leverage fund

Let’s bring more funding to WNC.

Every year, federal and state agencies distribute billions of dollars to nonprofit organizations and local governments to support or expand their work. Millions more are available from national charitable foundations. But Western North Carolina doesn’t often take advantage of these funds, and most nonprofits in our area may not realize the wealth of opportunity that lies outside our borders. As a result, millions of dollars are left on the table that could be supporting the critical work of organizations right here at home.

The Leverage Fund gives WNC nonprofits and government agencies a leg up in the application process for federal and state funders and national foundations. Through the Leverage Fund, Dogwood Health Trust underwrites the services of professional, experienced grant writers to help individual organizations or collaboratives pursue funding from national and state sources.

The Leverage Fund helps match nonprofits with the right grant writer, and supports other costs associated with preparing a grant application, such as travel stipends or meeting costs. We encourage individual nonprofits, government agencies and collaboratives to work with the Leverage Fund. To get started, simply contact us by submitting a rolling grant engage with us form and have a conversation. We’ll discuss the funding you wish to apply for, and the best grant writer match for you.

Once your grant writer is assigned, Dogwood will take a step back and let you get to work. Our only expectation is that you’ll let us know if your grant request was successful and how much you received, and that you will note support from the Leverage Fund at Dogwood Health Trust in any press your award receives. We also hope you’ll share your stories about the application process and the results of your additional funding with us.

Leverage Fund Consultant RFP Open

As the Leverage Fund begins its fifth year of operation, Dogwood is seeking to further understand the experiences of nonprofit organizations who have received support through the fund. An RFP for a consultant organization to assist Dogwood in this objective will be open from March 4 – March 29. The assessment of the Leverage Fund is intended to provide baseline information that will provide immediate, actionable information to support our teams and grantees, while helping us formulate next steps in developing a longer-term, five-year strategy.

Grant Sites to Explore

Almost every federal and state agency, along with most national foundations, posts grant opportunities online. While Dogwood Health Trust does maintain and update a list of some funding opportunities, it is by no means exhaustive. We strongly recommend you conduct an internet search based on your organization’s focus areas and programs. Some potential sites to explore might include:

how to apply

Want to discuss your ideas? Engage With Us to start the process.

Accessing the leverage fund is easy.

Step 1

Identify a funding source you’d like to pursue. Do some exploring to find likely sources.

Step 2

Talk to us about what you’d like to do. If we agree that your plan fits our strategic priorities and is a match for the requirements of the grant you want to pursue, we’ll find a grant writer to work with you.

Step 3

Work with your grant writer to submit your request to a state or national funder.

Step 4

Let us know what happens.

It’s that simple, and the possibilities couldn’t be greater. To learn more, simply click here to submit a rolling grant engage with us form.

partner outcomes

partner profile

Unidxs WNC

As a small, new nonprofit working to address social, economic, educational and cultural inequities in Jackson and Graham Counties, Unidxs WNC actively engages and supports the Hispanic and Latino community – but faced a challenge in engaging the support of foundation funders.