Guilford County is ready to give out a new batch of grant money with the goal of supporting community-based organizations and economic development organizations.
The county has revamped the process this year so any nonprofits seeking taxpayer money should be sure to read the new rules.
This year, the county plans to give out $1.6 million in these types of grants though county officials stress that that number could change. Those who would like some of that money to put to use to benefit the county should visit https://www.guilfordcountync.gov and click the large link to the application site.
In the county’s words, community nonprofits seeking to improve the quality of life for Guilford County residents are “strongly encouraged to review and complete the Community Based Funding application before March 31, 2023.”
In the past, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners has sometimes played fast and loose with the grant deadline, but this year they seem inclined to subject the grants to a more rigorous and less haphazard process.
Every year, Guilford County offers financial support to a host of nonprofits and economic development groups. Guilford County dedicates a portion of the county’s budget for support for 501(c) organizations that do things like benefit youth and community development, improve education, enhance the arts and culture in the area, create jobs and draw new business to Guilford County.
In the past the county has given money to many groups of all different stripes – and, in recent years, have been extremely generous with federal, state and county money.
Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston has committed to significantly reducing homelessness in the county in 2023, and he no doubt is interested in seeing applications from groups that help address that problem directly or indirectly.
In a prepared statement, released with the announcement of the call for requests, Alston said, “Our local nonprofits are not only trusted resources in our community, they are on the ground every day supporting a wide variety of initiatives to improve the overall wellbeing of our communities and are consistent advocates for the residents they serve. Increasingly, our local nonprofits are serving more people and doing more work with fewer resources. These funds will help bolster their capacity to serve our communities in critically important areas.”
A local nonprofit organization intending to use funds primarily for economic development purposes can complete the same application. However, applications primarily focused on economic development activities will be separated from community-based organizations to align with North Carolina General Statutes: Under state law, economic development applicants must follow a separate process that includes a public hearing.
After applications are in, a panel of county department representatives who work in related service areas will review the applications and make recommendations for funding to County Manager Mike Halford, who’ll bring his recommendations to the county commissioners in Halford’s 2023-2024 recommended budget. Halford will present his recommendations to the Board of Commissioners on May 18, 2023. The commissioners will make the ultimate decisions as to which groups get how much money.
The county will notify nonprofits that are awarded funding and begin the contracting process before July 1, 2023.
This year, awards of up to $100,000 will be distributed upfront, and then organizations that get the funds will be required to file quarterly reports documenting how the dollars are spent. Those with awards of more than $100,000 will be eligible to receive $100,000 upfront with the remaining funds distributed quarterly. Awardees of more than $100,000 must submit quarterly reports documenting the funding expenditures and also provide an external audit.
Considering that my expenses exceed my income, I now consider myself as a non-profit. Taxpayer money would improve the quality of my life, and even make me more inclined to vote for the people who pushed these freebies my way.
This is especially important in that I can no longer make donations to the charity of my choice.
Sounds good but I doubt anything has changed. The system will continue as is.
One can only hope the board of commissioners is bright enough to withhold these funds from The Greensboro Housing Authority. When asked to be transparent in multiple areas, they ALL completely ignore those requests. Clearly, they are ashamed of being forthcoming with information which, legally, is supposed to be of public record.
Let me guess. . . . .non-profits are putting together their applications. Wonder if Yvonne and her family have their applications prepared?
Look for the usual people that are hanging on to these people for most of their income.I wonder how much the (Skip’s baby)will get !!!!!!!!!!!!! The real people that need it will not see any of it. How about the citizens of Guilford County , they have not had a tax break in a couple decades.just saying.
Except for about 10-12 years around 2000 have we had good leadership.Before then and after that we have had mostly Democratic control.
There are so many phony non profits scattered around this County. Scum Bag people who use every tool in the toolbox to circumvent taxes, even going to the lengths of getting divorces to beat the tax system. Taking in illegal monies and dropping the funds into their non profit or using a car buying schemes/scams to buy vehicles with the illegal funds then selling the cars in 30 to 60 days to legitimize the money that they can then deposit into an account without raising eyebrows. This crap has been going on for years while State and Federal authorities turn a blind eye.
Please provide names. What you describe sounds illegal.
CSO funds and individual applications
You don’t need to make a profit with $1.6 million dollars checks coming in. They’ll probably send a couple to the CCP operation at the defunct Hebrew Academy. We’re way down the road to serfdom!