Broadly, this grant will support collaboration between a Vermont-based community organization and a Vermont-based information or news provider to reach a new audience and/or create new community-informed content. These collaborations can be used to pilot or experiment with new models that achieve these goals, build relationships while maintaining journalistic integrity, and to expand on existing collaborations.

This program will prioritize projects that address one or more community-related need, challenge, or opportunity as identified in the Vermont News & Information Ecosystem Report. 

Applications that address a community-related need, challenge, or opportunity not identified in the report will be considered, but applicants must describe why the need, challenge, or opportunity is relevant and timely. 

Additional outcomes may include but are not limited to:  

• Building relationships between communities, especially underserved ones, and news outlets to expand the coverage of people and topics
• Identifying and collaborating with non-traditional community leaders to better understand audience needs and barriers to access
• Developing or using new media formats, platforms, or technologies to reach new audiences
• Engaging and training community members to be community journalists, producing community-informed and solutions-oriented news and information for dissemination
• Developing new features and products that are informed by and responsive to community needs

• Community listening sessions, events, or other grassroots outreach organized by a community organization and news outlet to inform coverage.  Novel and culturally relevant approaches to this engagement are highly encouraged
• Engagement with non-traditional leaders that leads to concrete projects that address audience needs and barriers to access
• Demonstration projects using audio, video, WhatsApp, or other nontraditional methods of communication to reach new audiences 
• A community journalist training program to empower people to pitch and cover stories that interest them and their communities, or to become documenters for public meetings or other events
• New columns, newsletters, podcasts, audio stories or other products created by communities with support from news outlets

This list is not exhaustive; new, creative ideas informed by community needs are highly encouraged, though this grant may also be used to support the expansion of existing initiatives that further the goals of this grant opportunity.

• Projects aimed at a national audience
• Capital costs and campaigns, unless the capital investment is needed for an activity or event that meets the grant program goals (for example, eligible expenses may include purchase of equipment to produce a podcast)
• Ongoing, recurring, or annual events
• Event sponsorships
• Projects that are not informed by and/or do not prioritize community engagement
• Debt reduction
• Individuals – though salaries are an eligible expense 
• Expenses that have already been incurred
• Requests for general operating support
• Programs with religious instruction 

Vermont-based nonprofit and governmental entities are eligible to apply.

For this grant opportunity, nonprofit applicants may include a Vermont-based for-profit news outlet as their collaboration partner.

Applying or collaborating news outlets must be Vermont-based with at least one reporter in Vermont creating original local news content.

First-time grant seekers are encouraged to apply and be in touch if any help is needed with the application process.  In an effort to make funding widely accessible, particularly to smaller organizations, VCF applications are straightforward and can typically be completed in five hours or less.

All applicants to programs at the Vermont Community Foundation must meet the guidelines outlined in the General Applicant Guidelines and Requirements found on our For Nonprofits page.

VCF intends to make approximately  10-12 grant awards of up to $10,000 per award.

Grant activities must take place between January 2027 – December 2027 to be eligible for funding. 

The Vermont Community Foundation will use the following criteria when reviewing applications to the Community Collaboration program: 

• Application clearly demonstrates how the proposed work will support both local news and communities
• Application is informed by the findings of the Vermont News & Information Ecosystem Report
• Application provides evidence of community buy-in, interest, and/or engagement
• Application demonstrates that the work will result in news outlets reaching new audiences and/or creating new community-informed content, or expanding an existing effort to meet these goals
• Strong applications will present ideas for how this work could be sustained after the grant is expended and/or how this model could be replicated in other towns/regions

Community Collaboration 2026 Deadline: 

• The Community Collaboration grant program will offer one competitive grant round in 2026.
• Applications will be accepted between August 25 –October 9, 2026. Applications must be received by 5PM on October 9 in order to be considered.
• We anticipate notifying applicants of grant decisions by December 2026 Grants can be used to cover activities beginning in January 2027 and extending through December 2027. 

If you have questions about the Online Grants Manager, please contact emarks@vermontcf.org. With questions related to the Community Collaboration program, please contact Haley Pero at hpero@vermontcf.org or 802.828.7917. 

If you need an accommodation to support making a grant submission, please contact jschmidt@vermontcf.org 

For more information on the status of your application, please contact grants@vermontcf.org or 802-388-3355 opt. 6. 

Notifications on approved and denied applications will be made by email to the email address used to submit the application. Notification timelines are approximate. If you have not received an email, you can check your organization’s email history in your Online Grants Manager account. 

All applications must be submitted electronically. Visit the Resources for Grantseekers section on our For Nonprofits page to learn how and to register for a new account. Or, access your existing account.

You can view a PDF sample of the application here. To view and begin working on the application, login to the Online Grants Manager (OGM).

If you have questions about the Online Grants Manager, please contact Emma Marks at emarks@vermontcf.org. 

With questions related to the Community Collaboration program, please contact Haley Pero at hpero@vermontcf.org or 802-828-7917.

If you need an accommodation to support successfully making a grant submission, please contact Jessie Schmidt at  jschmidt@vermontcf.org.