The Walton Family Foundation, Bentonville, Arkansas, has launched The Connection Hub, a two-year program geared toward helping Arkansas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits secure federal grants. The Connection Hub will aid a wide range of nonprofits, with a special focus on those specializing in early childhood health and education, food insecurity and individual and family economic stability and asset building.
During its initial two-year run, the program will research federal grant opportunities, especially those that provide federal funding for pandemic recovery and post-pandemic sustainability. The program will also assist Arkansas nonprofits in their efforts to secure the grants. Aid to nonprofits will include education, technical assistance, grant-writing and assessment tools and resources.
The Walton Family Foundation has set aside $6 million for the Connection Hub’s activities. Funds to aid nonprofits seeking to boost their grant application processes are available by applying to the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Workforce Grant Program (https://bit.ly/43bf4zz). Individual awards will range from $50,000 to $450,000, and award winners will be announced by April 30.
“Many Arkansas nonprofits have limited resources which means they can’t secure federal funding and support,” Walton Family Foundation Executive Director Caryl M. Stern said via a statement. “The Connection Hub will provide needed capacity and connections. Nonprofits better positioned to secure federal funding can – and will – help Arkansans.”
The Connection Hub will be managed by Abby Hughes Holsclaw, president and CEO of Proper Southern Strategies, a Little Rock, Arkansas-based consultancy that specializes in improving the financial security and economic mobility of lower-income families.
“The Connection Hub will serve as a basic ‘one-stop shop,’ providing free support to nonprofits,” Holsclaw said in a statement. “Through comprehensive technical assistance offerings, we will help participating organizations submit federal grant applications. With the overall goal of bringing more federal funding dollars to the state, we hope to drive transformative action to better the lives of more Arkansans.”
The $6 million set aside for The Connection Hub does not pose any danger of draining the Walton Family Foundation’s funds. According to the organization’s 2021 Form 990-PF, its coffers held total net assets of just over $5.58 billion and the foundation made more than $525.8 million in contributions, gifts and grants. On the foundation’s website organization leaders claim having awarded $709.4 million in grants during 2021, including $100.2 million to environment-related causes, $269 million for K-12 education causes, $54 million for home region recipients and $286.2 million in special projects.
The Walmart Family Foundation was established in 1987 by Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton. The foundation’s primary focuses are improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support and investing in the northwest Arkansas and Arkansas-Mississippi Delta regions.
