Taking its name from the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria, which was located on the island of Pharos, the lighthouse serves as a beacon of hope. One of the seven wonders of the Ancient World, the lighthouse of Alexandria gave it's name, "Pharos" to all lighthouses of the world. We believe the name Pharos Fund will continually remind us of our desire to embrace the search for innovative solutions, to focus on our program areas, and be a solid base for our grantmaking.
What We'll Do
The Pharos Fund is one of Bohemian Foundation's 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 looks to support projects which are small, innovative, and perhaps unpopular, in addition to bigger projects and those that are more visible.
What We Look For
What We Won't Do
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)
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
The Pharos Fund Grant Program will NOT fund requests with the following criteria. Please read each of the specific goals for additional exclusions prior to submitting an application.
Multi-year requests (the proposal timeline can not be longer than 12 months from the decision notification date)
Multi-program requests (i.e. general operating and one program or two programs in one request)
Fundraising and single/multi-day community events (see Event Fund)
Tuition-based private schools
Political campaigns or specific legislative issues
Activities that have a specific religious purpose
Non-501(c)(3) organizations
Private foundations, including private operating foundations
Type III Nonfunctionally Integrated Supporting Organizations
Individual team requests
Discriminatory programs
Programs serving individuals (i.e. scholarships; trips; personal needs)
Debt reduction
Grants are considered two times per year and the deadlines for requests are as follows:
Note: Grant deadlines are not the same every year, please check the website for updates.
