Inspired by listening to our grantee partners during Reporting Conversations held in the Winter/Spring of 2025, the VNA Foundation of Greater North Penn is launching Staff Capacity Grants, providing up to $15,000 per year for 2 years (for a total of $30,000) specifically to address the issue of “understaffing” among direct service positions– for instance, boosting a part-time staff position that requires more hours to meet rising community needs, or converting an increasingly vital volunteer position to a part-time paid position to ensure sustainability in that role, etc. In keeping with the VNA Foundation’s mission, only nonprofit organizations that provide health/human services in the greater North Penn region are eligible to apply.
These grants will be made to support direct service positions that serve vulnerable people in the greater North Penn community. The VNA Foundation defines “greater North Penn” as the geographic boundaries of three school districts (North Penn SD, Souderton SD, Wissahickon SD) and Worcester Twp in Montgomery County, PA.
The grant process involves three elements:
1) Letter of Inquiry (LOI)- Due OCTOBER 1st, 2025 The online LOI will ask you to write a broad-brush concept of the staff role you are looking to enhance through this grant, and ask you to suggest a few dates/times where you would be available to talk through it with us over Zoom to learn more. We will hold those informational conversations on an ongoing basis throughout September and early October, and work with you to determine whether you should continue in the process to the application stage. Visit our “Applying for a Grant” page where you can preview the Staff Capacity Grant LOI questions and determine whether to submit an LOI on our online portal.
Note: Early submission of LOIs is encouraged; late submission requests must be discussed with VNAF staff in advance.
2) Application By the first week in October, 2025, finalists from the LOI stage will be invited to complete a short, online application to provide financials and further details about the goals for the position. This application will be due on/around October 17th, 2025. VNA Foundation application will conduct application review and follow-up questions during late-October and early-November, and issue funding decisions by/around November 14th, 2025.
3) Reporting The VNA Foundation will invite each Staff Capacity grant recipient organization to participate in two Zoom reporting conversations (30 min each) over the course of the 2-year grant period, with an interim report at roughly the 1-year mark and a final discussion at the conclusion of the grant period.
Note: Those organizations that receive a 2-year Staff Capacity grant this Fall will still be eligible for VNA Foundation’s Spring Gen Op/Flexible Program grants- it will not be an either/or situation. Rather, the Staff Capacity grants are meant to be a supplementary stream of funding designed to help strengthen a team’s direct service capacity in our region at this uniquely challenging time. If your organization is considering applying for one of these Staff Capacity grants and unsure of eligibility or whether to apply, please email Diana Doherty at ddoherty@npvnafoundation.org as soon as possible with any questions. Early LOI submission is encouraged!