Operating Support Grant

Operating Support Grant

The OSG program is a competitive funding source made available through the City of Cincinnati Department of Community and Economic Development and is delivered to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) through HomeBase Cincinnati.
The Operating Support Grant program is funded by HUD’s Community Development Block Grant and HOME dollars. This funding is via the City of Cincinnati and the program is managed by HomeBase Cincinnati.

HomeBase Cincinnati collects applications, a committee of industry experts, (who are not on staff or on the board of a CDC), score the applications and make recommendations for funding to the City of Cincinnati's DCED, who then finalizes funding allocations.

The OSG program provides operating and project support to build and strengthen capacity of eligible non‐profit CDCs and certified CHDOs.

Eligible entities serve the City of Cincinnati through developing affordable housing units, performing commercial and economic development, addressing public facilities and streetscape activities, violence prevention/reduction, neighborhood safety, and increasing community engagement in the neighborhoods.

For more information on the City’s involvement in the OSG CDC & CDBG funding process, please reach out to Bob Bertsch and/or Joseph Malek at the Department of Community and Economic Development.

To be eligible for funding, organizations must meet HUDs criteria of community development criteria as well as support the objectives for CDBG laid out in the City's Consolidated Plan for the CDBG allocation:

"Per U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
Community development activities build stronger and more resilient communities.

In order to be eligible for (HUD) funding, CDC activity must qualify as meeting the following national objectives of HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG):
1. Beneﬁting low- and moderate-income persons,
2. Preventing or eliminating slum or blight, or
3. Meeting other community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community and other ﬁnancial resources are not available to meet such needs.
Community development corporations (CDCs) are 501(c)(3) non-proﬁt organizations that are created to support and revitalize communities, especially those that are impoverished or struggling. (Eligible for CDBG.)

Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) A CHDO is a type of CDC that is a private nonproﬁt, community-based organization that has staff with the capacity to develop and focus on affordable housing for the community it serves. CHDO is an official designation from HUD and must be renewed year to year. (CHDOs are also eligible for HOME funds.)"

The following application aims to provide a clear understanding of the projects in your organization’s pipeline for the upcoming year as well as your organization's current capacity, especially as it relates to real estate development and place-based initiatives.

This is the City of Cincinnati's objectives for this HUD/CDBG funding- the Operating Support Grant is meant to be a "capacity building" funding source.

Your organization's project pipeline may include affordable housing, business development, and/or place-based initiatives.

Your organization's capacity will be self-identified and will fall within 3 categories as identified by the Neighbrohood and CDC Capacity Analysis.
Operating Support Grant Timeline:

Review and Announcement dates are subject to change
1. Application Opens: Friday, April 18th, 2025 pm
2. Pre-Application Info Session (Optional): Tuesday, May 6th
3. APPLICATION DUE: Friday, May 23rd @ 11:59PM
4. Interviews: Dates to be determined
5. Award Notiﬁcations: By August 1st, 2025
6. Implementation for FY26: July 1, 2025 - June 30th, 2026
Scoring:

Funding levels will be determined by the scoring table and points allocated, taking into account the applicant’s requested funding amount, the City of Cincinnati’s available program funding, and HUD allocations through the CDBG and HOME programs. Funding allocation is not guaranteed at the levels listed below.

There is also a required Question & Answer session with the review committee.

The "scorecard" and the application questions can be downloaded on HomeBase's website at: https://www.homebasecincy.org/programs-and-services/operating-support-grant

If you are having issues please reach out to Alexus Wimbish: Alexus.Wimbish@HomeBaseCincy.org

Please provide applicant (primary) contact information with a secondary (backup) contact:
Organization Name
Primary Contact Name & Title
Primary Contact Email:
Primary Contact Phone Number:
Secondary Contact Name & Title
Secondary Contact Email:
Secondary Contact Phone Number:
Neighborhood(s) Served
How much funding is your organization requesting?
Is your organization a registered 501(c)(3) nonproﬁt? (Yes/No)

YesNo
If no, please provide proof of nonprofit status in the State of Ohio

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Capturing Your Organization's 2025-2026 Project Pipeline and Organization's Maturity & "Capacity"

The following sections aim to provide a clear understanding of the projects in your organization’s pipeline for the upcoming year as well as your organization's current capacity, especailly as it relates to real estate development and place based initiatives.

This is the City of Cincinnati's objectives for this HUD/CDBG funding. The Operating Support Grant is meant to be a "capacity building" funding source.

Your organization's project pipeline may include affordable housing, business development, and/or place-based initiatives.

When responding, focus only on projects that your organization is directly leading or developing. Do not include projects that are led by another entity.

When self-idenitifying your organization's capacity, please consider the descriptions and project types on the CDC Continuum image on the following page that correlate with the 3 umbrella CDC-categories in the descriptors.

Organizational Maturity & Community Development:

Please take a moment to consider the image below. Much like the non-profit lifecycle, it describes aspects of various kinds of community based organizations and CDCs- including organizational charateristics and types of "projects" those organizations typically work on.

As identiﬁed in the 2024 CDC Capacity Analysis, across the Cincinnati ecosystem there are 3 distinct categories of CDCs and other nonproﬁt entities affiliated with HomeBase. Where would you place your organization within the following CDC Capacity Continuum that correlates to the 3 distinct categories described below:

Category 1: Comprehensive Real Estate CDC (Established, leading large-scale development)

Includes Develop & Own on the CDC Continuum

Types of Projects typically led by Develop & Own:
- Self-performing Development
- Leveraging funding (outside of City funds)
- Operation and management of real estate
- Partnerships with larger developers
- Income Generating
Typical organizational charateristics of this group of CDCs:
- Professionally led and staffed
- Actively engaged as real estate development enterprises that acquire, (re)develop/rehab, lease and manage residential and commercial properties
- Have strong partnerships with the City, for-proﬁt developers and funders
- Maintain a strong connection to the residents and business owners in the neighborhoods they serve
Category 2: Developing CDC (Growing in capacity, leading small to mid-sized projects)
Includes the Engage & Act, and Partner & Prosper from the CDC Continuum

Types of Projects typically led by Partner & Prosper CDC’s
- Self-performing Development
- Leveraging funding (outside of City funds)
- Operation and management of real estate
- Partnerships with larger developers
Types of Projects typically led by Engage & Act CDC’s
- City funded Strategic Acquisitions
- Manage small development projects funded by the city
- Advocacy & Engagement for larger developments
Typical organizational charateristics of this group of CDCs:
- Have Executive Directors that have demonstrated real estate development capabilities
- Engaged in residential and mixed-use projects with support from the City and other institutions
- May be struggling to achieve the impacts demanded by the conditions in target geographic areas
- In need of additional and consistent technical and ﬁnancial assistance to grow into sustainable real estate development enterprises
Category 3: Community-Engagement Based CDC / Organization (Focused on engagement, advocacy, and early-stage development)

Includes the Incubate and Startup CDCs from the CDC Continuum

Types of Projects typically led by Startup CDC’s:
- Manage small development projects funded by the city
- Apply for grants that are managed by City/ The Port
- Activation & Engagement projects
- Planning and researching next steps associated with neighborhood plan
Projects typically led by Incubate CDC’s:
- Neighborhood Plans
- Organizational Strategic Plans
- Research on Development Opportunities
- Community Awareness of the organization
Typical organizational charateristics of this group of CDCs:
- Involved in community organizing, advocacy, marketing and promotion of commercial districts, and social services.
- Mostly volunteer-led and have limited budgets
- Play a critical role in community-building initiatives, support quality-of-life improvements, and serve as liaisons to the City government
Organizational Maturity: As identiﬁed in the 2024 CDC Capacity Analysis, across the Cincinnati ecosystem there are 3 distinct categories of CDCs and other nonproﬁt entities: (Please select one for your organization)

Category 1: Comprehensive Real Estate CDC (Established, leading large-scale development)Category 2: Developing CDC (Growing in capacity, leading small to mid-sized projects)Category 3: Community-Engagement Based CDC / Organization (Focused on engagement, advocacy, and early-stage development)
Looking back, describe your organization's growth and key milestones over the last ﬁscal and/or calendar year:
Looking forward: How will OSG funding help your organization grow in the next year, especially as related to the aforementioned CDC categories & organizational capacity and types of activities / projects?
Please identify your organization's specific growth goals or needs in regards to capacity building and identify if technical assistance or trainings are needed or if trainings would facilitate this growth area for your organization: 1. Goals, needs, or plans for board development, 2. Goals, needs, or plans for staff training (identify needed topics, like real estate skills, effective community engagement, financial management, etc.), 3. Goals, needs, or plans for overall organizational skill development / nonprofit management.
What specific capacity-building or operational improvements will this funding support? (i.e. hire or continue to fund a staff person(s) to project manager to facilitate facade improvement program for 2025-2026, i.e. to hire for a person to establish and manage marketing / activation and story telling for the organization).

Implementation of Community Plan(s):
Does your neighborhood have a formally adopted Cincinnati Neighborhood Plan?

YesNo
If no, please upload your organization's or neighborhood's strategic plan, or areas of focus for the next fiscal year (July 1, 2025- June 30th, 2026)

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Looking forward, what specific components of your neighborhood plan/ organization strategic plan will your organization focus on in the next fiscal year with OSG funding?
How will this funding support community-led planning OR implementation in your neighborhood? (i.e. this funding will enable our organization to fund/hire staff that will focus on implementing these elements of the plan).

Place-based investments and initiatives:

(Place-Based Investments & Initiatives Projects may include tangible projects tied to specific locations like parks, community centers, murals, gardens, etc. They do not fall into the categories of housing or commercial development, and also may or may not have a community engagement component. Ways that you might speak to the impact of these projects is by describing attendance or continued use or benefit of the project (e.g., a garden still being maintained or a mural becoming a neighborhood landmark).
Looking back: How many place based development projects or community initiatives has your organization completed in the last fiscal and/or calendar year?

01-23-56+
Provide a brief description of 1-2 key place based projects led by your organization and their impact.
Looking forward: How many new placed based development projects or initiatives will your organization undertake with OSG funding? How many on-going projects will this support?
What are your key objectives and/or intended impact for these new projects? What has been the impact of on-going projects?

Commercial Development:
Looking back: How many commercial predevelopment or construction projects has your organization led and/or undertaken in the last fiscal/calendar year?

01-23-56+
Provide a brief description of these projects and how exactly your organization was involved or led the project.
Looking forward: How will OSG funding support new commercial development efforts within the next year led by your organization? How will OSG funding support ongoing commercial projects led by your organization?
What specific projects are planned, and what outcomes, or phase of completion do you expect to be accomplished (i.e. predevelopment, or construction, etc.) within the next fiscal/calendar year?

Housing Enhancement:

How many housing units has your organization worked on in the last ﬁscal and/or calendar year?

In the boxes below, please enter the number of:

1. housing units vacant and rehabbed (deﬁned as turning a unit from defunct/vacant into an occupiable unit, or making signiﬁcant improvements to an occupied unit to bring the unit up to code.),

2. housing units in predevelopment,

3. and/or number of new housing units in construction:
Number of vacant & Rehabbed units
Number of units in predevelopment
Number of units under construction
How has your organization's leadership in these housing projects directly impacted the community and the efforts for future units?- i.e. new tenants, ROI for the organizations, etc.
Looking forward: How many housing units will your organization lead the work on in the next year using OSG funds, please make the connection of OSG supported staff time to these units if applicable. Please denote what type of units (vacant & rehabbed, in predevelopment, and under construction) and how many units for this OSG funding year.
What challenges do you anticipate, and how will you address them?

Community Engagement & Empowerment:

Looking back:
How many new partnerships has your organization created in the last fiscal and/or calendar year? Please provide a short example for each- i.e. partnering with Art Works for murals, partnering with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful for community gardens, etc.
How many public events does your organization host/lead annually?
What engagement strategies have been most successful over the past fiscal/calendar year?
Looking forward: How will OSG funds help to begin/kick-off, or enhance your community engagement and empower initiatives over the next fiscal year?
What new partnerships, community events, and/or engagement strategies do you plan to implement with OSG support?

Partnerships & Dollars Leveraged:

Looking Back: List the total amount of funding leveraged in the last fiscal or calendar year for each of the following categories: (please enter zero / 0 if none).
Will your answers be for a calendar year or fiscal year:
Private project dollars $
Public project dollars $
Tax credits allocated $
Operational dollars secured $
Provide details on any co-development/development partnership strategies used over the past fiscal/calendar year.
Looking forward: How much additional funding do you anticipate leveraging with OSG funds over the next year?
What co-development strategies/partnerships, and fundraising strategies, will you use over the next year? (i.e. Work with HomeBase on grant writing guidance, partner with a (specific) developer to...etc).

OSG Funds Utilization & Reporting:
Looking Back: Has your organization submitted draw requests every two months and followed the OSG draw process as outlined in your sub-agreement this past OSG year?

YesNo
Has your organization been able to utilize funding within 10% of the total award within the allotted timeframe/fiscal in the past fiscal year, and are you projecting to be within 10% by the end of the current fiscal year?
Looking forward: How will your organization ensure timely submission of draws, efficient fund utilization, and compliance (i.e. submitting draws every two months) in this next fiscal year?

Key Performance Metrics (KPM) Achievement
Looking Back: What percentage of KPMs (Key Performance Metrics) were achieved in the last ﬁscal and/or calendar year?

0-25%26-50%51-75%76-100%
Looking forward: What KPMs will your organization prioritize in the next year with OSG funds?
What strategies have been implemented to improve KPM achievement or do you plan to implement to make sure KPMs are met? Or what new performance tracking or accountability measures will you implement?

Discretionary & Bonus Points:

Will any of the following discretionary items be implemented in any of your projects that will be supported with OSG funding?
If so which ones for which projects then please check all that apply

Brownﬁeld RedevelopmentOrganization regularly submitted drawsState or Federal Funding supported projectsSustainability EffortsHaven't received OSG in 2 yearsProjected ROI on development projectsMarket Study CompletedEliminates Blight
Please provide additional context, if not already mentioned before in the application.

By clicking on each of the following items, I the submitter, acknowledge that each of these items have been included with this application and that if a required item is missing, the application will not be considered. There are five file upload spaces. The following are required unless denoted otherwise:

Completed ApplicationProof of Nonprofit Status (or 501c3 status)Strategic plan, if an approved Cincinnati Neighborhood Plan is not availableProject descriptions for this upcoming fiscal/calendar yearOrganizations approved budget (FY or CY)Optional: Letters of Support
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