Vibrant Community Fund

The Vibrant Community Fund panel is tasked by the City of Charlottesville  with reviewing community agency program funding requests to the City with providing ratings recommendations to the Charlottesville City Manager and City Council make the ultimate funding decisions. City staff serve as the grant managers for the Vibrant Community Fund process, including issuing the application, facilitating orientation and  trainings, providing technical assistance to applicant agencies, organizing and staffing panel meetings, and preparing this report.

Process

The  process begins with technical assistance orientation and training for prospective applicants, generally held in late summer or early fall. Applicants are provided with special instructions, an overview of the process and any specific priority areas identified by the local governments. Applications are accepted via an online tool. The applications are reviewed and scored by the designated panel. Site visits are conducted for applicants requesting more than $25,000. Applications are scored individually and then discussed as a team.

Public Meetings

The city holds a series of public meetings to hear community feedback in the creation of the annual budget, including a worksession dedicated to discussion of the Vibrant  Community Fund recommendations and final adoption. The public is specifically invited to attend this worksession.