The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation recently announced that it will invest up to an additional $2.5 million in the Knight Fund, an endowed fund at the Community Foundation, to foster an "informed, engaged" Columbus and Phenix City.  The effort is part of Knight Foundation's $70 million Community Foundation Initiative, designed to deepen Knight Foundation's commitment to ensuring that communities are informed about and engaged in the issues and opportunities that face them.

As part of this initiative, a new local advisory committee has been formed for the Knight Fund, which has existed as a $2.5 million donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation since 2002 and has invested grants totaling more than $400,000 in the Columbus and Phenix City communities.

The new grant process is continuing to evolve, but organizations interested in being considered for funding can always access the latest information here about the Knight Fund and its application process.

If your organization has a project that might be a good fit for the Fund, you are invited to submit a letter, no more than three pages in length, that provides the following:

General information about the program and the organization(s) involved.

• The beginning and ending dates of the project.
• A description of the ways in which the project helps to create an informed, engaged community.  Be specific!
• The anticipated project outcomes and how they will be measured or evaluated.
• A brief project budget, including available details on other sources of income.  Outline exactly how much is being requested from the Knight Fund and how that funding will be used.  (We anticipated that grant levels will be up to $20,000, although especially compelling projects may create more flexibility.)