Appalachians are ready to strengthen their communities, and ARC is here to provide the resources they need.
READY Appalachia is ARC’s new community capacity-building initiative offering flexible funding to organizations in four key economic development pillars: nonprofits, community foundations, local governments, and Local Development Districts, and free training to the Appalachians that work for them.
Participants in each READY Appalachia learning track access 10 weeks of cohort-based learning, skill development, and grant opportunities to increase their capacity to solve pressing issues and create positive economic change.
Across all learning tracks, special emphasis will be placed on serving Appalachia’s most underrepresented communities, including economically distressed areas, counties targeted by the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, and marginalized populations.
READY Nonprofits
READY Nonprofits helps nonprofit executives and board members increase their capacity in fundraising, financial management, board development, staff and volunteer recruitment and retention, marketing, and more.
In August 2023, ARC awarded $623,996 to participating nonprofits to build internal capacity and better serve their communities.
READY LDDs
READY LDDs has awarded nearly $4 million to 41 Appalachian Local Development Districts to hire staff and more effectively help clients, including local governments and nonprofits, access and manage unprecedented amounts of federal funding.
READY Local Governments
READY Local Governments will help local government employees better apply for, manage, leverage, and implement federally funded projects.
ARC is seeking a contractor to administer this grant program from February 2024 – July 2027. Read the RFP and apply by December 15, 2023.
READY Foundations
READY Foundations will help local philanthropies working in economic development as they build endowments, leverage different funding sources, develop boards, and learn other foundation-specific fundraising methods.
