Grant Eligibility

Organizations eligible to apply for an Impact100 Nashville grant must be:

Transformation and Innovation Category Criteria

• Grant applications should seek to transform the Middle Tennessee community in an innovative way, generally focusing on a new program, approach, or project.
• Tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, independent of a financial sponsor (local affiliates may apply under the 501(c)(3) of the national organization).
• Located in and serve residents of at least one of the ten counties in the Nashville Economic Market area (Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson)
• Past Impact100 Nashville grantees must wait 5 years from the date of their award before re-applying.
• Able to submit independently prepared, audited financial statements for the past three fiscal years. If at least two years of audited financial statements are not available, must be able to provide details on why audited statements are not available (for example, organization is not required to have audited financials)
• Submit federal income tax returns for the past three years
• Have average gross revenue above $500,000 and below $5,000,000 over past three years.

Spark Grant Category Criteria (only available in years with sufficient funding above and beyond $100,000 grant amounts)

• Spark Grants are designed to fund a specific, self-sustaining project that will address a problem within Middle Tennessee in a new or elevated way.
• Tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, independent of a financial sponsor (local affiliates may apply under the 501(c)(3) of the national organizations
• Located in and serve residents of at least one of the ten counties in the Nashville Economic Market area (Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson)
• Entity must show financials indicating average gross revenue of $50,000 for the past 3 years

Outstanding applications will be proposals that:

• Target under-served populations.
• Highlight unmet needs in the community.
• Will have a high impact on beneficiaries or communities.

Grants will not be provided for:

• Debt reduction, operating deficits, interim or bridge funding, or endowment funding.
• Individuals or private foundations.
• Fund drives, annual appeals, or fundraising events.
• Funding proposals that utilize less than the full grant award.
• Activities that are explicitly religious or political in nature.
  • For example, religious organizations may apply for programmatic funding as long as there are no religion-based requirements to access services. Similarly, programs that have been politicized but that do not endorse a specific party or candidate are still eligible for consideration.

As we continue to grow and evolve, Impact100 Nashville reserves the right to change its eligibility criteria without notice at any time.