Support

• Nonprofit Status

  Have current 501(c)3 IRS status OR a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)3 status* and be in good standing with the IRS, including faith-based organizations, independent, parochial, and charter schools, and “friends” groups supporting public schools, parks, and other community resources.

• Geographic Location

  Organizations must be physically located in OR have a track record of consistent service within these geographic boundaries: north to south from Erie Avenue to Cumberland and Lehigh Avenues, and east to west from Castor and Aramingo Avenues to Germantown Avenue

  Boundaries have expanded this year to be more inclusive of Fairhill and West Kensington

• Track Record of Service 

  Organizations located outside KCR Fund boundaries must provide the following to demonstrate a track record in the community: 1.) Documentation of services for at least two years (ie, program materials, work plans, annual report, etc.) and 2.)Two letters of support from a partner/peer organization or resident served by the organization

• Budget Size 

  While smaller, grassroots groups are encouraged to apply, there are no minimum or maximum budget limits for eligibility. Organizations with a budget of $1 million or greater will need to explain how this grant would impact/fit into their organization’s budget.

• Clearances

  All staff and volunteers in contact with children under 18 years of age must have completed background checks on file.

• Previous KCR Fund Grantees

  Organizations should have satisfied all reporting requirements and spent down all dollars from any previously received KCR Fund grants. If you received a grant in 2023 and anticipate having unspent funds by the end of your grant period please contact us to confirm eligibility.

Successful applicants should also:

• Document how their work supports at least one of the KCR Fund’s six funding issues areas and aligns with our Guiding Principles and Values.
• Demonstrate how funding from the grant will directly benefit residents in our geographic boundaries
• Be committed to equity and inclusion with respect to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical and cognitive ability, immigration status, and religion, among participants, board members, leadership team and staff
• Have decision makers (board members, leadership team, staff) who reflect the communities being served by the organization/project
• Be able to document and report on the use of funds

Grant Award Size

All grants will provide $10,000 in general operating support to give recipients of all budget sizes flexibility and the ability to think creatively and work sustainably over the one-year grant period.

Smaller, grassroots organizations are far too often asked to work from a scarcity model and the KCR Fund seeks to rectify this mindset.  We encourage groups that might typically seek micro grants ($1000-$2000) for one-time projects like cleanups or block parties to consider ways they could expand their reach for a more sustainable impact.

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Grant Award Uses

KCR Fund general operating grants can support a wide range of uses, including overhead costs (salaries, rent, etc.), program costs, capacity building, training, events, supplies, stipends, etc. Grants are intended to give organizations and projects as much flexibility as possible to carry out their work. CLICK HERE for additional information on allowable uses.

In line with our goals of supporting smaller, grassroots, and community/resident-led programs, new programs and initiatives located within our geographic footprint may use KCR Fund grants for initial startup funding.

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Contact kcrf@scattergoodfoundation.org  if you would like to discuss your proposal.

Grant Focus Areas

Informed by resident surveys and determined by community providers and residents on the KCR Fund’s Community Advisory Committee, the KCR Fund will provide grants targeting the following issue areas that have been identified as being most important to community residents. Applicants should be able to demonstrate how their work aligns with, advances, and supports at least one of these areas. View additional information about Grant Focus Areas here.

• Beautification and Blight Removal
• Building Resilience, Promoting Wellness, and Addressing Community Trauma
• Connecting Residents to Resources
• Public Safety
• Workforce Development and Training
• Youth Development

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Guiding Principles

All of our work is carried out in service to our community-affirmed guiding principles and values. These serve as a north star to inform all of our activities, from grantmaking to program development. We support organizations that also affirm and work towards these principles and values:

• Building social cohesion, collaboration, and connectivity
• Utilizing trauma-informed principles and practices
• Being informed by community voices
• Advancing equity and racial and social justice
• Demonstrating cultural competence and relevance
• Being informed by data, evidence, and best practices

Fiscal Sponsorship

If your organization/project does not currently have a 501(c)3 or fiscal sponsor, we may be able to help connect you to a potential fiscal sponsorship partner.  If you would like to discuss further with a member of the KCR Fund staff, please contact kcrf@scattergoodfoundation.org with the following information: 

• Project/organization name
• Key staff or project leaders
• Brief summary your work or specific initiative to be funded (1-2 paragraphs)
• Location of your project/organization and the geography being served

For additional information about Fiscal Sponsorship, we encourage you to check out the workshop linked below presented by the Regional Foundation Center at the Free Library of Philadelphia (www.freelibrary.org/nonprofit) and presented by Tivoni Devor, Director of Growth and Engagement at the Urban Affairs Coalition (www.uac.org)

Fiscal Sponsorship 101 Workshop: During this program, learn about how fiscal sponsorship works, who provides it in Philadelphia, what it costs, and what to expect when using a fiscal sponsor.

Community Granting Group

Grant applications will be reviewed and evaluated by a Community Granting Group that is composed entirely of residents living in the geographic footprint of the KCR Fund. Working with experienced facilitators and KCR Fund staff, these residents will provide recommendations for grants that will be authorized by the Scattergood Foundation board of directors.

The KCR Fund is currently recruiting members for our 2024 Community Granting Group (CGG). This opportunity is open to residents living within the KCR Fund’s geographic boundaries.

Interested community members should complete our brief application linked here. The Deadline for submitting an application is Tuesday March 12.

Additional information about this opportunity can be found in the CGG Overview and FAQ Sheet. Para Resumen y preguntas frecuentes en español, haga clic aqui.

To apply to join the Community Granting Group, please complete an application by Tuesday, March 12th:

• English
• Spanish

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Community Advisory Committee

Grantmaking priorities, levels, and eligibility criteria have been developed and approved by a Community Advisory Committee that is includes individuals representing Kensington-serving community-based organizations, civic associations, and faith-based organizations, many of whom are also Kensington residents.

Special thanks to members of the KCR Fund Community Advisory Committee for their dedication and contributions to this work:

• Hector Ayala, Hispanic Community Counseling Service
• Bryan Belknap, Philly Bridge & Jawn
• Sonja Bingham, Friends of Harrowgate Park
• Daisie Cardona, Poetry at the Park / Community Activist and Photographer
• Ramon Cruz, HACE
• Jannette Diaz, Congreso
• Pastor Richard Harris, Firm Hope Baptist Church
• Brenda Mosley, By Faith, Health and Healing
• Casey O’Donnell, Impact Services
• Debra Ortiz-Vasquez, Esperanza Health
• Roxy Rivera, Somerset Neighbors for Better Living
• Mayme Robinson, Kensington Neighbors United Civic Association
• Caz Tod-Pearson, The Simple Way

Grant applications will be reviewed and evaluated by a Community Granting Group that is composed entirely of residents living in the geographic footprint of the KCR Fund. Working with experienced facilitators and KCR Fund staff, these residents will provide recommendations for grants that will be authorized by the Scattergood Foundation board of directors.

This fund is possible because of generous support from the following funders:

City of Philadelphia

The Nelson Foundation

Patricia Kind Family Foundation

Scattergood Foundation

How to Give

The Kensington Community Resilience Fund welcomes contributions from foundations, corporations, and individual donors.  Please contact Ashley Feuer-Edwards at ashley@afestrategies.com with any questions or to discuss a gift to the fund.

History of the KCR Fund

The genesis of this Fund is the work of the Philadelphia Resilience Project (PRP), launched in 2018 by the Kenney administration as a holistic, multi-faceted emergency response to the situation on the ground in Kensington. The PRP transitioned into the Opioid Response Unit (ORU), a permanent office that is now charged with implementing a set of long-term strategies to address the opioid crisis in key hot spots, including Kensington. A key mission embodied by both the PRP and ORU has been mobilizing community response, both among residents and partners on the ground, as well as among local funding partners in order to target critically needed resources and investments into the Kensington Community.

The Opioid Response Resource Mobilization Advisory Committee (ORRMAC) was established in the Spring of 2020 by the Managing Director’s Office and the ORU to engage members of the funding community, corporate sector, and other institutional partners to build awareness of the resource needs in Kensington. The ORRMAC met over the next year and formed a working group to establish a pooled fund to support the residents of Kensington with critical quality of life needs. 

With community voice as a driving imperative for any pooled fund, the KCR Fund was formed as a community-led, participatory funding model with funds from the City of Philadelphia and generous donations from the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, Douty Foundation, K10 Kids Foundation, and the Patricia Kind Family Foundation. These funds were pooled in a donor-advised administered by Bread & Roses Community Fund, officially launching in the spring of 2021.

The KCR Fund soon engaged a Community Advisory Council composed of nonprofit, civic, and faith-based leaders from Kensington, Harrogate and Fairhill as our partners in identifying funding parameters, eligibility criteria, and other aspects of our funding strategy. Their work was further informed by feedback gathered from area residents about their goals and priorities for the community. 

The KCR Fund’s first Community Granting Group was established in the spring of 2021 with 11 residents recruited from the Kensington, Harrowgate, and Fairhill neighborhoods. Supported by experienced facilitators, residents identified the first 20 grant recipients to receive $10,000 general operating grants from the KCR Fund in June 2021. A total of $200,000 was distributed to grassroots, community-based organizations working in the KCR Fund’s footprint. The second round of $200,000 was granted to 20 new organizations in February 2022. 

In the Spring of 2023, the KCR Fund transitioned its operations to long-time funding partner the Scattergood Foundation. The KCR Fund’s third funding cycle was launched in April of 2023 under this new partnership and with an infusion of funding from the City of Philadelphia’s national opioid settlement dollars. In June 2023, the KCR Fund awarded $360,000 in $10,000 general operating grants to 36 organizations, bringing total dollars granted to date to $760,000. 

Throughout this time, the KCR Fund has remained committed to our participatory model that places community voices front and center and places decision-making in the hands of those who know best – the residents and community leaders who work tirelessly to support the Kensington, Harrowgage, and Fairhhil communities.

News Coverage

April 27: “‘We know we have to do things differently’: This partnership is ready to invest in Kensington in a new way” by Sabrina Emms, Generocity.org 

April 27: “New fund aims to help Kensington community groups address impacts of the opioid crisis” by Tom MacDonald, WHYY

May 5: “City creates fund that gives Kensington residents more power over their neighborhood” by Tom Beck, Star News Philly

May 6: “$10,000 por petición: develan fondos para combatir a la adicción” por Gerardo Pons, Telemundo 62. Click here for English translation of this article

May 11: “Kensington Community Resilience Fund will award $10,000 grants to eligible community groups this summer” by Zari Tarazona, Kensington Voice

July 14: “Philly awards 20 grants to Kensington groups battling opioid crisis” by Aaron Moselle, WHYY

July 14: “Neighborhood nonprofits granted $200K to clean up effects of Kensington’s opioid crisis” by Justin Udo, KYW Newsradio

July 14: “Resident-focused grant program celebrated in Kensington” by Jack Tomczuk, Metro Philadelphia

July 15: “Philadelphia groups addressing impact of opioid crisis receive $10,000 grants” by Brooks Holton, Philly Voice

July 21: “Kensington pushing hard to change the impact of the opioid crisis in its community” by Nathaniel Lee, University City Review

July 21: “City announces first 20 Kensington Community Resilience Fund recipients” by Zari Tarazona, Kensington Voice

Press Releases 

• English: https://www.phila.gov/2022-03-03-city-announces-200000-in-grants-for-second-round-of-the-kensington-community-resilience-fund/
• Spanish: https://www.phila.gov/2022-03-03-ciudad-anuncia-200000-en-subvenciones-para-la-segunda-ronda-del-fondo-de-resiliencia-comunitaria-de-kensington/

• English: www.phila.gov/2021-04-27-city-launches-kensington-community-resilience-fund/ 
• Spanish: www.phila.gov/2021-04-27-ciudad-lanza-el-fondo-de-resiliencia-comunitaria-kensington/