Apply for a Grant

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

Thank you for connecting to the CareSource Foundation!