READY Community Foundations will provide 30 community foundations serving the Appalachian Region with no-cost training and access to funding to expand local philanthropic impact.

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 29, 2024 – Today, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced the 30 community foundations, serving communities in 10 Appalachian states, selected to participate in READY Community Foundations. One of four tailored tracks underARC’s capacity-building initiative, READY Appalachia, READY Community Foundations provides no-cost training and funding access to help Appalachia’s local philanthropic organizations improve their programming, operations, fundraising and financial impact.

The 30 organizations selected for READY Community Foundations will participate in six weeks of virtual, cohort-based courses designed to improve their skills in financial management, endowment management, community-rooted fundraising and grantmaking, mission and strategy development and more.

“ARC remains committed to providing our Appalachian communities with the resources they need to build toward a prosperous future, including training to strengthen community foundation capacity,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “Through the training provided by READY Community Foundations, Appalachia’s philanthropic organizations will be better able to respond to community needs and foster economic development in the areas they serve.” 

Following completion of the training program, participants will be eligible to apply for up to $25,000 in funding (no match required) to implement internal capacity-building projects that will help them better serve Appalachian Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

All of the READY Community Foundations participants serve at least one of the following:

• Distressed areas and census tracts 
• Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities priority communities 
• Rural Partners Network Community Networks communities 
• Historically underserved and marginalized populations

Supported with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, READY Community Foundations in the fourth and final track under our capacity-building initiative, READY Appalachia. Since the launch of READY Appalachia in July 2022, ARC has provided training and access to funding to 41 Local Development Districts (LDDs), 75 nonprofits, and 90 local government entities to help them build internal capacity and better serve their communities. To date, nearly $4 million has been awarded through READY Local Development Districts andmore than $1.6 million has been awarded through READY Nonprofits.

“Today’s READY Community Foundations announcement is yet another example of how the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is revitalizing the foundations of local communities across America – including energy communities that have historically been left behind in Appalachia,” said National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard.

To learn more about the 30 READY Community Foundations participants, visit https://www.arc.gov/ready/foundations.