Community Foundation of Burke County announces Summer 2026 Grant Cycle

This past week the Community Foundation of Burke County announced its plan to award 10 grants of $20,000 to nonprofits serving Burke County. The details of its Summer 2026 Open Grant cycle included updates on its effort to realign grantmaking with communal needs.

The CFBC has awarded grants to nonprofit organizations intending on benefiting residents of Burke County for over 25 years. Last year the foundation decided to increase its efforts toward community decision making.

“As we prepare for the future of our grantmaking, we wanted to start by listening,” said Barbara Wetsig-Lynam, president and CEO of CFBC. “The organizations serving Burke County every day are closest to the community’s needs, and their insight is essential as we consider how the foundation can better support nonprofits and, ultimately, better serve Burke County.”

Wetsig-Lynam has worked with foundation leadership to engage a diverse group of nonprofit partners across Burke County through a series of listening sessions, intended to address concerns and ideas about the circumstances facing local organizations.

The listening sessions also gave attendees the opportunity to comment on the grantmaking process, discussing the possibility of multi-year grants, various operation-specific grants, and the future approaches to supporting initiatives.

“Our goal is not change for the sake of change,” said Wetsig-Lynam. “Our goal is to ensure the foundation’s grantmaking continues evolving in ways that are thoughtful, responsive, and aligned with what nonprofits and our community truly need.”

The upcoming grant cycle will begin taking applications on July 1 and close on Aug. 1. Eligible nonprofit organizations serving Burke County are encouraged to apply through the CFBC’s online grants portal at www.cfburkecounty.org/grants.