WINcome

Women + Income = Women Thriving

Background

Building on what we’ve learned through WFCO’s WINcome 2021-2023 grantmaking initiative and insights from partners across the state, WFCO is thrilled to launch another multi-year, WINcome grantmaking opportunity in 2024.

The 2024-2026 WINcome grant approach is to demonstrate that individuals advance economically when they are trusted to make their own decisions about what they and their families need. It underscores the importance that policy advocacy plays in the movement toward a Colorado where all communities are resourced to flourish. 

WINcome grantmaking will provide direct-service and public policy grant partners with general operating support. Organizations providing direct services will also receive funding dedicated to providing flexible cash assistance. WINcome grants will continue to advance systemic changes that support gender, racial, & economic equity for Colorado women and families.

WINcome: Women + Income = Women Thriving

Why flexible cash assistance? 

Across the US, there has been renewed and growing interest in direct cash assistance, a proven anti-poverty financial tool characterized by the provision of money to those who need it most and trusting individuals to spend it as they choose. Nonprofits and governments have seen remarkable outcomes among recipients of monthly cash assistance payments. WFCO has witnessed through our own work that cash assistance is a successful way to directly support economic security for individuals and communities.

With a long history rooted in communities of color, direct cash assistance is now the center of a conversation and movement in the state focused on expanding access to resources for Coloradans.

Meet the women advancing economically with the help of our grantee partner, Center for Community Wealth Building (CCWB). 

 


 

2024-2026 WINcome Application Process & Timeline

WINcome opens for applications on June 20, 2024. The process is split into two parts for organizations not currently funded by WINcome. Current WINcome grantee partners should have received communication from WFCO about an alternative application process. If you are a current WINcome grantee and did not receive this communication, please contact wincome@wfco.org

Part I: The application period for WINcome is June 20 - August 28, 2024. Organizations will submit an application via Google Forms before midnight on August 28. Following review of applications, finalists will be selected to move forward. WFCO programs staff will request to meet with finalists for a 1-hour conversation to take place between September 16 - October 4

Part II: Finalist conversations will cover the applicant’s proposed WINcome work and organizational finances. Following the conversation, staff may request additional information via secure email communications.

Following approval of staff, community volunteers, and the WFCO Board of Trustees, application status will be communicated with finalists in the week of November 18

Please note that all dates may be adjusted based on available funding and other considerations.

WFCO will host a virtual informational session on June 27. A recording of the session, as well as presentation slides are available below.

Additionally, two open office hour sessions will be held:

  • July 18, 2024 1:00-2:30 pm | Open office hour with WFCO staff. Spanish interpretation will be available. Register here.
  • August 22, 2024 10:00-11:30 am | Open office hour with WFCO staff. Spanish interpretation will be available. This is the last open office hour before the WINcome closing date. Register here.

 

Key Dates:

  • June 20, 2024 | WINcome grant cycle opens
  • June 27, 2024 noon-1:00 pm | Virtual informational session. Spanish interpretation will be available. Session will be recorded and posted to this page.
  • July 18, 2024 1:00-2:30 pm | Open office hour with WFCO staff. Spanish interpretation will be available.
  • August 22, 2024 10:00-11:30 am | Open office hour with WFCO staff. Spanish interpretation will be available. This is the last open office hour before the WINcome closing date.
  • August 28, 2024 by 12:00 am | WINcome grant application closing date
  • Week of September 9, 2024 | WINcome finalists notified, applicants that do not move forward notified
  • September 16-October 4, 2024 | one-hour conversations with WINcome finalists
  • October 2024 | Additional organizational and financial information requested of finalists via secure email communications, and application review by statewide, diverse, representative, community-based volunteers
  • November 2024 | WFCO Board of Trustees will vote and approve WINcome grantees, all finalists notified
  • December 2024 - January 2025 | Grantees sign grant agreements, grant distribution

Please note that all dates may be adjusted based on available funding and other considerations.

After the WINcome 2024-2026 grant cycle, the next anticipated open WINcome grant cycle is in 2027.


 

About 2021-2023 WINcome grantees

Through WINcome, WFCO is partnering with organizations that serve women:

  • experiencing poverty,
  • facing barriers to economic opportunity and security,
  • experiencing historic and systemic marginalization on the basis of their gender and additional intersection of identity, including race, ethnicity, immigration status, age, sexuality, gender identity, gender expression, religion, or ability; or
  • who are survivors of domestic violence or intimate partner abuse.

Our grantee partners:

  • Provide direct or flexible cash assistance to women experiencing poverty or facing barriers to economic security, to supplement their incomes and complement the services received through partners’ programs. 
  • Improve access to flexible and holistic resources, partners may offer support securing resources such as:
    • Jobs with pay and benefits that satisfy basic needs, close the gender and racial income gap, and support economic security;
    • Education and training, and ongoing opportunities to upskill and reskill;
    • Money and resources to start and grow businesses;
    • Childcare and other caregiver support;
    • Support for basic human needs, such as food, housing, health care, and transportation.
  • Support public policy and systems changes to improve access to and increase public investment in flexible resources and holistic supports that foster economic opportunity, security, and equity.
  • Demonstrate that individuals can advance economically when they are trusted to make their own decisions about what they and their families need. 

Evaluations

WINcome Year 2 Evaluation cover thumbnail WINcome Year 2 Evaluation Executive Summary cover thumbnail WINcome year one evaluation thumbnail
- Read the Year Two WINcome Evaluation & Learning: Process & Impact Report  - Read the Year Two WINcome Evaluation & Learning: Executive Summary - Read the Year One WINcome Evaluation & Learning: Process & Impact Report 

 

 

Meet Our 2021-2023 Grantees

 WINcome Direct Service Grantees

 WINcome Public Policy Grantees

 

 

Full Circle of Lake County staff photo

"This grant has given us the opportunity to financially incentivize and financially support clients who are actively working towards improving the wellbeing of themselves and their families by establishing a family goal plan and participating in monthly check-ins with staff.  It is beneficial to us and the clients to have funds that can be used towards addressing the barriers that families face in achieving their goals and that can be directed by families themselves the way their family goals are." 

- Full Circle of Lake County, WINcome Grantee Partners


WINcome Frequently Asked Questions

 Read Our FAQs

Is WINcome currently accepting applications?

2024-2026 WINcome opens for applications on June 20, 2024 and closes on August 28, 2024. After this year’s cycle, the next anticipated grant cycle is in 2027.

What other grant opportunities does The Women's Foundation of Colorado offer?

Learn about the Women and Girls of Color Fund. We've also compiled these grant resources from other other organizations

What are WINcome’s grant guidelines?

Access the 2024-2026 WINcome Grant Guidelines in English here.

Por favor haga clic aquí para acceder a las pautas de subvenciones de 2024-2026 WINcome en español. 

What does the 2024-2026 timeframe mean?

The 2024-2026 timespan refers to the years of funding a WINcome grant partner may be eligible for. The first WINcome grant will be disbursed in December 2024 or January 2025 for work done in 2025.

Pending approval of renewal applications, the second WINcome grant will be disbursed in December 2025 or January 2026 for work in 2026, and the final grant will be disbursed in December 2026 or January 2027 for work done in 2027. This may be adjusted based on available funding and other considerations.

How were WINcome grant partners selected?

Similar to past WINcome grantmaking cycles, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado’s programs staff, volunteer Direct Service Grantmaking Committee, and Public Policy Committee will review grant applications. We look for alignment with WINcome priorities and WFCO’s mission, vision, values, and goal of gender, racial, and economic equity. The Direct Service Grantmaking and Public Policy Committees will advise the WFCO Board of Trustees in the final selection of WINcome grant partners.

What is flexible cash assistance?

The Women's Foundation of Colorado defines flexible cash assistance as financial support that increases an individual’s financial freedom, and includes:

  • Unconditional cash transfers - cash payment that does not require the individual to meet certain conditions in order to participate (e.g. work requirements)
  • Unrestricted cash transfers - cash payment is directed solely by the individual, individual is trusted to utilize funds where they are most impactful
  • Direct cash assistance - cash that is distributed directly to an individual without any restrictions or conditions surrounding the payment
  • Payments to third parties - payments made on behalf of an individual to a third party, as determined by the individual, to avoid a benefits cliff, therefore releasing restrictions on funds that the third party payment covered (e.g. payments to utility companies, landlords, gas gift cards, etc.)
  • Basic income - recurring, unrestricted, unconditional payments that are enough to cover basic needs*
  • Guaranteed income - recurring, unrestricted, and unconditional payments that supplement the current benefits of the social safety net, meaning it does not replace them. The focus of this income distribution tends to be on low-middle income communities that are marginalized, as it aims to address historic gender, racial, and economic injustices.*

*These definitions come from Income Movement’s Basic Income Terminology guide.

What is the benefits cliff and is it connected to WINcome?

The benefits cliff occurs at the point when a marginal increase in income results in families losing “work support” benefits, like the earned income tax credits, Medicaid, SNAP, child care assistance, etc. However, the increase in income is still not enough for families to cover the loss of those benefits or meet their basic needs. In essence, an increase in earnings actually leaves families worse off than before. This paradox is one that WFCO aims to mitigate and change through WINcome, so that Colorado women and their families have better opportunities to advance economically.

What is the Colorado Direct Cash Transfer Community of Practice?

In the summer of 2022, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado co-convened the Colorado Direct Cash Transfer Community of Practice, or the CCOP. This state-focused community of practice was inspired by the national Guaranteed Income Community of Practice that is spearheaded by the Economic Security Project.

The CCOP met regularly through December 2023 to learn from and with various direct cash stakeholders, including direct cash pilots, interested nonprofit organizations, governmental entities, public policy organizations, and community participants in direct cash pilots. Alongside the CCOP, a benefits cliff working group was established to investigate and understand ways to mitigate benefits cliff effects on direct cash and flexible cash assistance program participants.

By early 2024, consensus among the members of these groups led to the groups’ transition into a Colorado Direct Cash Policy Working Group, which primarily focused on advancing various policy advocacy movements for cash assistance throughout Colorado. Now, this group has evolved into the Cash for Coloradans Coalition. 

WINcome grant partners have actively engaged with these groups and we hope the Cash for Coloradans Coalition continues to be a valuable resource for grant partners.

To join the coalition or connect further about this collective work, please connect with Alison Friedman Phillips, WFCO director of programs, policy, & advocacy.

 

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