Funding Opportunity: Community Oral Health Priorities
Background
Oral health and overall health and well-being are inextricably connected, and data tying oral health outcomes to chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, mental health, pregnancy complications, employment opportunities, school performance, and other quality of life indicators, continues to surface. Despite the importance of oral health, access is a challenge for many in North Carolina, and these challenges are magnified for some more than others.
Culture, processes, and policies shape oral health outcomes and disparities and improving them requires perspectives from a diverse group of those closest to the problem.
Through this funding, we will invest in organizations who can elevate the perspectives of those often left out of solution development to spend time understanding and amplifying their oral health needs and experiences.
Specifically, this funding opportunity aims to:
- Explore and uplift the oral health needs, attitudes, and experiences of community members.
- Engage in oral health advocacy through education, focused on practice and policy change.
- Identify ongoing community priorities to support the improvement of oral health access and outcomes for their community.
Available Funding
Grant funding of up to $100,000 per year for two years ($200,000 total per organization) is available and is designed to support staff time, training, compensation for community member time, materials, language support, and other tools for community engagement and uplifting community voice. We are specifically seeking to support North Carolina-based organizations that serve and have trusted relationships with groups known to have oral health access and/or outcomes disparities. Funding will prioritize organizations whose primary focus is not providing clinical care. Some experience with community engagement and advocating for change within communities is required, however, experience in oral health is not.
Eligibility
Organization Size
- There is no minimum requirement in terms of operational budget. Organizations of all sizes are eligible to apply.
Organization Type
Non-clinical – applicant organization’s primary aim is to provide a service or support that is not clinical care. Organizations who refer individuals to clinical entities or collaborate with clinical entities to provide on-site services (e.g., medical or dental bus) are eligible to apply.
-AND-
- Nonprofit organization that is exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is classified as “not a private foundation” under Section 509(a).
- OR-
- Fiscally sponsored program – A group or project with a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization acting as a fiscal sponsor. Please note that the fiscal sponsor is responsible for all legal aspects of the organization or project. The fiscal sponsor is considered the grantee and agrees to be accountable to the Foundation for the programmatic and financial outcomes of the grant.
-OR-
- Coalitions – Applications involving more than one group or organization are welcome; however, one organization will be the recipient of the grant and must be an established 501(c)(3) nonprofit or fiscally sponsored organization. Organizations and coalitions of any size are eligible to apply if the other eligibility criteria have been met.
NOTE: If applying as a coalition - a clear vision for the roles, engagement, and equitable division of funding amongst coalition partners will be expected.
Timeline
Deadline or Activity | |
Funding opportunity released and application open | October 24 |
Questions due | November 7 |
Deadline for application materials translation requests | November 26 |
Applications due | December 5 |
Notification of next steps to applicants | Early February 2025 |
Invited finalist conversations | Mid-Late February 2025 |
Grantees selected and notified | Early April 2025 |
How to Learn More
Organizations were invited to submit questions by November 7, 2024. The resulting Q&A is available to download in English and Spanish.