Grantmaking

LACF makes a concrete financial impact on nonprofit organizations in Los Alamos and the region by providing several types of grant funding. For a list of current grant opportunities please click here.

Capacity Building Grants

Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants are awarded each spring through a competitive selection process led by LACF’s Board of Directors. Each year, a new selection committee is formed to score and review grant proposals, and award funding. Selection committees are comprised of community members with relevant expertise and member(s) of LACF’s Board of Directors. LACF staff oversees the grant award process.

Since 2021, LACF has provided over $77,000 in funding for projects to increase the financial stability of nonprofits in Los Alamos County.

Field-of-Interest Grants

LACF administers endowed funds established by local philanthropists for specific purposes. Examples of such endowed funds include: Los Alamos Community Endowment for Youth Sports (established by Paul and Jill Cook), Judy Dudziak Endowment for Community Music Organizations (established by Don Dudziak), and Pajarito Plateau Heritage Preservation Endowment (established by Georgia Strickfaden).

Each Spring, LACF conducts a competitive selection process to award grant funding to nonprofits in each of these categories. The amount of funding available is determined by the endowment earnings over the past year. Selection committees are formed for each category of funding. Committee members include the fund creator, community members with relevant expertise, and a member of LACF’s Board of Directors. LACF staff oversees the grant award process.

Donor-Designated Grants

Community members create endowed funds at LACF to benefit specific nonprofit organizations. Examples of such endowed funds include: Community Endowment for UNM-Los Alamos (established by Pat Soran and Ann Hayes), Paul A. and Susan E. Bombardt K-12 Music Education Endowment for Los Alamos Public Schools (established by Paul and Sue Bombardt), and Los Alamos Little Theatre Endowment (established by Ken Milder).

Each Spring, LACF provides grant funding to each designated organization. The amount of funding is determined by the endowment earnings over the prior year.

Partnership Grants

LACF works in partnership with other regional funders as often as possible, to maximize funding opportunities available to local nonprofits. Examples of such partnerships include: awarding $22,500 in funding with Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos to sponsor nonprofit participation in a year-long fundraising immersion program, and awarding $62,000 in COVID-19 emergency response funding in partnership with six other regional funders.

“Los Alamos Juvenile Justice Advisory Board (JJAB) utilized $4,250 in grant funding to implement Casebook, a cloud‐based, case management database. The database immediately created efficiencies for staff with the ability to eliminate the use of multiple Excel spreadsheets and Word documents, and reduce the need for paper case files. It has also allowed for additional tracking of youth in programs and services, tracking of referrals, and enhanced staff activity time reporting. Going forward, the system will continue to assist JJAB staff but will also benefit the youth and families served by having a secure system that will allow for less time focused on organizing forms and paperwork and more time focused on providing services.”

--Lisa Zuhn, Executive Director