Giving Together

How to Participate 

A couple of times a year, we will share opportunities via an email to our fundholders to participate in two or three of our grant programs. Fundholders can recommend a grant to the slate of projects through the donor portal. Reach out to your Philanthropic Advisor directly or through philanthropy@vermontcf.org to learn about the next opportunity for Giving Together. 

The Current Giving Together Opportunity

We are excited to share with you one of our favorite activities of the year—Giving Together—where the Community Foundation shares inspiring projects and invites you to give alongside other fundholders. Together, we can make a big impact in Vermont!  

If you are new to the Community Foundation, Giving Together is a way to join other donor advised fundholders in supporting community-based projects that have applied to the Community Foundation for grants. This Giving Together round features projects from across the state for two competitive grantmaking programs. 

The Goal: Raise an additional $25,000 to support a total of $135,000 in grantmaking.  

The Samara Fund received 31 applications totaling $133,500, with $80,000 available in the fund for grantmaking. The Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth received 12 applications totaling $57,500 and has $30,000 available for grantmaking. With your generous support, we hope to fund at least $95,000 in Samara programs and $40,000 in Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth programs. Join us in making this possible!  

The Samara Fund

The Samara Fund is led by a volunteer committee of Queer and Trans Vermonters committed to a vision of transformational grants and scholarships to the people and groups throughout Vermont who demonstrate their dedication to the empowerment, health, and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV positive (LGBTQ+) people. 

The core values of the Samara Committee include to be anti-racist and anti-oppressive by practicing intersectionality, power-shifting, and transformative justice both internally and externally; transparency; redistributing wealth for a bigger impact; and prioritizing accessibility, gratitude, and accountability while queering our work to make it fun, connective, and sustainable. 

In 2024, Samara’s funding priorities include: 

• Queer and trans-led projects and organizations
• Projects that center, are led by, and/or prioritize BIPOC and/or trans Vermonters
• Elders and youth
• Queers with disabilities
• Work that is harm reduction (including HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy)
• Projects meaningfully working beyond Chittenden County

Examples of applications include: Rutland County Pride, a queer-led organization, to enhance and sustain the well-being of the LGBTQIA2S+ and allied communities by providing programs and services that cultivate community; advocate for LGBTQIA2S+ interests; educate and empower; and provide social support to Rutland County Vermonters. Slingshot’s By Us, For Us: Queering Environmental Health Organizing Across Vermont efforts to work alongside communities most-impacted by environmental health threats to take aim at polluters and build local power. Twin States Network’s activities to foster a safe and caring community for people living with HIV/AIDS through peer support, education, advocacy, and outreach. 

Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth

Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth awards grants for creative and effective initiatives that empower and support teenagers in Bennington, North Bennington, Pownal, Shaftsbury, and Woodford. 

In 2024, the Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth will support spaces, activities, and opportunities for youth to gather, connect, and feel a sense of belonging. The priority areas of the grant program include youth-led or youth-focused events, programs, or projects that: 

• Bring youth together, especially those that introduce a new activity and/or have a low barrier to access. 
• Casual club or extracurricular.
• Create, maintain, or expand spaces or places that allow youth to gather, connect, and share experiences in formal and informal ways.
• Provide opportunity and access for youth facing hardships.
• Encourage feelings of belonging and increase inclusion.

Examples of applications include: Bennington Free Library’s Youth on Board program, which hosts youth to play board games that foster critical thinking skills such as chess, The Oregon Trail, and Carcasonne. The Center for Restorative Justice’s Lounge, an afterschool drop-in space that provides a welcoming, safe, and inclusive supervised environment for youth who are justice-involved, at-risk, and/or historically marginalized.  NAACP of Rutland’s Take Care Project that will offer BIPOC youth hands-on hair education and provide essential and culturally appropriate self-care and hygiene resources. 

Maximize Your Impact with Giving Together 

These two funds support programs and services that offer hope, access, and opportunity to youth and adults across the state, with an emphasis on smaller, rural towns. We ask that you consider making a grant in support of these projects by selecting Samara Fund and/or The Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth Giving Together Fund on DonorCentral, with instructions “for Giving Together.” All gifts to each Giving Together will be pooled and used to support as many of the top rated applications as possible. 

Giving Together will be available on DonorCentral for both programs until November 26th at 5PM. 

As always, please reach out to your Philanthropic Advisor or contact Alyssa DeBella at adebella@vermontcf.org or 802-388-3355 ext. 182, who is happy to help answer questions about this round of Giving Together or assist with your giving plans more broadly.