s plan to use federal CARES Act resources to support local non-profit organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as they work to support community members in need.

 “The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted people countywide, including our non-profit partners,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “We know how important the services provided by non-profit organizations are to the health, safety, and well-being of the Snohomish County community. We will continue to be strong advocates for more federal funding to support our nonprofits and the people they serve.”

The Nonprofit Stabilization and Capacity Building grant program is a key part of the relief and recovery action Snohomish County is taking to help non-profit organizations impacted by the pandemic. Each non-profit organization applying for grants under this program must:

• Be registered as a non-profit organization in the State of Washington.
• Be designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization and not in suspense or debarment.
• Have a physical presence in Snohomish County.
• Be in operation for at least one year.
• Have experienced a reduction in revenue or increase in service demand attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data for Snohomish County provides insight about our hardest hit community members. The focus of the Nonprofit Stabilization and Capacity-Building grant program is on nonprofits that serve diverse and/or marginalized populations and have an annual operating budget of $500,000 or less. The process will be sensitive to geographic diversity as well, and priority consideration will be given to:

• Organizations that are led by representatives of diverse and/or marginalized populations
• Organizations that are led by BIPOC- Black, Indigenous and People of Color
• Organizations that primarily serve BIPOC- Black, Indigenous and People of Color
• Organizations that are led by people with lived experience
• Organizations with a diverse board of directors

“We are eager to get these federal funds into the hands of our non-profit partners, who are assisting people across the county,” said Snohomish County Council Chair Nate Nehring. “Too many people across Snohomish County are out of work or unable to pay bills, and we will continue to find ways to support them. We will do what we can to support every sector of our economy until the pandemic is behind us.”

Funding is intended to support nonprofit organization sustainability through the COVID-19 public health emergency. The funds received must be used to cover operating expenses such as payroll, rent, utilities and business licensing fees that have not been previously accounted for and are incurred between March 1 and Dec. 30.

The Community Foundation of Snohomish County will be administering awards on behalf of the county and will open the application portal on Sept. 4-18. All applications will be reviewed after the deadline by a diverse review committee and proposed awardees will be selected. Recipients will have to agree to a contract in order to receive funds. The Community Foundation of Snohomish County will also be managing the contracts and administering funds once contracts are signed.

Nonprofit Stabilization and Capacity Building grant applications not selected for an award will be retained for any additional rounds, if funding is identified.

This grant program was part of the package of COVID-19 responses proposed by Executive Somers, approved by the County Council, and funded by CARES Act resources. That package includes: $55 million for Public Health and Emergency response activities, including PPE; $37 million for economic stabilization; $25 million for human/social services and housing; $6 million for essential government services; and $20 million for emergency contingencies. 

Grant instructions and assistance with application completion will be available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian.

For assistance, email elizabeth@cf-sc.org.