Ways To Give

Generous Acts Fund

Generous Acts is more than just grants. It’s a movement that invites everyone to work together to strengthen communities and create positive change across the Adirondack region. You can make a gift to support the work of Generous Acts below.

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Snapshot

Fund Overview

Who this Fund Serves:

  • Communities

Where this Fund Applies:

  • Adirondack Region

What this Fund Supports:

  • Basic Needs
  • |
  • Economic Vitality
  • |
  • Educational Pathways
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Love inspires us to give back to the people and places we care about most.

What is Generous Acts?

Generous Acts at Adirondack Community Foundation is a force for good across the Adirondack region that pools the generosity of many to respond to needs and drive change. Since 2014, Generous Acts has awarded more than $2.5 million in grants to nonprofits, schools, and community-based organizations. Over the past seven years, Generous Acts grants have increased more than eightfold – from $103,000 in 2017 to more than $1 Million in 2026.

How does Generous Acts work? It combines the collective generosity of people who want to make a difference in our local communities with Adirondack Community Foundation’s extensive knowledge of needs and opportunities. The outcome is a meaningful net of support for small food pantries, workforce development programs, attainable housing projects, mental health services, and much more.

Donate to this Fund

Generous Acts Fund

Grant Opportunities

Generous Acts Grants

Generous Acts grants are competitive awards focused on meeting pressing needs and building long term solutions for Basic Needs, Educational Pathways, and Economic Vitality. We seek applications that are mindful of underserved populations, help address racial, economic, or other disparities, and demonstrate collaboration and community buy-in. We seek to work together toward a brighter, more inclusive future for our communities.

Please refer to the applicant packet and FAQs for details about the priority areas, review process, and how to apply.

$2.5K- $30K

Grant Range

Adirondack Region

Location Eligibility

Annual

Application Cycle

Ready to apply? Review our grant guidelines and submit your application through our online portal.

View Applicant Packet Apply

Past Grant Recipients

2026 Generous Acts
2025 Generous Acts
2024 Generous Acts
2023 Generous Acts

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of our most asked questions regarding Generous Acts grant applications. If you have more specific questions, please do not hesitate to reach out during the application process.

Nonprofit organizations, schools, and municipalities located in or serving the people of the Adirondack Region, defined for this purpose as all of Clinton, Franklin, Essex, and Hamilton counties as well as the parts of St. Lawrence, Warren, Lewis, Fulton, Herkimer, Saratoga and Washington counties within the Adirondack Park boundary as well as the Akwesasne Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation. Nonprofit organizations must pass our due diligence check and be in good standing for their application to be considered.

Applications are available through our Online Grants Manager. You can also find a sample budget here.

Absolutely! Applicants can request funding for capacity building or operations, such as training, tech upgrades, staffing, equipment, etc. For an operational support request, please use the narrative sections to elaborate on how the funding will support your goals for the upcoming year and what community impact you expect to result from your efforts.
If you are requesting funding for a new position in particular, include your plans for sustaining the position in the narrative sections.

Generous Acts awards both small grants that range from $2,500 – $7,500 and several larger grants that invest in long-term change and range from $10,000 – $30,000.

Once a year. The 2026 application will open in December of 2026.  

We typically do not fund capital campaigns, regranting programs, tuition assistance, or one-time events. With limited resources, we are looking for opportunities that will have the greatest impact for the dollars available to award.

Committees of trustees, community council members, and advisors work with our program staff to review applications. During the review process, we may call an applicant for additional information or clarification, request a meeting, or reach out to regional experts for guidance.  
Applications are evaluated based on four main criteria. In addition to our evaluation criteria below, please
review the specific priority area guidance below for promising approaches that we fund in the basic needs,
educational pathways, and economic vitality.


1. Alignment – The degree to which the request aligns with Adirondack Community Foundation’s priority areas.
2. Need – Articulation of need (e.g., working to address inequality, reaching an underserved
population). The request connects with the larger problem you are trying to solve, need you are
addressing, or change you’d like to affect in the community you serve.
3. Effectiveness – The degree to which the applicant leverages partnerships, community resources,
and outside funding to maximize impact AND The extent to which the expected outcomes and plan
for measuring success are clear and feasible.
4. Capacity – The applicant has the skills, capacity, and knowledge to carry out the work.

Yes. Our goal with Generous Acts is to amplify giving and granting for the betterment of our region. We share applications with donors, fundholders, and other foundations who are interested in learning about regional granting opportunities.

Our partners with the Hudson Headwaters Upstream Fund review applications – looking for alignment with their goals to support community-based projects that address socioeconomic issues affecting health. For the applications they select, Hudson Headwaters will make payments directly to the recipients through their Upstream Fund, which is separate from Adirondack Community Foundation.  

No, please just share your project budget in the “budget and timeline” field and upload a summary of the town or school overall expenses in the “financial statements” field.

It depends, here are some things to keep in mind: 
If your organization is large, multi-faceted and operates in multiple communities and offers multiple types of programming you can submit more than one request as long as it is serving different audiences or communities. (Example: County-wide agencies such as JCEO, or Adirondack Community Outreach or Cornell Cooperative Extension)

 
If you are a school or institution, please only submit one request per school building. (Example: Lake Placid Middle High School could submit one request, and Lake Placid Elementary School could submit one request).

You may also ask for support for different programs within the same application. Just be sure to clearly delineate the amount requested for each project in your project budget and in the funding description narrative. (Example:  Teachers in the same building can partner up on one application.)

You should hear about the status of your grant application the end of March.

Grants & Programs Contact

Have Questions? Get in touch.

If you have additional questions about lending your support or applying for a grant or scholarship, contact our Funds & Program Officer, Leslee Mounger.

518.523.9904

[email protected]
See LESLEE’s Bio