Weekly Funding Opportunity: Xcel Energy Foundation

Information by State  Print version

Each week, Neighborhood Networks provides potential funding sources to help centers develop and improve programs and services. Featured this week is Xcel Energy Foundation.

Xcel Energy is a leading combination electricity and natural gas energy company providing energy-related products and services to 3.3 million electricity customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Program areas: Xcel Energy Foundation's grantmaking and corporate giving are focused in four areas: community development, supporting education, promoting arts and culture, and the environment.

The focus area of most interest to Neighborhood Networks centers is:

Community Development. The foundation's community development focus area targets programs that address low- to-moderate-income populations and historically disadvantaged or underrepresented groups. The foundation prefers to support programs in the following areas:

	Affordable housing programs or projects that:   Increase opportunities for affordable homeownership; programs with an educational component on how to maintain a property.   Increase rental opportunities for low- to-moderate-income populations, including transitional and supportive housing services.   Provide accessible housing for people with special needs.   Help make housing affordable by reducing the impact of energy costs to low-income, elderly, and special needs customers through energy assistance and conservation/energy efficiency.
	Community development projects that seek to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for a community, such as programs that create, attract, or retain business, and promote diversity.
	Programs that make economic self-sufficiency a viable option for low-income populations with an emphasis on job creation.

Targeted Areas: Midwest, Southwest, and West.

Eligibility: Grants are limited to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. All applicants must complete the foundation's online application process. Xcel Energy Foundation does not make grants to individuals, political parties, national organizations, research programs, government agencies, or for the following requests:

	Endowment campaigns.
	Athletic or scholarship competitions.
	Religious, political, veteran, or fraternal organizations except for programs these organizations sponsor for direct benefit to the community and not for themselves.
	Benefits or fundraising activities.
	Programs of individual organizations that receive more than 50 percent of their program budget from the United Way or other federated giving drives to which Xcel Energy contributes.
	Disease-specific organizations.
	Sports and athletic programs.
	Capital projects.

Award amount: Award amounts vary.

Application process: Organizations can apply for a grant using the online grant application process.

Deadlines: Community development grant requests must be submitted by May 7, 2008. No later than three weeks after the deadline for submitting a letter of intent, organizations will be notified whether or not they have been selected to submit a full proposal. Those invited to submit a full proposal will be instructed on how to proceed. Full proposals will be due within three weeks of notification.

Contact: For answers to specific questions, please e-mail the Xcel Energy Foundation.