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Steamboat Springs — Integrated Community will get $20,000 throughout the next couple of years for hard-to-fund development.

The nonprofit group works to strengthen relationships between immigrants and neighbors in Routt and Moffat counties. The grant money from the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado will pay for a strategic plan and training for the group's executive director, Tatiana Achcar.

The foundation funds activities that strengthen the structure of Latino nonprofit groups, said Marcelina Rivera, of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, which is based in Denver.

"Strategically, what we wanted to do was to provide the funds that are the hardest for a nonprofit to get," Rivera said. "It is easy to find money for scholarships and programs you're doing."

Finding money to perform audits, update databases and get training, for example, is tougher, she said.

Integrated Community, or Comunidad Integrada, plans to use part of the money to hire a consultant to help create fundraising and strategic plans, Achcar said. The rest of the money will pay for a leadership-training program Achcar will attend in Denver.

Achcar worked on the grant in August with former Executive Director Summer Laws. Achcar took over Laws' spot in September.

"They had a very strong - a very direct - vision with what they needed to do," Rivera said. "They knew they were in startup, and they knew the very first thing they had to do was a strategic plan. They were very wise, actually."

Nonprofit groups must have a clear fundraising vision, particularly in an economic downturn, Achcar said.

"Every organization should know what the plan is two, three, five years out, so all of your objective goals, your mission, everything ties neatly, and your programming and your everyday work ties neatly to that plan," she said.

Integrated Community has offices in Steamboat Springs and Craig. It offers English tutoring, programs to foster communication between locals and immigrants, and other resources for immigrants.

The Latino Community Foundation of Colorado received 24 applications for money and awarded 14 grants, Rivera said. Grants totaled $227,500, and Integrated Community will get $20,000 during two years. Groups in Denver, Durango, Alamosa and other cities also received funding.

Achcar said she was pleased partly because the money comes from the Latino community. Latino donors funded half the grants, and a national group called Hispanics in Philanthropy matched that, Rivera said.

"They're trying to really raise awareness among the Latino community and trying to get them to provide the funding, because it has traditionally been Anglo groups supporting Latino foundations," Achcar said.

The Rose Community Foundation and the Western Union Foundation help the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado with its operations in Denver. The foundation was pleased that it could branch out, Rivera said.

"A lot of nonprofits apply in the Denver area, so we were very interested in being able to fund in the Steamboat/Craig area," she said. "This was our first time funding out there."

Achcar met with other recipients and donors last week in Denver. The groups brainstormed about ways to support one another, she said.

Rivera said her foundation looked forward to maintaining a relationship with Integrated Community. The group might not have access to much local money and could benefit from outside help, Rivera said.

"When the pedal hits the metal, you're in a small town trying to scramble for resources," she said.