---

How to Get a Community Grant

Adapted from an article in CHRS News, April 2002
by Larry Pearl, Beall Bequest Committee

Criteria for judging grant applications are as follows:

Threshold requirements

The proposal must be for a specific project or projects relating to Capitol Hill. A proposal to simply add the CHRS grant to an organization’s operating funds would not be eligible for consideration.

Incorporation or nonprofit status is not required. However, CHRS needs to be reasonably assured that there is a capacity to carry out the project as well as accountability for the funds.

Rating Factors

• Benefits to Capitol Hill community — 40 points
  This is a combination of numbers of people served by the project (20 points) and the broader and perhaps intangible benefits to the community in those areas important to CHRS. Among these are historic preservation and the strengthening of the residential character of Capitol Hill (20 points).

• Innovative nature of proposal — 20 points
  Is this something new and different?

• Clarity of proposal — 10 points
  Is the proposal readily understandable? Will the Board, the CHRS membership, and the community easily comprehend what’s being funded?

• Feasibility of proposal — 10 points
  Does the proposal appear to be feasible, considering the resources involved, timeframe for completion, and organizational capacity?

• Measurability of results — 10 points
  Proposals that are capable of quantifying their results are looked upon favorably. This does not mean that a proposal to fix up a park (benefiting those who use the park) would score lower than a proposal that provides individual benefits. It means that either would score better than a proposal that provides only a more amorphous benefit to the whole community.

• Reliance on CHRS funding — 10 points
  Many projects will require more funds than a modest CHRS grant can provide. Preference will be given to projects that rely wholly or in large part on CHRS funds.

For 2007 grants, applications that meet the basic qualifications and describe activities or projects located north or east of the existing Capitol Hill Historic District will be accorded priority funding.

---

• House tour grants main page
• Previous grant recipients
• Summary of grant awards made for the past seven years