Impact100 Essex kicks off 2020 grant cycle

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Impact100 Essex has announced two updates to its grant application process as it kicks off the 2020 grant cycle. This is the fourth grant cycle for Impact100 Essex, a women’s collective giving group founded to support innovative, transformative projects managed by nonprofit organizations in Essex County.

The first change to this year’s process is to add a letter of intent as the first step in the application. The LOI will provide contact information, a brief description of the proposed project and its goals, a budget, and measurable outcomes. All LOIs will be reviewed by the Impact100 grant review team. In July, a subset of applicants will be invited to submit the full application for a grant of at least $100,000. 

“We recognize that many of our applicants are spreading their time and staff resources thinly and, by implementing an LOI, we hope to reduce the amount of time that the entire pool of applicants is spending on our full application,” said Kate Shoemaker, Grants Committee co-chairwoman.

Secondly, Impact100 Essex is opening 2020 grant eligibility to nonprofit organizations with projects responding to challenges presented by COVID-19. These projects will be considered alongside the transformational projects submitted for the 2020 grant. 

“We want to acknowledge that COVID-19 is creating uncertainty and new challenges in our community. We want to support the nonprofits rising to this challenge,” said Mayuri Chandra, Grants Committee co-chairwoman.

A video providing information on the grant and application process is posted to www.Impact100Essex.org. LOIs are due May 30.