Delaware Community Foundation

10/15/2026

Know your readiness before you buy tools.

Every applicant completes a free readiness assessment on TappHQ and leaves with a clear category and next-step picture — including those not selected.

Apply Now: https://www.tapphq.com/dcf

10/14/2026

At this morning’s Fund for Women's First Founders' Breakfast, we celebrated Pam Cornforth, President and CEO of the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware, as the 2026 First Founders' Award Honoree, and we congratulate her on a decade of impact on the lives of women and girls across Delaware.

The morning also highlighted the impact of FFW grants, with inspiring stories from two grant recipients, Girls on the Run and the Boys and Girls Club of Delaware.

Fund for Women has been a giving circle at the Delaware Community Foundation for more than three decades. Their members, called Founders, have built a nearly $5 million fund that grants nonprofits serving women and children each year. Last year alone they distributed more than $243,000 in the last cycle – and more than $3.4 million to date.

Learn more at www.fundforwomende.org

10/13/2026

Does your nonprofit need funding for facility improvements? DCF Capital Grants support nonprofits in all three counties with up to $20,000 for construction, renovation, repair, technology infrastructure or other capital improvements that strengthen your ability to serve your community.

An ideal capital grant does more than just renovate or repair. It helps an organization that is already strong to serve its community even better. Supported capital projects will have a lasting, positive impact on the population or community served by the grantee organization.

Applications close October 16, 2026.

Apply Now: https://delcf.org/grants/

10/12/2026

Over the years, DCF has protected Delaware’s history. In 1959, Hockessin Colored School #107 closed its doors for good. It sat decaying until 2012, when it was saved from a sheriff’s sale with help from the DCF’s African American Empowerment Fund of Delaware. With leadership from Tony Allen, Joshua Martin and many others, the giving circle provided a loan of $100,000 to the newly formed Friends of Hockessin Colored School #107 (FOHCS) which preserved the school and property and bought the friends time to secure other funding.

Today the school has been restored and stands as a reminder of how a case from the First State has influenced one of the most momentous judicial decisions of the 20th century.

Read this story and more in DCF’s 40th Anniversary book, 40 Stories for 40 Years, sharing some of the key moments in our growth. www.delcf.org (scroll down a bit for the book)

10/09/2026

Meet Adriana Viveros, Program Director for La Familia at Do Care Doula Foundation! She helps identify the barriers that affect Hispanic families and connect them with resources, education, and opportunities that can improve their quality of life.

We caught up with Adriana as part of our Arsht-Cannon Grantee Series. Since 2004, the ACF has awarded over $12 million to 150 organizations, focusing on areas such as language learning, youth and arts programs, leadership development, Hispanic small business support, health education, and special initiatives.

Learn more about Do Care Doula in our new blog:

What is your role at Do Care Doula and what do you do? I am the Program Director for La Familia at Do Care Doula Foundation. I also bring my experience as a Community Health Worker into the program. My role is to help identify the barriers that affect Hispanic families and connect them with ...

10/08/2026

Twenty Delaware nonprofits get a year of AI built into how they operate. Fully funded.

The Nonprofit AI Capacity Cohort includes a configured workspace, workflows and agents, staff training, and one-to-one support. Create your free TappHQ account to apply. Every applicant gets a clear readiness picture, including those not selected.

Applications October 1 through October 31. Create your free TappHQ account, then complete the readiness assessment (about eight minutes).

Apply Now: www.tapphq.com/dcf

10/08/2026

The Borkee Hagley Fund supports organizations that provide clinical research, care, and social and emotional support services for patients and families affected by neurodegenerative diseases. This includes cognitive and movement disorders like Huntington’s Disease, ALS, Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s. Apply for Borkee Hagley Fund support of up to $50,000.

Application closes: October 16, 2026

Apply Now: https://delcf.org/grants/

10/07/2026

Introducing a special edition of How to (Not) Kill Your Community podcast! We caught up with David Conrad-Pérez at the History Book Festival in Lewes to talk about his new book, "Fire in the Heart of the City: The Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy and the Origins of Modern Charity" about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and how it impacted philanthropy in the United States.

"A big part of the story that hasn't been told is that when charities received money [to distribute to the victims and their families] they also received a lot of institutional authority to go into tenements of the Lower East Side uninvited and ask deeply intimate questions to determine if they were worthy of this charity money," said Conrad-Pérez.

Learn more about what this 1911 tragedy can teach us about the responsibilities of philanthropic institutions today:

In this episode, Stuart Comstock-Gay speaks with David Conrad-Pérez...

10/07/2026

The DCF responds to changing needs. In April 2025 the DCF launched Meet the Moment (MTM), an initiative offering grants of up to $20,000 as well as free trainings and resources. Through the generosity of its donors, the DCF’s initial grant pool, created from its unrestricted funds, grew from $425,000 to $545,000.

Awards were distributed in the summer of 2025, supporting 31 nonprofits. Grants went to organizations across all three counties representing human services, the arts, education, community improvement, the environment, mental health and crisis intervention, housing and shelter, youth development, and science and technology.

Read this story and more in DCF’s 40th Anniversary book, 40 Stories for 40 Years, sharing some of the key moments in our growth. www.delcf.org (scroll down a bit for the book)