From Listening to Action: CLCT’s 2027 Policy & Advocacy Priorities

From Listening to Action: CLCT Coalition Sets 2027 Policy & Advocacy Priorities

When Communities Lead Communities Thrive (CLCT) released our Funding the Frontlines Policy Agenda, it provided a roadmap for improving how the State of Colorado partners with nonprofits. Developed through listening sessions and conversations with coalition members and community-based organizations across the state, the agenda identifies practical policy and administrative reforms to make state grantmaking more transparent, innovative, and efficient for the nonprofit organizations delivering critical services in their communities.

Over the past year, we’ve already seen what’s possible when nonprofits help shape public policy. Earlier this year, the Colorado legislature passed House Bill 26-1274: State Agency Payments to Grant Recipients, expanding permissive legislative authority for all agencies to advance payments for nonprofit grants and taking an important step toward improving nonprofit cash flow.

Now, our coalition is building on that momentum. This summer, CLCT asked coalition members to help determine which recommendations from Funding the Frontlines should guide our advocacy over the coming months. Organizations representing Denver Metro, rural, and statewide nonprofits ranked potential reforms based on where they believe change would have the greatest impact.

Their message was remarkably consistent: Colorado’s nonprofits need state grant systems that work together across agencies and are transparent, consistent, and streamlined – making it easier for nonprofits to access public funding and for state agencies to administer grants efficiently and effectively.

Guided by Three Principles

Our advocacy priorities are grounded in three principles that coalition members identified as essential to strengthening partnerships between government and nonprofits.

  • Transparency to make grantmaking more accessible and accountable through clearer processes and greater visibility into how public funding is distributed.
  • Innovation to modernize government by creating grant systems that are consistent across agencies and easier for both nonprofits and state staff to navigate.
  • Efficiency to reduce unnecessary administrative burden so organizations can focus on delivering services rather than managing paperwork.

Practical Reforms That Build on Recent Progress

While coalition members expressed strong support for long-term reforms like expanding multi-year grant funding, they also emphasized the importance of pursuing practical improvements that can be implemented now while laying the foundation for broader systems change. That’s why, in the year ahead, CLCT will focus on four policy and advocacy priorities:

Establish a statewide 30-day reimbursement standard:

Establishing a 30-day reimbursement expectation after receipt of a complete reimbursement request by the state agency will improve nonprofit cash flow, strengthen organizational stability, and help community organizations focus on serving Coloradans instead of managing financial uncertainty

Require publication of grant awardees and amount:

Public grantmaking should be transparent. Publishing grant award recipients and amounts after they are decided – information state agencies have existing access to – will improve accountability, help nonprofits better understand funding trends, identify potential partners, and make stronger decisions about future applications.

Explore opportunities to create more consistent and efficient grant application processes and infrastructure across state agencies:

Today, every agency often has its own application infrastructure, process, requirements, and timelines. Standardizing applications wherever possible will reduce duplication, lower administrative burden, and make public funding more accessible – particularly for smaller organizations with limited capacity.

Identify ways to reduce and right-size reporting requirements while improving coordination across state agencies:

Reporting should ensure accountability without creating unnecessary complexity. CLCT will explore opportunities to make the reporting process more efficient by standardizing reporting formats, timelines, and expectations while encouraging reporting requirements that are proportional to the size and purpose of each grant.

Better Systems Benefit Everyone

These priorities represent an opportunity to strengthen the partnership between the State of Colorado and the nonprofit organizations doing essential work in communities across the state. More transparent systems build trust and accountability. More innovative systems create consistent, modern approaches that are easier for nonprofits and state agencies to navigate. And more efficient systems reduce unnecessary administrative burden and allow everyone to focus more resources on delivering results for Coloradans.

Ultimately, strengthening the way government and nonprofits work together means making better use of public resources and achieving better outcomes for the communities those investments are intended to serve.

These reforms will require partnership and sustained effort. CLCT looks forward to working alongside our coalition members, philanthropy, elected officials, state agencies, and other key stakeholders to turn these priorities into meaningful change and continue building a state grantmaking system that works better for everyone.