Phase 2 of Legacy Foundation’s response to COVID-19 was a comprehensive plan that helped address the impact in the community and among non-profit organizations.  This plan was a 3-pronged approach that included:

• Non-profit Capacity Building Grants
• Innovative Response Grants
• Non-profit Staff and Board Training Scholarships

Legacy Foundation, Crown Point Community Foundation, and Foundations of East Chicago partnered to offer grants of up to $5,000 to help non-profit organizations develop and/or implement an Emergency Preparedness or Strategic Restructuring plan.

Emergency Preparedness Plans covered general preparedness (to include all disasters including tornado, fire, pandemic, etc.) or be COVID-19 specific (precautions to take when returning to work, what to do in case of future outbreak, etc.). Some examples included:

• Costs for hosting virtual events and meetings
• Costs for upgrading to virtual platforms and software
• Consultant and staff costs associated with developing plans
• Purchase of technological supplies and equipment needed to implement plan

Strategic Restructuring grants were intended to support nonprofits as they assessed, negotiated, designed, and/or implemented substantive strategic restructuring efforts. Some examples included:

• Costs associated with partnering with another organization to move into shared office space
• Costs associated with partnering with another organization to share front office administrative expenses
• Costs associated with merger between two organizations
• Consultants to help organizations with merger
• Legal fees related to restructuring

We understood that there was no one-size fits all approach to addressing the impact that COVID-19 on our communities.  Different populations and communities have varying needs, and we trust our non-profit partners who are working on the front line to best understand how to address those needs.  As a result, for our Phase 2 approach to COVID Response Grants, Legacy Foundation invited qualified organizations to submit requests for an Innovative COVID-19 Response Grant of up to $50,000.  Innovative funding was targeted toward bold “out-of-the-box” ways to address issues arising from COVID-19.  The “innovation” could be in the design, implementation, or the outcome.  Some examples included:

• A change in normal practices or approaches to problem-solving
• The implementation of a new system or partnership to improve services or reach a new audience
• The addition of a program or service that adds value to clients or brings new information into the organization
• Replicating a program or service that has worked well in other locations

Requests focused on meeting the needs of communities and populations whose health and/or financial situations were most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and who have been historically marginalized and under-served in our country.  Priority was given to innovative programming to address the disparities in service delivery that exist in communities of color.