Crossing a major milestone in any initiative always brings with it a sigh of relief. “Phew! We made it.” That feeling is often quickly followed by an itch to analyze. We passed this milestone, but how did it go? Did we meet our goals? How do the outcomes stack up against past projects?
At the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, we recently closed the application for our 2026-2029 Core Funding Opportunity – a three-year, $150 million grant that supports mental and behavioral health services for kids and their families in St. Louis County, Missouri. Closing the application is a milestone in the greater grantmaking process that will end in a new set of contracts and partnerships.
For this funding cycle, we had more organizations apply than ever before (102; up from 82 in 2023) and the highest total funding request we’ve ever received ($237.5 million; up from $193.7 million in 2023). Additionally, we had more than 30 organizations apply that have never received this funding before. Now, we’re digging into why that happened.
Making Up for Lost Funding
It’s no secret that nonprofits have experienced a year of major uncertainty. Cuts to federal funding, inflation, and rising operational costs, have all contributed to increased challenges that have made it difficult to keep important programs running. The nonprofits and government entities that qualify for our funding here in St. Louis County are no exception, and we know many are doing all they can to fill financial gaps at a time when the need for quality youth behavioral healthcare remains high. It comes as no surprise to us that we have more organizations requesting funding at higher amounts right now than three years ago.
A More Familiar Presence
While this year has been a challenging one for mental health providers in our area, we feel another contributing factor to a record number of applicants is a growing awareness of who we are.
When people don’t know we exist, they don’t know to apply for our funding. This is a barrier we have been working to overcome for years, and we are beginning to see a change in the tide.
Over the last few years, we rolled out a new brand and have placed an emphasis on outreach and community presence. We’ve hosted networking events for prospective funding applicants; appreciation events for educators and school staff; panel discussions on youth mental health; and more. Beyond our role as funder, we see ourselves as a connector and have stepped whole-heartedly into that role.
We also strive to engage community in our work in meaningful ways. We facilitate several external cohorts – a School-Based Advisory Committee, a Community Advisory Committee, an Outreach Council, and soon a Youth Advisory Council – to inform our work, encourage collaboration, and address systemic issues. We also recently concluded a community health needs assessment where we were fortunate to speak with many St. Louis County residents about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to youth metal health.
Over time, being actively and thoughtfully engaged with the communities we serve has helped us grow awareness of who we are and what we do, which we feel is a factor in this record-breaking year.
Why Share This Information?
So why are we talking about the fact that we received a total funding request that is over $75 million more than we have to invest? We know that those who spent significant time and effort completing our application may not feel encouraged by these high numbers. And it will mean difficult decisions for our staff and board as well.
We are talking about this because as a public funder that is entrusted to redistribute tax dollars, we believe it’s our responsibility to be transparent about our work. We also feel that we owe it to applicants to be honest about the numbers. We know that need is high, and we know we can’t meet it all.
Is There an Upside to All of This?
Yes, we think there is. While we recognize the significant challenges that funding reductions have created for nonprofits, we also see a positive outcome: More organizations are becoming aware of and engaging with our funding opportunities. This helps us continue to ensure that our process is fair, accessible, and equitable.
We also see the increase in applications as an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the youth mental health landscape in the St. Louis region – to see more completely the important work underway and where unmet needs remain. The more we understand the big picture, the more strategically we can invest our funding in ways that best support kids and families in St. Louis County.
Now What?
As we speak, our staff, along with more than 30 community members, are reviewing applications with the ultimate goal of making funding recommendations to our board of directors, who will make final decisions in Spring 2026. Learn more about this process in another blog post.
For now, we’re feeling immensely grateful for everyone who is doing the challenging and critical work of caring for youth and families in St. Louis County, and for all who took precious time to tell us about this work in a 2026-2029 Core Funding Opportunity application. We are committed to reviewing each proposal with the attention and care it deserves.