Camber Foundation announces $1 million grant program for Eastern North Carolina nonprofits

Organizations eligible to apply are:

• Nonprofit organizations qualified as tax-exempt public charities under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or nonprofit organizations and programs operating with an eligible 501(c)(3) public charity fiscal sponsor.
  • Please note that for grants issued to organizations operating with a fiscal sponsor, the applicant organization should functionally operate as a nonprofit, even though it is relying on its fiscal sponsor’s 501(c)(3) public charity status for eligibility. In addition, the sponsoring organization will be accountable for the administration of grant funds and reporting. A copy of the fiscal sponsorship agreement must be provided at the time of application submittal. 
• Located and providing services in at least one of the 41 counties in the eligible geographic area of Eastern North Carolina as defined below*.
  • In order to be considered as located in Eastern NC, an organization must be 1) headquartered in the defined region or 2) have a physical presence in the region via an office/service location or staff members living and working in one of the identified Eastern NC counties.
• Offering programming and services without discrimination based on age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or religious belief.

Please also pay close attention to further guidelines under the heading “Funding will not support.”

*Geographic area defined

The eligibility area consists of the following 41 counties: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne and Wilson.

Funding will not support

• Grants to government entities, churches, or schools (including colleges and universities), regardless of 501(c)(3) public charity status.
• Grants to tax-exempt organizations that are not 501(c)(3) public charities (such as 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6) organizations, etc.). 
• Grants to individuals.
• Political purposes/activities or campaigns; or lobbying, including advocacy that is for the purpose of influencing legislation.
• Fundraising activities for endowments, capital campaigns, or sponsorships.
• Reimbursement or loan repayment.
• Re-granting programs.
• Programs that are either restricted to members of a particular faith or which promote religious doctrine.

Please note – since this particular grant program is designed for supporting the nonprofit community, 501(c)(3) public charities that are established for the purpose of raising funds supporting otherwise ineligible organizations, such as government entities (ex. “friends of” fundraising arms of government entities, etc.), are not eligible for this grant program.

Organizations may apply for either support for their general operations or for a specific program or project.

Organizations may only submit one proposal per open grant application cycle.  Any organizations that have received prior grants from Camber Foundation must have completed those grants (and required reporting) before receiving a new grant through this program.

• Grant terms will be for one year.
• Grants will range $25,000 to $50,000 per grant.
• Grantees will be required to sign an agreement of terms and conditions prior to receiving their grant, acknowledging, for instance, their charitable status and that the funding will be used for the charitable purposes for which it is provided.  
• Grantee organizations will be required to submit a report at the end of their grant term.

If your organization and proposed work aligns with the eligibility and program guidelines in this request for proposals and if you are interested in applying, please carefully read and follow these instructions.  Applications are submitted online via our online application system.  The preferred browsers for the online system are Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

• First, your organization will need to create a profile, providing your organization’s tax ID (EIN), and contact information.
  • Please use an email address for your profile that is regularly checked.  Communications about the status of the application will be sent to that email address.
• Once logged in, you should land on your “Applicant Dashboard”.
  1. At the top of the screen, you should see menu selections, including an orange “Apply” link.  Click the orange “Apply” link.
  2. The screen will refresh.  At the top of the new screen, you will see a box where you will enter the access code.  The access code is Camber2025.  The code will need to be entered precisely as shown and is case-sensitive.  There should not be any blank spaces entered before or after the code. 
  3. Once you have typed in the code correctly, click the “Enter Code” button.  
  4. The page will once again refresh.  Scroll down the screen, and you will see reference to the application name, Camber Foundation 2025 Grant Opportunity.  There will be a summary of the application and the dates during which applications will be accepted.  Effective January 31, 2025, there will be a blue “Apply” button beside the application.
  5. Click the blue “Apply” button to access the application form.

Q: Our organization is classified by the IRS as a tax-exempt nonprofit, but not designated specifically as a 501c3 public charity.  Are we eligible to apply?

A: No.  Eligible tax-exempt nonprofit organizations are those with the specific classification from the IRS as 501(c)(3) public charities.  The IRS classifies tax-exempt nonprofit organizations into several categories.  Those eligible must fall within the 501(c)(3) classification (not 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6), etc.) and must further be designated by the IRS as a public charity within the 501(c)(3) classification.  Your organization’s IRS Determination Letter of tax-exempt, nonprofit status will detail whether or not your organization has this classification.  Other designations within the 501(c)(3) classification, such as private foundations, are not eligible for funding from this program.

Q: What does it mean that an eligible organization must be “located in” the defined 41-county Eastern North Carolina geographic area?

A: In addition to serving at least one of the 41 counties in the Eastern NC geographic area as described in the Request for Proposals, organizations eligible for this grant opportunity must also have a physical location/presence in the Eastern NC region.  An organization’s headquarters may be outside of the region, but to be eligible they must have either a location/office within the 41-county region from which they regularly operate, or at least have staff living and working in the region.  This grant program not only prioritizes the Eastern NC region but also community engagement and solutions that are community-driven.  As such, the program is designed to support organizations with local presence.

Q: I see that the request for proposals allows for funding to support either general operations or a specific program or project.  What are the differences between the two types of support?

A: General operating support is unrestricted funding an organization uses for its operations which allows the organization to continue to operate and meet its overall mission.  This support may be used for any allowable cost the organization has which keeps it operating, unless otherwise restricted at the time of grant issuance.  This funding is an option for organizations if their proposed work for which they are requesting funding is aligned with Camber’s priority areas and represents the totality of the work they do as an organization.  Whereas program or project support is funding that an organization is using for a specific mission-related program or project.  This funding must be used for that program or project within the organization, which has clearly defined goals.  Applicants should select this request type if they are seeking funding for one particular program or project within their organization.  Please note that even for this type of funding, grant dollars may still be used for operating costs that support the specific program, such as salaries and direct and indirect costs.  For example, if you are applying for funding to support a specific program or area of work of your organization and you need funding for administrative or operational expenses to support that program, selecting “program” or “project support” would suit your request.

Q: Are there specific types of expenses that a grant will not cover?  

A: There are not necessarily specific types of budget line items that a Camber Foundation grant will not cover, as long as the expenses are not for a purpose that is restricted from funding.  In other words, if the proposal supports one of the following restricted purposes, then the expenses would not be eligible, because the purpose of the grant would not be eligible.

• • Grants to government entities, churches or schools (including colleges and universities), regardless of 501(c)(3) public charity status
  • Grants to tax-exempt organizations that are not 501(c)(3) public charities (such as 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6) organizations, etc.)
  • Grants to individuals
  • Political purposes/activities or campaigns; or lobbying, including advocacy that is for the purpose of influencing legislation
  • Fundraising activities for endowments, capital campaigns or sponsorships
  • Reimbursement or loan repayment
  • Re-granting programs
  • Programs that are either restricted to members of a particular faith, or which promote religious doctrine

Q: The request for proposals states that funding for capital campaigns is ineligible.  Our organization has some capital expenditures for which we would like to seek funding.  Are those eligible?

A: The restriction is specific to planned or active capital fundraising campaigns only.  Expenditures not associated with an active or planned campaign may be eligible.

Q: What is meant by the term “re-granting program?”

A: Re-granting refers specifically to a case where a grantee plans to use the grant funding to facilitate its own grantmaking program to other charitable organizations.  Some organizations, however, provide financial assistance to individuals in need in their community based on an application process which is part of their core mission and operations.  Exceptions may be made for this type of work, depending on the specific circumstances. 

Q: What are examples of good, measurable outcomes for an organization’s proposed work?

A: You will see that the application is designed so that the narrative questions of the proposal build upon one another. You will be asked what the need is in your community as related to Camber’s funding priorities, what your organization will do to address that need, your goals for how the community will benefit, how you engage the community, and the people involved in the work. Then, you will be asked how you will know you have been successful in this work by telling us about the outcomes you envision for the work. It is important here that you connect the dots. The outcomes should directly relate back to the work you are doing to address the identified need and also directly show the impact and benefit to the community you are serving. In other words, the measurable outcomes should be those you envision for community members’ benefit.

 Q: How might our outcomes be different if we are applying for general operating support?

A: Your outcomes will be related back to your organization’s work as a whole. However, they will still need to reflect how the work will benefit the community you serve. As an example, when thinking about general operating support, we understand that you may have an intended outcome of adding a specific position to your staff. However, we are interested in the goals and outcomes you are envisioning that adding that staff person will have on the impact and benefit to the community and population(s) you serve. 

Please see these additional resources we hope will help you with the grant application process.

• Click here for Grant Program Definitions.
• Click here for Tips on Applying (using the online system, entering an application, and writing an application)