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I. General Goals and Objectives
- To build, enhance, and sustain capacity for housing and conservation activities throughout the State of Vermont in order to accomplish the Board’s mission.
- To provide core operating funding for regional and statewide organizations that carry out housing and conservation activities so that they are able to successfully meet their mission and further the goals of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Trust Fund Act by:
a. Meeting housing and conservation needs that may require unique partnerships or creative approaches to achieving the Board’s mission.
b. Planning strategically for the future.
c. Collaborating with VHCB staff on difficult organizational challenges.
d. Enhancing the capacity of non-profit organizations to steward their assets.
e. Improving and maintaining the financial health of housing and conservation organizations.
f. Implementing the goals of Vermont’s municipalities in the areas of community development, housing, and land conservation.
II. Circumstances Under Which the Board will Consider Making a Grant
A. The Board will consider investments in organizational development when such activity will further the objectives of the Act and will support a service or activity that is essential to the mission of the Board in one or more of the following ways:
- In a community or region that has seen evidence of a housing or conservation need, develops capacity where no qualified applicant exists or no existing entity is available to provide the proposed service, or maintains/expands capacity of an existing organization to provide the service.
- The activities of the organization will result in leveraging of public or private funds that further the Board's goals.
- The organization will provide essential technical assistance to further the purposes of the Act.
- The organization broadly serves the need of the geographic area in which the organization operates without duplicating the functions of another non-profit in the same region.
B. Community Support
Regardless of the specific purpose of the capacity grant request, the organization seeking assistance must be able to demonstrate its viability either in terms of community support for its mission or the ability to leverage other funds to carry out projects appropriate for the Board to support.
C. Duplication of Efforts
The Board desires to promote affiliation and coordination among organizations serving the same region and therefore suggests that existing resources be used wherever and whenever possible. Therefore, in making a determination regarding whether or not to fund an organizational grant, the Board will consider whether capacity currently exists in the community or region. The Board generally will not provide organizational grant funding to more than one organization seeking to provide the same service to the same county or region. In cases where this situation exists the Board may impose conditions that a Memorandum of Understanding be signed between the affected organizations and that such memorandum shall address how the organizations will interact so as to eliminate duplication and to maximize the strengths of each organization.
III. Types of Grants
It is anticipated that organizational development grants will be of two types:
A. Start-up Grants - capacity building funds to further the purposes and objectives of the Board where the need for establishment of a regional or statewide organization exists or an existing organization needs or desires to expand activity; and
B. Core Operating Support - funding for existing organizations where the organization provides a service, on a regional or statewide basis, that furthers the purposes and objectives of the Board.
IV. Start-up Funding
A. Availability
Start-up phase organizational funds will be available for a maximum of two years. After that time, organizations must either meet the requirements for core operating support or be ineligible to receive additional organizational capacity grants from the Board.
B. Grant Agreement
Recipients shall sign a Grant Agreement with the Board that allows for among other things: organizational monitoring; review of systems including, financial, management etc.; attendance at appropriate workshops; participation in peer groups that may exist.
V. Core Operating Support
A. Cash Match
Core Operating Support capacity funding will require a hard cash match. The amount will be established by the Board on a case by case basis and may depend upon the circumstances of the organization.
B. Grant Agreement
Recipients shall sign a Grant Agreement with the Board that allows for, among other things: organizational monitoring; review of systems including, financial, management etc.; attendance at appropriate workshops; participation in peer groups that may exist and providing an organizational audit to VHCB staff for review.
C. Decreasing Reliance on VHCB Organizational Funding
In cases where the applicant is seeking Core Operating Support, the Board expects, except under extremely unusual circumstances, that, from start-up to maturity, a smaller percentage of the organizational budget will come from the Board in the form of organizational grants (although the actual dollar amount may not decrease). Applicants for such funding shall develop and update a Business Plan that shows how they will become increasingly self-sufficient.
VI. Start-up Phase Performance Criteria
A. Eligibility
In order to be eligible for start-up phase capacity funding all grantees must:
- Have organizational documents including 501(c)(3), Bylaws, Articles of Association
- Have a mission that furthers the goals of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board
- Have a legal mechanism that assures perpetual affordability or permanent conservation of a resource important to the Board
- Have identified priorities for the protection of land or the development or preservation of housing
- Broadly serve the need of the geographic area in which the organization operates without duplicating the functions of another non-profit in the same region and no existing entity already meets that need.
- Have an adopted Conflict of Interest Policy.
- Have an organizational plan that outlines goals and objectives and how they will be achieved.
VII. Core Operating Support Performance Criteria
A. Initial Eligibility
- All Grantees
In order to be initially eligible for core operating support both housing and conservation grantees must:
- Have organizational documents including 501(c)(3), Bylaws, Articles of Association
- Have a Business or Strategic Plan satisfactory to VHCB staff
- Have a Fundraising Plan satisfactory to VHCB staff
- Have financial systems acceptable to VHCB staff
- Have a Conflict of Interest Policy meeting any criteria established by the VHCB
- Have up to date reports on any VHCB funded projects
- Have a legal mechanism that assures perpetual affordability or permanent conservation of a resource important to the Board.
- Broadly serve the need in the geographic area in which the organization operates and without duplicating the functions of another non-profit in the same region.
- Have submitted all required VHCB reports, if applicable.
2. Conservation Grantees must have:
- a clear mission that furthers the goals of VHCB and identified priorities for protection
- a process for community involvement
- completed at least 2 eligible projects
- developed a plan for stewardship acceptable to VHCB
- subscribe to generally accepted (Land Trust Alliance) standards for conservation projects
3. Housing Grantees must have:
- developed at least 15 units of housing
- established property management systems including but not limited to a formal procedure for tenant selection, and a written lease
- a clear mission that furthers the goals of VHCB and identified priorities for housing development and/or preservation
Statewide housing organizations that have another purpose closely related to the mission of the VHCB such as lending for perpetually affordable housing developments are excepted from these requirements.
B. Ongoing Funding
1. In order to be eligible for ongoing core operating support (assuming availability of funds) both housing and conservation grantees should show focus on continued organizational development. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to:
- annual workplans which address the goals and objectives of this policy
- membership
- fundraising capacity
- accuracy in record-keeping and reporting
- commitment to goals and principals of VHCB and its policies
- obtaining a reasonable percentage of operating budget from other sources
- Personnel policy/procedures if more than two staff people
2. Conservation Grantees:
- number of acres conserved and/or impact of resource protected
- effectiveness of stewardship program
3. Housing Grantees:
- number of properties owned and managed
- sophistication of management and marketing systems
- quality of property management
- compliance with fair housing and other applicable state and federal standards as well as usual and customary procedures in bidding, etc.
- asset management
- setting and meeting annual organizational goals and objectives
C. Grounds for Rejection of Funding Request
1. The following shall be grounds for denying core operating support:
- Failure to meet one or more of criteria outlined above
- Failure to address the findings of monitoring in a satisfactory way
VIII. Mergers
A. Conditions Under Which Mergers will be Encouraged
The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board will encourage mergers among organizations receiving organizational grant funds when such mergers will result in improvements in quality of service and improved administrative capacity to undertake the Board’s mission or streamline overlapping or duplicative services.
B. Funding Available for Merged Organizations
Organizations which merge will be eligible for three years to receive up to the same level of organizational grant funding they had prior to merger. After three years, the organizations will be eligible to receive no more than 80% of that amount unless the overall pool of funds available for organizational support grows, in which case the merged organization(s) may be eligible for a pro-rata increase. The Board may choose to waive the 80% cap in cases in which a merger combines geographic territories or expands the geographic territory of one entity.
If an organization that receives grant funding is involved in consolidation or merger it may apply for special assistance to support the merger process.
IX. Training and Technical Assistance
As part of its efforts to build, maintain, and enhance capacity of non-profit organizations the Board will sponsor workshops and training sessions on relevant issues. The Board will either undertake these workshops on its own or as a collaborative effort with other organizations or agencies. In order to achieve the goals of the organizational grants program, it is expected that recipients of organizational grants from the Board will attend those workshops or training sessions on topics that are relevant to the activities of the particular organization. The Board may consider failure to attend workshops and training sessions as ground for denying future organizational grants.
Questions? Please call 802-828-3250, email:  or write: VHCB, 149 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05602
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