By Elizabeth Battiste
Communities Lead Communities Thrive (CLCT) this week announced its 2027 Policy & Advocacy Priorities, a coalition-driven agenda to strengthen how the State of Colorado partners with nonprofits by making state grantmaking more transparent, innovative, and efficient.
The priorities build on CLCT’s Funding the Frontlines Policy Agenda, which was developed through listening sessions and conversations with coalition members and community-based organizations across Colorado. This summer, CLCT asked coalition members to identify which recommendations should guide its advocacy over the coming months. Thirty-one organizations representing Denver Metro, rural, and statewide nonprofits participated in the survey.
“These priorities reflect what nonprofits across Colorado told us would have the greatest impact,” said Marco Dorado, Managing Director of Communities Lead Communities Thrive. “By modernizing state grantmaking, we can reduce unnecessary administrative burden, strengthen accountability and transparency, and improve the partnership between government and the community-based organizations delivering critical services across Colorado.”
The agenda balances the coalition’s long-term vision with practical reforms that can be implemented in the near term while building on recent progress, including the passage of House Bill 26-1274: State Agency Payments to Grant Recipients, which expanded the authority for all state agencies to offer advance payments for nonprofit grants. CLCT’s 2027 priorities include:
- Establish a statewide 30-day reimbursement standard: Requiring reimbursement within 30 days after a complete reimbursement request is received by a state agency would provide greater predictability, improve nonprofit cash flow, and allow organizations to focus more resources on serving Coloradans.
- Require publication of grant awardees and amounts: Requiring state agencies to publish topline grant award information they have existing access to will improve transparency and accountability while helping nonprofits better understand funding trends, identify potential partners, and make informed decisions about future applications.
- Explore opportunities to create more consistent and efficient grant application processes and infrastructure across state agencies: Creating more consistent application processes, requirements, and timelines across state agencies would improve efficiency, reduce duplication and administrative burden, and make grants easier for nonprofits to access and state agencies to administer.
- Identify ways to reduce and right-size reporting requirements while improving coordination across state agencies: Creating more consistent and right-sized reporting formats, timelines, and expectations across state agencies would improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and maintain accountability while making reporting easier for nonprofits and agencies to manage.
Together, these reforms will reduce duplication, improve consistency and efficiency across state government, strengthen public accountability, and help community-based organizations focus more of their time and resources on serving Coloradans.
“These recommendations benefit everyone,” Dorado said. “More efficient grant systems reduce administrative costs for nonprofits and state agencies alike, while more transparent and consistent processes strengthen public trust and ensure public resources reach communities more effectively.”
The coalition’s advocacy agenda is grounded in three guiding principles:
- Transparency to make grantmaking more accessible and accountable through clearer processes and greater visibility into how public funding is distributed.
- Innovation to modernize government through grant systems that are consistent across agencies and easier for nonprofits and state staff alike to navigate.
- Efficiency to reduce unnecessary administrative burden so organizations can spend more time serving communities and less time managing paperwork.
As Colorado begins implementing HB26-1274, CLCT will continue working alongside coalition members, state agencies, legislators, and the next administration to advance these priorities while pursuing broader long-term reforms that strengthen Colorado’s nonprofit ecosystem and improve how state government delivers resources to communities. Learn more about the 2027 Policy & Advocacy Priorities at https://www.coclct.org/2027-policy-advocacy-priorities.
About Communities Lead Communities Thrive
Communities Lead Communities Thrive (CLCT) is a statewide coalition working to strengthen partnerships between state government and nonprofits by advancing policies that make public funding more accessible, transparent, innovative, and effective for the community-based organizations serving Colorado.
Elizabeth Battiste writes on behalf of CLCT.