Here’s how we work:

Hometown Strong has hired grants staff to work directly with town, county, or council of government staff on grant applications, offering customized support to each agency. 

If you already have a grant application selected or underway, we can immediately provide support with either technical assistance (drafting portions of a grant applications, reviewing and making recommendations, etc.) or full grant writing support. 

If you don't yet know which opportunity is right for you, then our support begins by learning more about your project and compiling a full funding brief on both immediate grant opportunities as well as long-term funding strategies. Then, we work with a designated member of your staff to develop a compelling grant narrative and source all the information that is required for each federal grant opportunity. Even if you decide not to pursue federal funding, working with our team will allow you to pull together a funding plan that ensures your project can be funded in future cycles. We can also support you with letters of support from state agencies and leadership and provide grant writing and grant administration training. 

If you're interested in partnering with us on a grant proposal, please fill out the short form below, and our team will be in touch to schedule an initial call. 

Announcement: 

The Rural Grants team is in the middle of our spring grant cycle and our small team is working hard to submit applications through May 15. Because of this, we've paused our funding research program from April 17-May 6. You are welcome to submit a funding research request through this form and we'll reach out to schedule an intake call, responding in the order of requests received beginning May 6. 

FAQ About Eligibility

While we do our best to support everyone we can, there are some guidelines for who we work with: 

• We focus primarily on local governments in rural communities across North Carolina. If you are a nonprofit in an active partnership with a local government, we can also support you with funding research and grant support. 
• If you are a very small nonprofit, our services are probably not a good fit for you. Federal (and state) grants are difficult and complex, and most small nonprofits don't pursue this funding due to a lack of capacity for writing and administering these grants. We encourage you to explore other nonprofit support and capacity building programs, which will likely be more useful to your fundraising goals. 
• If you do not have a 501c3 or government legal status, we cannot support you with grant research unless you have an active fiscal sponsor that you have worked with for at least two years. 
• If your government is under active LGC management, you will be ineligible for most federally funded programs until the active period of management has ended. 

If you have questions about whether your agency or project is a good fit for our work, please reach out to Matt Schuneman, our project manager and grant analyst, at matthew.schuneman@hts.nc.gov with your questions. 

Not ready to bring a project in yet? Sign up for our newsletter here to stay up to date on training opportunities, grant deadlines, and more. 

We provide referrals, agency letters of support, and constructive feedback on proposals.

• Referrals to relevant state funding opportunities 

• Coordination of letters of support from state agencies and the Governor’s office when feasible, and

• Constructive feedback on proposals already drafted.