Community Grant Program

Supporting Your Communities

The 2024 FRS Community Grant Program will open May 6, 2024! See below for last year's Community Grant award recipients.

As part of its ongoing commitment to rural communities across the country, FRS offers aid to communities served by NTCA members through its annual Community Grant Program. These grants are designed to provide support to a variety of local efforts to build and sustain a high quality of life in rural America.

Applications for these grants are accepted each spring, ranging from $250 to $5,000. The grants awarded each November support a variety of projects concentrated in four major categories. 

Community Grant Flyer

Together, We Can Boost Our Community

FRS Community Grants are awarded annually to nonprofit organizations, schools, community groups, municipalities and other organizations doing good work in your community. Please see below for the list of projects funded in 2023 and for more information about priority projects, as well as projects that are not eligible for grants.

Interested in applying for an FRS Community Grant? Please follow these steps:

1. Identify an NTCA member partner for your FRS Community grant application. Heard about the application from your broadband provider? They are your NTCA member partner. Please contact [email protected] if you are not sure who your NTCA member partner is.

2. Review the application guide below or on the back of the Community Grant Flyer you may have received from your broadband provider. The guide includes the questions you will need to answer and the information you’ll need to complete the application.

3. Provide your application to your NTCA member partner by their deadline. Applications that have not been submitted by your NTCA member sponsor will not be reviewed.

The application guide is identical to the application. Please use it to create and submit your application to your NTCA member. All applications must be submitted by your NTCA member partner.

Community Grant Application Guide

 

FRS Provides priority to projects that:
  • Could be fully funded by the grant maximum of $5,000 or have at least 75% of the project currently funded.
  • Technology and broadband enabled focused projects.
  • Have a long-term impact for the community and its residents.
  • Promote community participation and engagement.
  • Create a more sustainable rural community.
FRS will not award projects to:
  • Individuals
  • Scholarship Programs
  • International Organizations
  • Lobbying and Political Activities
  • Ticketed Events
  • Infrastructure/Building Campaigns
  • Security Cameras
  • Capital Campaigns or Endowments
  • Digital Signage
  • Event Sponsorships
  • Community Food Programs
  • Loan Repayments
  • Religious-based Activities
  • For-Profit Businesses
  • Salaries of Employees or Contractors

Together, We Can Boost Our Community

NTCA members, submitting applications for the community grant is easy as 1...2...3...

  1. Download the flyer, personalize it with your logo and contact information, your chosen deadline and distribute it within your community.  
  2. Have your community members submit their proposals to you by your chosen deadline. 
  3. Select the proposals your telco would like to partner with and submit your application through Member Central by September 9, 2024

Community Grant Flyer   Community Grant Flyer and Application Guide

Note: NTCA member companies will be responsible for a 10% match (i.e. if the applicant requests and wins a grant for $5,000, the NTCA member company is responsible for $500 and FRS is responsible for $4,500).

Congratulations to our 2023 Grant Recipients!

These incredible communities each reflect the vision, service and innovation at the heart of rural America. Their winning projects help rural communities across the United States overcome an array of challenges, including access to technology, improving educational offerings, and providing first-responder services to rural areas.

Congratulations to the awardees and thank you to the generous partnering NTCA members who made these investments possible.

Napoleon Rural Fire Protection District - Steele, ND
Awarded $4,900 to purchase infrared cameras for the Napoleon Rural Fire Protection District to increase response capabilities during a structural fire incident. Partnered with BEK Communications Cooperative.

Alpine Volunteer Fire Department - Alpine, TX
Awarded $4,100 to purchase an attack line hose and a large diameter hose washer to improve safety services to citizens in the rural communities of Alpine, Brewster County, and the surrounding areas. Partnered with Big Bend Telephone Company.

Hannibal Fire Department - Macon, MO
Awarded $1,265 to purchase three iPads to conduct business inspections, preplans, and respond to emergency incidents. Partnered with Chariton Valley Broadband, LLC.

Prince William Sound Science Center - Cordova, AK
Awarded $5,000 to install meeting room technology that will enable virtual connection and presentation capability at the Prince William Sound Science Center benefiting organizations in the Prince William Sound Region. Partnered with Cordova Wireless Communications, Inc. This grant is also made possible by the generosity of a gift from the Carri Bennet Economic Development Fund.

Justin Potter Library - Alexandria, TN
Awarded $5,000 to provide new AWE computers to preschool aged children to help build an early educational advantage in a fun and colorful way. Partnered with DTC Communications.

Leon Community Playground Committee (Leon Chamber of Commerce) - Princeton, MO
Awarded $5,000 to build a playground that will allow children to play safely while allowing children with disabilities the opportunity to play side-by-side with their peers, and provide a safe outdoor play space, with designated play areas for children ages 2-5 and 5-12. Partnered with GRM Networks.

Elgin Community Library - Lawton, OK
Awarded $2,000 to provide a book for every first grader in Elgin, Fletcher and Sterling. Partnered with Hilliary Communications, LLC.

Wasilla High School - Palmer, AK
Awarded $5,000 to launch a hands-on CNC tech skilling module to prepare students for successful careers and develop skills to enter the work force. Partnered with Matanuska Telecom Association, Inc.

B.Y.E. Ambulance Service Inc. - Fairview, IL
Awarded $5,000 to purchase laptops to use in ambulances to increase operational efficiency and enhance patient care and communications. Partnered with Mid Century Telephone Cooperative.

Platte-Geddes School District #11-5 - Reliance, SD
Awarded $5,000 to facilitate the Platte-Geddes School District's participation in the South Dakota High School Activities Association's E-sports pilot program to increase student engagement, school attendance, and academic achievement while exposing students to future careers and potential scholarship opportunities. Partnered with Midstate Communications, Inc.

Colton Rural Fire District - Colton, OR
Awarded $4,977 to purchase two-way communication radios and improve firefighter safety and communication in Oregon and California when called upon to help during disasters. Partnered with COLTONTEL.

Woodford County Court Services - Metamora, IL
Awarded $5,000 to create a computer lab area for use by probation clients for employment searches and telehealth treatment appointments, and the purchase of a "smart board" to allow probation officers to more effectively conduct programs and clients can successfully complete required classes. Partnered with MTCO Communications.

Nex-Generation Round Up for Youth, Inc. - Lenora, KS
Awarded $5,000 to purchase technology equipment to support a financial literacy curriculum for 4th-8th grades and high school juniors and seniors. Partnered with Nex-Tech. 

PHRED Robotics Team (Philomath High School) - Philomath, OR
Awarded $4,980 to expand elementary and middle school student interest and participation in Philomath School District robotics programs through short and long term community outreach events organized by student members of the high school robotics team. Partnered with Pioneer Telephone Cooperative.

Walkerton Community Fire Association, Inc. - Walkerton, VA
Awarded $5,000 to help purchase a Rescue Boat and Response Truck to provide assistance to stranded boaters and water-related emergencies in two counties bordering the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers. Partnered with RiverStreet Communications of Virginia.

Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce - Waitsfield, VT
Awarded $5,000 to improve and enhance the region's recreation facilities with restroom and bicycle work stand functions. Partnered with Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom. This grant is also made possible by a generous gift from Farm Credit East.

Minot Regional Impact Center, Inc. - Minot, ND
Awarded $5,000 to develop and launch an online app to identify uneaten prepared food that can be collected and distributed through a network of programs that feed the hungry. Partnered with SRT Communications, Inc.

Churchland Volunteer Fire Department - Dobson, NC
Awarded $5,000 to purchase a thermal imaging camera for structure fires and in searches for missing people. Partnered with Surry Telephone Membership Corporation.

Stephenville Lions Club - De Leon, TX
Awarded $5,000 to purchase a vision screener to use when assessing all elementary and pre-school children in the area. Partnered with Totelcom Communications, LLC.

Cookeville Regional Medical Center - Gainesboro, TN
Awarded $5,000 to purchase AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) speech tablets for non-verbal children and adults with autism, or patients of strokes, cancer, or throat surgery so they can communicate with care givers and loved ones. Partnered with Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative Corporation.

Glasco City Library - Miltonvale, KS
Awarded $4,239 to purchase computers, workstations, software, charging stations and power strip towers to upgrade the library's technology area. Partnered with Twin Valley Communications.

Graham County Chamber of Commerce - Willcox, AZ
Awarded $4,450 to enhance the Gila Valley Community Room technological capacities to support diverse community functions in the facility. Partnered with Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc.

Discovery to Recovery Outpatient Substance Abuse Program - Louisville, IL
Awarded $5,000 to provide new equipment to program participants, expand digital inclusion programming and enhance probation and treatment compliance by expanding telehealth alternatives. Partnered with Wabash Communications CO-OP.

 

 

 

2022 FRS Community Grant recipient USD 419 (Galva, KS) surprised by their NTCA Partner Home Communications, Inc. that they have been selected for a $5,000 to purchase Boogie Boards and table top charging stations for enhanced classroom learning and activities. Partnered with Home Telephone Company dba Home Communications, Inc.

Grant Categories

Business and Economic Development
Devise a plan to turn your community into a global phenomenon by growing small or existing businesses, developing new ones and implementing a job creation program that attracts key talent from your community or from skilled individuals interested in relocating to small town America.

Community Development
Develop an outreach program that helps to promote advancing technology skills of your community members, incorporates innovation into learning, raises the visibility of your community’s talent and artistry, and places your town on everyone’s bucket list as the place to visit.

Education
Support advances in education by helping your schools get technology (computers, smart boards, etc.) in the classroom, build resources for curriculum development, strengthen extracurricular activities and programs, and promote distance learning programs.

Telecommunications Applications
Show how you plan to turn your community into a technological powerhouse by promoting the implementation and use of broadband-enabled applications for telehealth, education, government services, safety and security, and efficient energy distribution and use.

 

Invaluable Insight on the FRS Grant Program

Each year, the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) gives back to rural communities through the grant program. In 2018, FRS awarded 12 grants for a total of nearly $50,000. Thank you to the 2018 sponsors who made the grant program possible: Ericsson, Inc., NISC, Womble Bond Dickinson, Mapcom Systems, Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative (RTFC) and Toly Digital. See how the grants open opportunities to rural communities.

Thank you to our Community Grant Sponsor Womble Bond Dickinson