The Pharos Fund is one of Bohemian Foundation's responsive grantmaking programs. Its name is taken from the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria, once located on the Island of Pharos near Egypt and identified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. We believe the name Pharos Fund will provide a beacon of inspiration that guides us in our grant-making and reminds us to light the way toward creative, innovative ideas and solutions in our community.

The Pharos Fund has two goal areas:

We see our youth taking an active role in creating a community that nurtures and inspires all of its community members. Our youth will have the resources necessary to help them grow and thrive as productive members of society. Our youth will understand that they are the future of our community and are involved in creating an ideal community. They understand duty, service, and the importance of civic engagement. They are involved because they have a voice, and have become an integral part of shaping the future of this community. Our community will be diverse, tolerant and safe. Our children will have safe places to go, and the ability and the skills to make informed decisions and develop strong self-esteem.

We see our community being informed on issues and rallying its citizens to take action. The people of Fort Collins will use their networks and relationships to take a systematic approach to addressing these issues. We will focus on preventing problems from occurring rather than waiting to fix the problems.

See Pharos Fund Guidelines and Pharos Fund FAQs for further guidance.


What We Look For...

The Pharos Fund has particular interest in requests from organizations with the following components:

  • Programs that empower people to help themselves
  • Programs which fill gaps in services
  • Financial leverage (evidence of other funding and/or in-kind services provided by grant requesting agency)
  • Sustainability beyond our support
  • Programs that focus on causes vs. symptoms
  • Organizations collaborating together to improve their efficiency
  • Programs with high expectations for participants
  • Strong evaluation systems Organizational/program inclusion of social and cultural differences
  • Capacity building efforts to increase operational effectiveness

©2012 Bohemian Foundation