The CareSource Foundation provides grants to non-profit organizations who impact children, adults and families in areas that mirror the social determinants of health. Those include:

• Economic stability
• Safe, healthy homes and neighborhoods
• Job skills and employment
• Access to healthcare including physical, mental and behavioral health
• Early childhood education and child development
• Healthy behaviors and lifestyle concerns
• Public policy surrounding critical need health issues
• Strategic public/private partnerships designed to increase healthy communities

Grant Guidelines

• Requesting organizations must be based in the state of Ohio
• Proposing organizations must be IRS-qualified 501(c)3 non-profit organizations
• Grant applications are accepted throughout the year; no formal deadlines
• Grant applications are reviewed six (6) times/year: January, March, May, July, September, November
• Preference will be given to those applicants working with populations parallel to the CareSource consumer demographic and those who most closely mirror the funding priorities above
• Grantees will be contacted by email with the outcome of their proposal within two weeks of the final review period
• Single-year funding only
• The Foundation will fund either program grants or operating grants—the choice is up to the requesting organization
• All successful grantees will agree to a formal end-of-grant evaluation process
• Organizations may not apply for grants in consecutive years – at least one year must lapse between the end of the grant before organizations may apply for additional funding (i.e., a grantee in 2015 will not be eligible to reapply for funding until 2017)
• Responsive grants are $5,000

Grant Restrictions

As a result of policy, law or funding restrictions, the CareSource Foundation will generally not fund:

• Organizations that discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship status, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, veteran status or any applicable federal, state or local laws
• Organizations without 501(c)3 IRS tax exemption status
• Individual primary or secondary schools; however, a school partner may be considered
• Sectarian organizations having a predominantly religious purpose
• Political parties, offices or individual candidates
• Fundraising events or benefits
• Individuals
• Capital campaigns
• Fraternal or veteran organizations
• Scholarships or educational fees
• Organizations who cannot provide adequate accounting records or procedures
• Colleges and universities
• Funding for deficits or debt retirement
• Disease-specific organizations with multiple chapters throughout Ohio
• Camps
• Equine therapy programs
• Individual hospital, hospital network or hospital foundation requests
• Residential services
• “Wish” organizations
• Organizations leveraging sports as the basis for service delivery

Apply

To Apply for a Responsive Grant from the CareSource Foundation:

• • Review the mission of the Foundation and the priority funding focus areas
    • If you believe your organization and/or program is a good fit, please email Cathy Ponitz, Vice President of the CareSource Foundation (Cathy.Ponitz@caresource.com) with the following:
      • Brief overview of the organization
      • Where your program or organization fits within the social determinants of health priority funding areas
    • The CareSource Foundation utilizes an online grant management system for all grant applications
    • Upon successful review, you will be invited to apply by email from Cathy Ponitz. The email will contain links to establish your CareSource Foundation account and complete the application process
    • Paper requests are not accepted
    • Our online grant management system is compatible with the following web browsers:
      • Internet Explorer (IE 11)
      • Mozilla Firefox (v 45 or later)
      • Safari for Mac
      • It is not compatible with Google Chrome
    • Use this Online Application and Reporting Navigation Guide to help you with your application
    • For specific questions about the online application process, please send an email to: CareSourceFoundation@caresource.com

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