The Orcas Island Community Foundation is accepting applications for the 2011 competitive grants program. This is the 12th year of this grants program.

This year’s committee is chaired by Orcas Island Community Foundation (OICF) Trustee Coleen O’Brien. Members are a mix of OICF Trustees and community members including Rachel Adams, Craig Anderson, Joe Babcock, Michael Brennan, Betty Corbett, Mary Clure, Paul Kamin Sue Kimball, Moana Kutsche, Ann Lister, Dimitri Stankevich, and Bea von Tobel.

In the 2010 grants cycle, OICF, together with its Partners in Philanthropy, awarded $86,000 to 21 different Orcas Island nonprofits. Since its inception, OICF has distributed over $2 million in grants through our annual grant program and from other funds held by the Foundation to programs providing vital services to our community.

Nonprofit organizations with projects and programs benefitting Orcas Island are invited to submit an application. The grant guidelines and application are available on the OICF website at www.oicf.us, or at the Foundation’s office in Eastsound (141 Prune Alley, Suite 201). Draft applications may be submitted for a pre-review by e-mail (grantapplications@oicf.us) by February 30, 2011. Final applications must be received by OICF by Monday, March 14, 2011.

All applications are reviewed by the committee and a site visit is made to learn more about each proposal. The committee then convenes and prioritizes vetted and approved proposals and makes a funding recommendation to the OICF Board. Funds will be given to successful applicants at the Grants Award Celebration in late May 2011.

In recognition of continuing economic concerns, OICF will again consider applications for a small percentage of an organization’s operating expense budget, upon demonstration of extraordinary need. Organizations applying for operating expense grants must have sent or demonstrate the intention to send, a staff or board member to a continuing education program on governance, finance or fund-raising within the year.

OICF encourages applicants to work with other nonprofit organizations. OICF will again consider grant applications for projects of two or three years’ duration. Funds will be dispersed in installments, with regular reporting requirements to make sure long-term projects remain on track.

Questions about the OICF annual grants program should not be addressed to individual committee members, but to Grants Committee Chair Coleen O’Brien at 376-4808 or OICF staff at 376-6423, or e-mail grantapplications@oicf.us.