Funding Opportunity

Background

The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allotted more than $30B across 100 programs in North Carolina. One specific funding stream, known as State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, is sending $3.4B to county and municipal governments across the state. This funding must be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026. These funds came with the expectation of including “diverse feedback from constituents, community-based organizations, and the communities themselves,” and the ARPA legislation further encourages, “uses of funds that promote strong, equitable growth, including racial equity…” and approaches that address "...the systemic public health and economic challenges that may have contributed to more severe impacts of the pandemic among low-income communities and people of color."

Available Funding

The Blue Cross NC Foundation is issuing a funding opportunity for two-year, $300,000 grants (up to $150,000 per organization per year) to support up to five regional and state-level organizations (“intermediaries”) to work with local stakeholders to support community-identified ARPA priorities at the county and municipal level to promote health equity and system-level change.  Of this funding, up to $100,000 a year is available to support technical assistance provided by the grantee/intermediary and $50,000 a year is available to support mini-grants to their community-based organization (CBO) partners.

Additionally, the Blue Cross NC Foundation seeks to identify and spread effective tools, practices, and approaches through resource sharing among grantees and their CBO partners. Over time, we will work with grantees identified through this funding opportunity to develop a platform that will promote broader awareness and utilization of tools and resources they have found to be effective. This work will be further developed in partnership and consultation with the selected grantees and funded through a separate process.

Eligibility

This funding opportunity is open to North Carolina-based regional or state-level intermediaries that currently provide technical assistance in partnership with North Carolina community-based organizations, and fiscally sponsored programs.

Additional eligibility considerations:

• Applicants should have an active partnership with local community-based organizations, with priority for those that currently work with communities of color and rural communities.

 Types of Eligible Organizations:

• A nonprofit organization that is exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
• A fiscally sponsored program – A group or project with a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization acting as a fiscal sponsor:
  • The fiscal sponsor is responsible for all legal aspects of the organization or project.
  • The fiscal sponsor is considered the grantee by the Foundation and agrees to be accountable to the Foundation for programmatic and financial outcomes of the grant.

Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions

We have compiled Frequently Asked Questions to further assist prospective applicants.

Learn More and Apply

Download the Full Funding Opportunity

Contacts

For questions about this funding initiative contact:

• Valerie Stewart at valerie.stewart@bcbsncfoundation.org
• Rob Thompson at rob.thompson@bcbsncfoundation.org

For questions about the proposal submission process contact:

• Lasindra Webb at lasindra.webb@bcbsncfoundation.org