2026 African American Community Fund — Lorain County, Ohio
The African American Community Fund, an affiliate fund of the Community Foundation of Lorain County, supports nonprofit projects that improve the quality of life of African American residents of Lorain County, Ohio. The funder’s 2026 grant-cycle schedule lists applications opening October 15, 2026 and closing November 15, 2026, with decisions expected in January. This is charitable financial assistance for applicants, not procurement.
Applicant award amount
The foundation’s publicly available 2026 African American Community Fund announcement does not publish an individual applicant award range or binding maximum, nor a separate overall pool. Prospective applicants should confirm the appropriate request with the foundation or in the live grant-portal instructions. Do not interpret cumulative historic distributions by the affiliated fund as a current annual allocation or individual award amount.
Eligible organizations and priorities
Eligible applicants are tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations located in or providing measurable services to Lorain County residents; projects requiring a fiscal sponsor should follow the foundation’s fiscal-sponsor information requirements. The funded activity should specifically improve the African American community’s quality of life, addressing needs or opportunities in health, social services, education, arts, civic affairs or cultural affairs. Organizations headquartered outside the county must describe the residents who benefit locally.
Restrictions and funding considerations
The foundation prioritizes innovative approaches that respond to documented community needs and favors collaboration. It gives lower priority to capital/equipment requests, government-mandated services and duplicative activities. General foundation rules exclude loans, debt reduction, for-profit business support, political campaigns, explicitly religious activities, benefit tickets, annual appeals, tours and telephone solicitations. Applicants with prior foundation awards must fulfill required grant reporting before applying again. The current fund-specific public materials do not state a mandatory matching percentage or a particular reimbursement schedule.
Deadline — two official pages differ on cutoff hour
The foundation’s current 2026 Grant Opportunities page states that grant applications are due 11:59 p.m. on the posted November 15, 2026 date, including weekends and holidays. A separate foundation general eligibility-and-priorities page still describes a 5:00 p.m. Eastern cutoff and a next-business-day rule for weekend due dates. Those official instructions are inconsistent. For risk management, submit by November 15, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time or obtain explicit written confirmation from the funder of any later accepted cutoff. Do not assume a weekend extension without confirmation.
How to apply
Consult the foundation’s African American Community Fund description, 2026 grant opportunities and eligibility rules; then access the online grant application portal linked from the foundation’s current grant page. Confirm nonprofit documentation, Lorain County impact, community benefit, prior grant reporting, project goals and the proposed request amount. Applications are considered by the affiliated fund’s board in January.
Official foundation pages reviewed October 25, 2026. Where the official public pages conflict on deadline hour, this article explicitly documents both rather than silently selecting a later deadline. Current individual award limit is not published.