Renew America's Nonprofits Grant Program

MARC worked with the nonprofit organizations and the U.S. Department of Energy to secure approval of construction funds and enable the first 11 nonprofit buildings to proceed. Work to secure bids on energy improvements for these non-profits and initiate construction is underway. A list of the first 11 nonprofit organizations seeking request for proposals follows below.  Once underway, MARC will work with the remaining 17 nonprofits to prepare their agreements and projects for bid.

The U.S. Department of Energy, through the Office of State and Community Energy Programs, selected MARC as one of nine recipients of a Renew America’s Nonprofits grant to implement energy efficiency building upgrades for nonprofit organizations in the Kansas City region in late 2023. The grant was officially awarded in summer 2024.

The grant provides funds to support projects that reduce energy use and costs in buildings owned and operated by nonprofits. 

In addition to the federal funds, four local foundations have provided an additional $1.5 million to meet federal match requirements and provide additional funds to support the program. The four foundations are Hall Family Foundation, Marion and Henry Bloch Charitable Foundation, Sunderland Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. 

A Community Advisory Board (CAB) is composed of representatives from the community, private funders, local governments and technical organizations.  The CAB met a number of times in fall 2024, and January and April 2025 to review 62 eligible applications and select the following priority non-profit buildings for financial support to complete energy conservation improvements. 

Partners participating in the RAN program include: 

• MARC Community Services Corporation
  Grantee and project management.
• Community Capital Fund
  Support selection of nonprofits to be assisted through formation and convening of the community advisory board, support outreach to area nonprofits that might qualify and review grant applications.
• Sustainable Investment Group - Supporting transition from energy audits in constructable projects, SIG works as an owner’s representative to aid MARC and the nonprofits from bid to permit to construction close out. SIG will also assist with final performance verification and benchmarking upon completion. 
• Metropolitan Energy Center
  Support selection of nonprofit buildings to be assisted, including use of their Energy Star tool for evaluating energy costs.
• Custom Engineering and Entegrity Energy Partners - Support the selection process, conduct energy audits, and provide technical assistance to selected nonprofit organizations as needed with preparation of bid documents and bidding process for construction. These firms will assist in measuring energy savings.
• United Way of Greater Kansas City - Assist with outreach to nonprofit organizations.

This program is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s State and Community Energy Program (SCEP) under the Renew America’s Nonprofits Program and 2022 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Energy Improvements at Nonprofits Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Award Number DE-SE-0001001.