Community Contributions
Enriching the region through meaningful community support
Community Commitment Program Contribution Guidelines
N3B is committed to providing a portion of its earned fee over the life of the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract to benefit community organizations and workforce development initiative in Northern New Mexico.
Our community commitment program is primarily focused on education and health and human services programs; we also support arts and culture as well as civic and economic development efforts.
Education
Health & Human Services
Arts & Culture
Civic & Economic Development
Projects we support include:
We provide financial support to nonprofit organizations that have a 501(c)3 or 170(c) tax-exempt status. We will evaluate requests based, in part, on:
- Orientation toward STEM or STEAM education.
- Ability to address the needs of underserved populations.
- Ability to serve the most people possible.
- Engagement in the organization by N3B employees and their families.
- Demonstration of a genuine community need with limited options for alternative funding.
- Ability to provide public recognition for N3B’s partnership.
On occasion, we will consider requests from community organizations that fall outside the screening criteria if their projects reflect N3B mission, values and interests, and if they contribute to improved community-wide quality of life or promote economic development in Northern New Mexico.
N3B does not generally support continued funding for recurring projects. N3B does not provide funding support for individuals or individual needs; political or religious organizations; fraternal associations; advertising; professional meetings or conferences; travel, film or television production or programming; general operating expenses; emergency funds; individual schools; sporting events or athletic groups; extracurricular school activities; and fairs or parades.
N3B also will not provide funds to any organization that discriminates on the basis of age, race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, family status, receipt of public assistance, sexual orientation or gender identity.
How to Submit a Request:
Requests must be submitted electronically through our online Request Portal, below.
We confirm receipt of requests as they come in. We review applications on a rolling basis, and will notify organizations when a decision is made. The review process may take four to six weeks.
Each request is considered on its own merits, but may be grouped with other requests.
We have strived to make our application process simple, and request short descriptions of the information we need. Necessary documents are also uploaded into our Request Portal.
We ask for the following information:
- The name, title, address, telephone number and email address of the principal contact, along with the organization’s website address.
- A description of the organization and its mission, goals and objectives in 100 words or less.
- The specific purpose of the request in 100 words or less.
- The amount requested.
- A list of other significant funding sources and the amounts received from each.
- A description of how N3B’s donation will be publicized.
- A high-resolution copy of the organization’s logo.
We ask for the following documents:
- A copy of the organization’s current balance sheet and most recent annual budget.
- A copy of the organization’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) letter of determination.
- A copy of the organization’s IRS Form W-9.
- The N3B Vendor Maintenance Form with the “Remit To” section filled in.
- A completed N3B NTTC Request Form.
- Optional: an ACH Authorization Agreement for electronic transfer of funds.
The N3B documents are available in the Request Portal and below.
Links to additional resources that are too large to be emailed may be included in the proposal if an organization believes they will assist in our decision-making.
Requests must be submitted by a representative of the organization authorized to do so.
We request that organizations we support provide photos and updates, and discuss that with each awardee.
Contact: N3BOutreach@em-la.doe.gov
Submit a Request for Funding
Requests for funding must be submitted through our Submit Request portal.
Please review our Contribution Guidelines before submitting a request in order to ensure your proposal is aligned with the N3B Community Commitment Program requirements.
Downloadable Forms
Requests will be acknowledged, and requesting organizations will be notified if we have questions and when a decision is made.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is your funding cycle?
Our Community Contributions Program operates on a calendar year cycle. Organizations can make requests at any time.
When is the best time to submit a request?
The best time to submit a request is when an organization has a proposal that meets the guidelines and addresses any questions we might have about the proposal.
What is the minimum and maximum dollar amount that you will grant per project?
There is no minimum or maximum amount, but the grants generally range from $500 to $10,000.
Is there a maximum amount per organization?
We don’t set a maximum amount per organization, but we would most likely not approve a request above the maximum range or an additional request from an organization that has already received funds from us in the preceding 12 months.
How much money do you award in a year?
N3B has made a commitment to contribute a portion of its earned fee over the life of its contract to Northern New Mexico nonprofit community groups and local workforce development efforts. The amount available for contribution can vary from year to year and has ranged from $100,000 and $350,000.
What types of projects will you fund?
We focus on the following areas with our Community Commitment program:
- Education
- Health & Human Services
- Arts & Culture
- Civic & Community
Please see our Contribution Guidelines for more details.
Do you think your funding priorities will change?
We review our contributions program periodically. We may revise our priorities if we see important community needs that are unfulfilled.
Will requests be categorized by type of organization or type of project?
Most requests will be coded based on the organization’s stated mission, but in some cases, we would take a project focus. For example, if an arts organization submitted a funding request for a grade school arts education program, we would likely consider it an education program.
Do you share the list of the organizations you fund?
We produce an annual report for our Community Commitment Program that contains a list of organizations we funded that year. The reports are posted on our website.
If our request is denied can we resubmit?
Denials are final, but an organization has the option to submit a new request for a program that is better aligned with our priorities and criteria.
If our request is denied, will we get a debriefing on why our request was denied?
We will let an organization know if their request has been granted or denied, but we cannot commit to providing a detailed critique of denied proposals.
Do you give to capital campaigns?
As a general rule, we do not give to capital campaigns.
Do you give to matching funds campaigns?
We evaluate programs according to our guidelines. Whether or not the program is eligible for matching funds through another organization might be a factor we would take into account. However, leveraging our contribution to secure others is certainly a good strategy for a nonprofit organization.
Do you match employee contributions?
We do not match employee contributions. However, we do take into account employee involvement with organizations in our assessment.
Do you provide in-kind contributions?
We don’t provide in-kind contributions of paid staff or loaned executives. However, one of our review criteria is the level and extent to which our employees are actively involved in an organization. That is not a requirement, but we give greater weight to proposals from organizations for which our employees are passionate.
Do you have equipment to donate?
We’re not able to donate equipment. N3B is a federal government contractor, and the federal government owns all the equipment we use. When we are through with equipment, if it’s not worn out, it’s generally transferred to another federal, state or local agency.
Do you donate scholarships to individuals?
In general, we do not make any donations directly to individuals for any purposes, including scholarships. However, we do offer the annual Danny Nichols and Dennis Huddleston Scholarship, and we also donate to scholarship funds where a school, university or other entity manages applications and awards individual scholarships.
Do you contribute to overhead expenses or general operating funds?
In general, no; our grant funding primarily supports specific programs and projects sponsored by nonprofit organizations.
Since you take into account the level of employee volunteers in an organization, how do I solicit your employees to volunteer in our organization?
Send your request to N3BOutreach@em-la.doe.gov, and we may be able to let our staff know about your organization and your need.
Do you have a formula for how much money you will donate in Los Alamos vs. elsewhere?
We contribute a significant portion of our nonprofit funding to organizations outside the Los Alamos area, especially in the Española Valley/Rio Arriba and Santa Fe areas. We don’t exclude other areas of Northern New Mexico, but our goal is to contribute to groups in the communities where our employees live.
N3B Volunteer Efforts
N3B encourages its employees to be active in the communities where they live and support local organizations with their time, talent and teasure.
We often support organizations our employees are passionate about. In fact, one of the criteria we use to evaluate requests for funds is involvement in the organization by our employees.
If you are interested in N3B team members volunteering with your organization or serving on your board, please let us know at N3BOutreach@em-la.doe.gov, for consideration for us to relay to our team.
Are We Sponsoring You?
Photos, opportunities for engagement, and updates can be sent to N3BOutreach @EM-LA.com.