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Funding & Technical Assistance
Civic Engagement
Advancing Civil Dialogue and Social Justice | GriffinHarte Foundation
Deadline: December 15, 2025 |The Griffin Harte Foundation funds individuals working to foster civil conversations on complex social, political, and economic issues. The goal is to help people overcome their differences through productive communication. Grants focus on projects that promote civic engagement, social justice, and feminism through research, teaching, and educational opportunities. Projects should explicitly consider how identity, gender, race, and other social factors shape communication, learning, and engagement.
Climate Change
Climate Awareness and Action | Earth Rising Foundation
Deadline: December 31, 2025. The Earth Rising Foundation funds U.S.-based organizations and groups working to raise awareness and drive action on the climate crisis. Priority is given to projects amplifying Indigenous voices, advancing regenerative agriculture, exploring climate intersections with social justice, fostering sustainable visions, and promoting youth activism. Grants are open to both emerging and established leaders advocating for a future grounded in cooperation and care for people and the planet.
Broadband
Advance Colorado Broadband Mini Grant Program. Colorado Broadband Office (CBO). State. Project-based funding. Eligible entities: organizations that have previously received a state or federal broadband deployment grant from the Colorado Broadband Office, including High Cost Support Mechanism State Grant recipients. Provides approximately $800,000 in additional funding to support broadband deployment and project expansion efforts in eligible areas identified on the Capital Projects Fund (CPF) map. Funding is sourced from both the Capital Projects Fund and the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. A webinar will be held October 8 at 10:00 a.m. to review program details and eligibility. Deadline November 7, 11:59 pm MST.
Economic Development
Advanced Industries Export Grant. Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade. State. Project-based funding. Eligible entities: small- and medium-sized Colorado advanced industry businesses. Provides up to $15,000 (50% of eligible costs) for export activities such as trade shows, marketing, translation, export training, and compliance support.
Business and Industry Loan Guarantees. US Department of Agriculture. Federal. Loan funding. Eligible entities: for-profit and nonprofit businesses, cooperatives, Tribes, public bodies, and individuals engaged or proposed to engage in a business. Loan guarantees to improve, develop, or finance business, industry, and employment and improve the economic and environmental climate in rural communities.
Rural Business Investment Program. US Department of Agriculture. Federal. Startup funding. Eligible entities: for-profits and subsidiaries of an entity. Provides a Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC) license to newly formed developmental capital organizations to fill the need for business and development capital in rural areas. The program works with for-profit developmental capital funds.
Rural Entrepreneur Grant. Startup Colorado. Private. Project-based funding. Eligible entities: rural entrepreneurs in Colorado. Provides funding for business-related events, education, and technical resources to accelerate growth, covering expenses like registration fees and travel. Up to $5,000.
Strategic Fund Job Growth Incentive. Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade. Business incentives. Eligible entities: Businesses considering interstate competitive expansion or relocation projects in Colorado. Project-based funding. Funds for locating or expanding in the state, signing a lease, hiring employees related to this project, making material expenditures for this project.
Community Development
Spark Good Local Grants. Walmart Spark Good. Foundation funding. General. Eligible entities: Deed-verified organizations with a Spark Good account, including nonprofit organization (c3) government entities, schools, and faith-based groups with community-wide benefit. Provides local cash grants ranging from $250 to $5,000 to support community-specific needs through an open application process. Deadline applications are accepted quarterly November 3–December 31.
Hometown Grants. T-Mobile. Foundation. Project-based funding. Eligible entities: local government, tribal leaders, or nonprofit community leaders. The program will fund projects to build, rebuild, or refresh community spaces that help foster local connections in small towns (with populations less than 50,000), including town squares, historic buildings, outdoor parks, ball fields, or libraries. Elected leaders, town managers or employees, or nonprofit leaders are eligible to submit project details. Deadline: Awards will be made quarterly. Applications will be open on a quarterly basis and the portal will close on the last day of each quarter and reopen for the new quarter on the first of the month.
Emergency & Disaster
Local IMPACT Accelerator. Colorado Energy Office (CEO). State. Policy and project-based funding. Eligible entities: local governments (cities, counties, or multi-jurisdiction cohorts) and Colorado’s two federally recognized Tribes. Supports adoption of new local policies and implementation of aligned projects in the sectors of buildings, land use, transportation, and waste. Provides funding for activities such as outreach, stakeholder engagement, technical analysis, policy development, pilot projects, rebate programs, consultant studies, and equipment purchases tied to adopted policies. Project funding must be paired with policy adoption; standalone project requests are not eligible. Grant sizes range from approximately $200,000 for policy adoption to up to $1.8 million for combined policy and project proposals, with $50 million available statewide. Requires demonstrated local government leadership support and adoption of policies beyond state minimums or early adoption of upcoming requirements. Deadline Round 2 LOI due November 17 with full applications January 16–February 18, 2026.
Energy & Environment
Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program (COSWAP). Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR). State. Project-based / workforce & landscape funding. Eligible entities: conservation corps, local governments and collaboratives, and other organizations able to do wildfire fuel reduction, forest restoration, and also workforce training in mitigation work. Supports two main tracks: Workforce Development Grants (training people, crews, conservation corps, SWIFT inmate fire teams) and Landscape Resilience Investments (fuels reduction projects in high-priority focus areas and watershed protection). Provides funds to treat forested land, reduce wildfire risk to homes, infrastructure, and watersheds; goals include forest health, ecological resilience, reducing firefighting costs, protecting water supply. Deadline November 3.
Health & Mental Health & Community Services
Building Pathways to Economic Self-Sufficiency | Department of Housing and Urban Development | Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency Service Coordinator Program
Deadline: December 2. Target population: Residents of public housing. The ROSS-SC Program supports residents of Public and Native American Housing in achieving economic and housing self-sufficiency. Grants fund Service Coordinators who connect residents with education, job training, financial literacy, and health services to help them progress toward independence and stability. For seniors and residents with disabilities, coordinators also link participants to supportive services that help residents age in place.
Elevating Prevention in Colorado (EPIC). Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE). State. Project-based / systems planning funding. Eligible entities Colorado communities, local public health agencies, nonprofits, coalitions engaging in primary prevention of substance use and misuse using a shared risk/protective-factor approach. Supports building a collective impact system, coordinating prevention strategies across funding sources, and implementing evidence-based prevention programs. Deadline November 3, 2025, by 5:00 pm MST.
Transportation/Infrastructure
Off-System Bridge Program. Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). State / federal. Project-based funding. Eligible entities Colorado counties and municipalities owning public road bridges or major culverts (off-system structures) rated in Poor or Fair condition. Supports inventory, inspection, evaluation, major rehabilitation, and replacement of off-system bridges and tunnels. Requires a minimum 20% match from the applicant. Deadline November 7.
Water
State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan Program. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. State/federal partnership. Loan funding. Eligible entities: Colorado communities seeking financing for water infrastructure projects, including drinking water and wastewater systems. Finances the design and construction of Colorado water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. We administer the fund along with the Department of Local Affairs, and the Colorado Water Resources & Power Development Authority. We manage environmental reviews, engineering design approvals, and conduct overall project management. The power authority manages the finances and loan approvals. Local affairs staff members work with applicants on credit reviews and reports. Deadline November 5.
Water Supply Reserve Fund Grants. Colorado Water Conservation Board. State. Project-based funding. Eligible entities: local governments, special districts, water and sanitation, conservancy, conservations, irrigation and water activity enterprises, private entities such as mutual ditch companies, nonprofits, individuals and partnerships, etc. Provides funding to Colorado water users in addressing critical water supply issues and interests. Funding requests can be for technical assistance for permitting, feasibility studies, and environmental compliance; studies or analysis of structural, nonstructural, consumptive and nonconsumptive water needs, projects or activities; design of structural projects or activities; infrastructure replacements or maintenance projects. Deadline December 1.
Water Plan Grants. Colorado Water Conservation Board. State. Project-based funding. Eligible entities local governments, special districts, water and sanitation, conservancy, conservation districts, irrigation and water activity enterprises, private entities such as mutual ditch companies, nonprofits, individuals and partnerships, etc. Provides funding to advance the Colorado Water Plan. Please see program guidelines for eligible project types. Preference given to projects that have multiple benefits and multiple purposes and involve multiple stakeholders. Deadline December 1 and July 1.
Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants in Colorado. US Department of Agriculture. Federal. Emergency funding. Eligible entities: local government, nonprofits, Tribes. Emergency-based funding. This program helps eligible communities prepare, or recover from, an emergency that threatens the availability of safe, reliable drinking water. Water transmission line grants up to $150,000 to construct waterline extensions, repair breaks or leaks in existing water distribution lines, and address related maintenance necessary to replenish the water supply. Water source grants up to $1,000,000 for the construction of new wells, reservoirs, transmission lines, treatment plants, and/or other sources of water (water source up to and including the treatment plant).
Community Funding Partnership. Colorado River District. Project-based funding. Eligible entities: include local governments, nonprofits, irrigation districts, and other stakeholders within the Colorado River District’s 15-county Western Slope region. Provides funding for multi-benefit water projects in five categories: productive agriculture, infrastructure, healthy rivers, watershed health and water quality, and conservation and efficiency. Grants aim to support projects that enhance water resilience and leverage additional funding from state, federal, and private sources. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; however, for funding requests exceeding $50,000, applications must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the quarterly board meetings held in January, April, July, and October.
Resources & News
Unraveling the differential in condo and hotel property tax payments
by Chris Romer, President & CEO | Vail Valley Partnership
Read full story here. As Eagle County continues conversations about affordability, housing, and economic equity, it’s worth taking the time to understand that property tax assessment rates and property taxes paid are two different things based on their classification and valuation methodology.
Colorado Department of Local Affairs Local Community Funding Guide
The Division of Local Government (DLG) created this comprehensive resource to help local governments and nonprofit community organizations navigate the funding sources available through a variety of Federal and State programs. While not an exhaustive list, this guide is updated frequently as new information is available.
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