Pharos Fund is one of the Bohemian Foundation's responsive grantmaking programs. Consideration is given to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (private foundations excluded) providing services within the Poudre School District boundary area. The Pharos Fund has two goal areas: A) To encourage and enable our youth to become productive members of society; and B) To be a catalyst for public awareness. Grants up to $30,000 are available for program support, general operating support, technical assistance, and equipment/capital support. Applications are accepted two times per year.

The Pharos Fund has two grant cycles per year, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. You may submit one request per cycle. You may not request funding for the same project within a single calendar year. General Operating Support funds may only be requested once per calendar year.

The Pharos Fund serves the Fort Collins area. The Fort Collins area is defined by the Poudre School District boundary. Agencies need not be headquartered in Fort Collins to receive funding. The programs themselves, however, must serve clients within the Fort Collins area or have a direct impact on the Fort Collins community to be considered for funding.

As long as your project serves clients or has a direct impact within the Fort Collins area your application will be considered. For instance, we have funded national organizations that have proposed Fort Collins specific projects.

Bohemian Foundation does not fund activities with a specific religious purpose. However, if your church has a charitable project which does not have a specific religious purpose, it may be eligible for consideration for funding.

Bohemian Foundation can only award grant funding to designated 501(c)(3) agencies. If your 501(c)(3) status is pending, but you expect to receive notification from the IRS within 30 days of the application deadline, please contact our Grants Administrators by emailing Tana Atwood or Kim Herman, or by calling 970-221-2636 before applying.

General Operating Support provides for the day-to-day expense of running the nonprofit organization. General Operating Support may include, but is not limited to ongoing overhead expenses such as administrative salaries, utilities, office supplies, and technology maintenance. We consider the portions of administration and overhead costs directly related to direct program delivery as direct program costs and they should be included in your project request rather than in a General Operating Support request.

Organizations can apply to the Pharos Fund up to two times per year - therefore, the maximum Pharos funding an organization can receive in a calendar year is $60,000. However, applicants may not submit the same request two times in a single calendar year. The Foundation will not consider any request in excess of the $30,000 maximum grant amount and will not consider any request out of cycle. To see if the Pharos Fund grant cycle is open please visit Bohemian's Online Grants Application Portal

Please complete the Colorado Common Grant Report within 60 days after the first to occur: your completion of the use of the grant funds or the end of the Grant Term. Please email completed final reports to reports@bohemianfoundation.org and note in the subject line – Agency Final Report & Date. See Pharos Fund - Online Application FAQs for interim report requirements.

Yes. While we encourage you to publicize your organization or project Bohemian Foundation assisted in funding, please note in the grant agreement that you are required to obtain approval from Bohemian Foundation prior to the printing or distribution of any publicity materials that reference the foundation, including but not limited to: press releases, advertisements, signage, and event collateral. For all logo requests please include the size and file format needed. Please allow 10 days for Foundation staff to review and approve any proposed publicity.

Please send all publicity and logo approval requests to press@bohemianfoundation.org.
Please note, no changes to Bohemian Foundation logo are allowed without prior written approval.

For PSD, each school or department may submit one application during each grant cycle. Coordinate all requests both onsite (to ensure only one application is originating from each school) and with Stacy Poncelow, the District Grants Coordinator. A department request may provide for services at multiple school sites. In this case, the individual school site is not precluded from applying.

For CSU, each department may submit one application during each grant cycle. Coordinate all requests both departmentally (to ensure only one application is originating from each department) and with Peter Hartman, Director of Foundation Relations.

Bohemian supported district-wide or university-wide initiatives do not preclude applications from individual schools/departments within the district/university.

We appreciate your desire for input, however, Bohemian Foundation does not provide direct feedback to grantees regarding their applications. We want organizations to write requests based on their needs and not tailor them to our feedback. It is in your best interest to thoroughly read the website and goals. Goal fit is the most important factor for consideration. Each grant cycle is highly competitive and less than 50 percent of requests receive funding of any amount.

While we appreciate your desire to write the best possible grant application, we do not provide direct feedback or guidance for the reasons stated above. However, our Grants Administrators are available the first Friday morning of every month for appointments to review our Pharos Fund goal areas, guidelines, and criteria. Please contact our Grants Administrators by emailing Tana Atwood or Kim Herman, or by calling 970-221-2636 to schedule an appointment.

No. The Event Fund is intended to fund only fundraising or single or multi-day community events while the Pharos Fund supports longer-term and on-going projects. Thus, if your program is on-going it would not be an appropriate submission under the Event Fund. If it falls under one of the two Pharos Fund goal areas, we would welcome a Pharos Fund application.

Before you begin the application process, we encourage you to review the Online Grant Application Tips and Techniques, designed to provide brief instructions to assist you in completing your online application.

Yes. The eligibility quiz covers all of the basic information the Foundation needs to determine whether or not a request fits our guidelines. If you would like to gain further understanding about our guidelines please contact our Grants Administrators by emailing Tana Atwood or Kim Herman, or by calling 970-221-2636.

The "Request Timeline" is the start and end dates of your request and the "Budget Timeline" is the start and end financial dates of your request. The two need to match and the date range cannot exceed 365 days. Timeline dates do not need to match Bohemian Foundation's grant cycle dates; you should, however, take into account your organization's financial reporting dates in order to simplify budget and financial reporting.

Yes. These types of requests still require a request timeline. For instance, will the funding be used over the course of the entire year, nine months etc.?

We are looking for you to provide project/organization specific examples of how the request meets Pharos Fund Goal A or Goal B and their related sub-goals. An unsatisfactory answer would be a restatement of these goals, but instead please provide specific examples of how the request is addressing Goal A and its sub-goals or Goal B and its sub-goals. Meeting a single sub-goal is enough for consideration. Equal weight is given to agencies whether they meet one or many of the sub-goals.

Short Answer:
We will first ask you how to best describe your clients. For Goal A, you will be asked to select “youth” or “families” as the best descriptor of your participants. For Goal B, you will be asked to type in the primary demographic of your participants (i.e. community members, students, elderly). We will also ask you to provide the participants' age range, the total number of participants you propose to serve during the request timeline (will match table), and if any fees will be assessed to the participants.

Table:
Numbers provided must correspond to the demographic label you selected. The first column of data asks for the "Number of Clients Served for the Project’s Prior Year Timeline." This should be comparable prior year client data for the project you are applying for (we want comparable data from year to year). You will also need to select a date range for the prior year project client data. The second column of data asks for the "Projected Number to be Served for Request Timeline." This date range will be automatically populated for you based on previous information you entered.

Please note: client data numbers provided in the table must be solely for the specific demographic label you selected.

If you still have questions please contact Grants Administrators, Tana Atwood or Kim Herman, at 970.221.2636

We require the signature of your organization's Executive Director and Board Chairperson. We do realize, however, that management-structures take on many forms. If your organization does not have these, or corresponding positions, please contact us for guidance. Also, please note that the same person may not provide both electronic signatures, even if this person is both Executive Director and Board Chair. In this case, the signature of a different board officer may be substituted for the Board Chair.

For Poudre School District requests, we require the signature of the grant originator and either the Superintendent, Department Head or School Principal as appropriate.

While we don't give specific guidance on an individual request level, it is helpful to consider the following as you respond: Application questions should be answered in as direct and concise a manner as possible. Not every answer needs to reach the maximum word count; rather than stretching answers, provide only the information being requested. We prefer directness to wordiness. Remember, if your request is a solid goal fit, it will speak for itself.

Prior year:
This question helps us understand applicants other sources of funding. Up to six prior year funding sources should be listed unless the request is for a new project. Your answers may include approved or received funding sources not limited to foundations. Sources may include local businesses, fundraising events, county or state contracts for services. Your answers should include the organization, the amount you requested, the amount you received, the date on which you received funding, and how much of the funding remains available for the project. If the project did exist in the prior year, you must complete the prior year funding sources section.

Current year:
List up to six funding sources being solicited for the project for the requested timeline. Your answers may include requested funding sources not limited to foundations. Sources may include local business support, fundraising events, county or state contracts for services. List the organization, the amount you’ve requested from them, the amount you’ve received, if the request was approved, declined or still pending; and the date of notification (or expected date if it is still pending).

Your answers in the prior year and current year sections should support the answers you provide in the budget section located toward the end of the application. If you have more than six funding sources for the requested project, do not worry about providing an exhaustive list.

In the "agency expenditures" portion of the table enter the prior year’s overall agency’s actual expenses. In the second part of the "agency expenditures" insert the current year’s budgeted expense amount. Please use the space provided to explain any significant discrepancy (either an increase or decrease). Unless you are requesting only General Operating Support funding, you must also fill out the "project expenditures" portion of the table as well. Fill it out in the same manner as above, except instead of overall agency expenses, insert the total detailed project expenses in the prior year and then for the period for which you are requesting funds. Again, please use the space provided to explain any significant discrepancy (either an increase or decrease).

The online grants application portal will ask you to upload the following documents or a subset of them:

1. Detailed budget for the entire project. NOTE: This budget should include data not just for Fort Collins and not just for the portion for which you are seeking Bohemian Foundation funding, but for all of the geographic regions the project will serve. (Poudre School District boundary area, Larimer County and outside of Larimer County). This is not required for General Operating Support requests.

2. Detailed agency budget for the year in which the project is being requested. This is a standard document most agencies should have available. The detailed agency budget relates to information about the overall agency income and expenses. If an approved budget is not yet available, your most recent draft version is acceptable.

3. Externally prepared financial statements (audited, reviewed, or compiled). If unavailable, the most recently filed 990 report. If your agency isn't large enough to require an external audit, your most recent 990 (draft version may apply) is sufficient. If your organization does not meet the 990 requirement, an internally prepared profit and loss statement and balance sheet is required. You may also submit a "draft" copy of your externally prepared financial statement if the most recent year is not yet finalized.

4. IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter (required for first time Pharos Fund applicants only) or any subsequent filings with the IRS related to your determination. (Excludes public schools and governmental units).

5. Board of Directors List

6. Any outstanding final or interim reports (from previously awarded Bohemian funds) that relate to the project for which funding is being requested. See Final report and interim report FAQs for more information.

7. Budget Narrative if you feel elements of your budget require explanation. (optional)

• The detailed agency budget relates information about the overall agency income and expenses. If the agency has multiple programs, this budget usually incorporates all programs plus administrative expenses. The detailed agency budget is a standard document most agencies should have available. It is often approved by the Board of Directors and is often utilized for Budget to Actual comparisons for both operational and board purposes. If your grant request is for a future period of time, the detailed agency budget should include the same future time frame. (If not available in final form a draft is acceptable.)
• The detailed budget for the entire project is the detailed budget for the specific project for which you are currently seeking funding. This budget should include data not just for Fort Collins and not just the portion for which you are seeking Bohemian Foundation funding, but for all of the geographic regions the project will serve (Poudre School District boundary area, Larimer County and outside of Larimer County). Please do not include cost components for any unrelated projects. This budget is not required to be submitted to Bohemian Foundation for General Operating Support requests. It is required for all other request types.
• The budget section of the application should correlate to your detailed budget for the entire project or the entire agency depending on if you are applying for a project or an agency, but should be put in budget template form provided on the application.

The BUDGETED INCOME/REVENUE section is a synopsis of funding sources. If funds have already been committed to the project (grants, fundraising, fees for services, etc.), list this data in the “Committed” column. Note that the application will total the items in each of the columns for you. Place any outstanding funding requests in the “Pending” column. The amount requested from Bohemian Foundation will be entered for you, based on your "Amount Requested" that you keyed in earlier in the application. Keep in mind, it is possible to have both committed and pending funds from the same organization. Also, as a result of pending funds, it is possible for the INCOME/REVENUE total to exceed the total project/agency BUDGETED EXPENSES. If applicable, please include "Prior Year Actuals" for the 12-month period prior to the requested budget timeline. Please note that this column heading will be conditional on the type of support you are requesting.

The BUDGETED EXPENSES section breakdowns those expenses for the total project (see above FAQ for more on total project) and those specific to the funding request currently being submitted to Bohemian Foundation. Please include "Prior Year Actuals" for the 12 month period prior to the requested budget timeline. Please note that a red error message will appear if your itemized expenses do not equal the requested amount that has been populated by your answer in “Amount Requested." If your expenses are not adding up, you are welcome to list uncategorized expenses under “Other Expenses.”


Information provided on the BUDGET WORKSHEET also relates to the following application items:
• The “Itemized Expenses Covered by THIS Request” column corresponds to the answer provided in the "USE OF FUNDS" section.
• The “Budgeted Income/Revenue” section should correlate to the "FUNDING SOURCES" section.
• The “Budgeted Total Project or Agency Expenses” column should match the expenses listed in the detailed budget for the entire project or the detailed budget for the entire agency. (see above FAQ for more information)

The more complete snapshot you can give us of your organization, the better we are able to understand your unique situation. If your agency isn't large enough to require an external audit, your most recent 990 will suffice. If your organization does not meet the 990 reporting requirement, an internally prepared profit and loss statement is required for the most recent year ended. If your most recent external audit is not final as of the deadline date, please include your internal financial statements for the year ended and provide the audit when it is finalized. Include a note advising us of this condition and the date we can expect to see the finalized financials. We will also accept "DRAFT" copies of your most recent audit if the most recent year is not yet finalized.

If your organization applies for a grant for the same program, project or operation in the future, you must submit an interim report in conjunction with that application if a final report has not already been submitted. Interim reports should be written using the Colorado Common Grant Report Format.

Once all missing items have been addressed in the application, you will be able to click the “Confirm and Submit” check box and submit your application.

Yes. You may edit or finalize your online application (listed under “My Requests”) at any time before the grant application deadline (listed in the grant description under “Open Grants” in the online grants application portal).