Our Why

Opportunity

Grant Ready Kentucky is a charitable program fiscally sponsored by Blue Grass Community Foundation. We serve the entire state of Kentucky, with a headquarters in Lexington, KY. We are a collective of grant and nonprofit professionals, accountants, designers, policy advocates, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs helping Kentucky’s nonprofits get “Grant Ready”.

Our organization was created in response to a crisis of opportunity: over the next five years, billions of dollars in federal stimulus and competitive grant funding will be made available for communities around the country.  Kentucky could be transformed by this once-in-a-generation investment.  Yet, studies consistently show that economically distressed communities are the least likely to apply for and receive funding. Why? Grants are complex.  Opportunities are fragmented and confusing, applications can involve hundreds of pages of technical writing, and cost-share requirements leave small nonprofits struggling to raise the match dollars necessary to compete.

Bringing it home

With proper capacity support, we strongly believe Kentucky can meet this unique moment and leverage transformative grant funding.  Along with partners, we serve Kentucky nonprofits and communities seeking grant assistance by showcasing best-fit grant opportunities, sponsoring free grant training, providing one-on-one grant-readiness coaching and technical assistance, and encouraging the development of peer networks. In some cases, we hire grant writers directly to help nonprofits put together successful applications. Through these efforts, we illuminate barriers that Kentucky communities face when seeking grant funding and advocate for the system changes necessary to remove those barriers.

While we serve a variety of Kentucky nonprofits, our focus is on small, rural, or under-resourced organizations.  We prioritize partnerships with organizations seeking a high level of social impact with long-term, data-supported solutions.  Our services are geared toward the program areas listed below, though we are open to other Kentucky-based nonprofits who demonstrate a need.

• Community & Economic Development
• Workforce Development and Labor Force Participation
• Post-secondary Education and Persistence
• Upskilling, attracting and retaining a STEM Workforce
• Rural Capacity Building and Local Leadership Support
• Innovative projects that improve equitable access to:
  - Affordable housing
  - Child Care
  - Financial education
  - Healthy Food
  - Infrastructure (e.g., broadband, clean energy)
  - Medical Care

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Sources & Further Reading

• A Unique Moment for Small Towns
  - by Tom Barkin, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

• Reimagining Rural Policy: Organizing Federal Assistance to Maximize Rural Prosperity
  - by Anthony Pipa and Natalie Geismar of Brookings Institution’s Center for Sustainable Development

• Philanthropy’s Rural Blind Spot,
  - by Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2021