Rockfish seeks applicants for corporate giving program

Digital business accelerator Rockfish is seeking applicants for its 2015 corporate giving program. Two chosen applicants will receive $50,000 of agency time from Rockfish, focusing on topics within the realm of digital communication, such as social media and website development.
 
Aside from being a nonprofit organization, applicants must demonstrate financial need and be headquartered within 50 miles of one of the following cities in which Rockfish operates: Dallas, Cincinnati, Atlanta or Rogers, Ark.
 
“We ask for things like, ‘What kind of service are you going to provide to the community and how many people are you reaching?'” says Rockfish associate director Kari Wethington. “But the main part is, ‘What will we be helping you with by working with you? Of the $50,000 of agency time that we’ll be providing, what can we help you tackle?”
 
Rockfish’s selection committee, spread throughout multiple offices nationally, will select the two organizations in January.
 
“By the end of January, companies will know their status,” Wethington says. “And we do contact people whether they’re chosen or not, so every organization that submits an application will hear from us one way or another.”
 
While last year’s program attracted about 100 applicants, Wethington expects the number to double for 2015.
 
“The hard thing about this process is that we get such amazing applicants, and very rarely are any of them totally disqualified for some reason,” Wethington says. “It really comes down to the details when we’re reviewing applicants. You get larger nonprofits, you get some smaller that are newer—it’s across the board in terms of the kind of work they’re doing.”
 
Interested nonprofits must submit their applications by Nov. 17.