Apply for AFC’s 2025-2026 responsive grants

We strive to provide a comprehensive, manually updated grants database. However, accuracy may vary, and all funding decisions are made at the discretion of the funders. Organizations can submit up to three applications per grant cycle, but the total amount of all requests must not exceed $150,000. Organizations can only request funding for the same program two consecutive years.

Cycle 2 (Livable and Resilient Communities and Successful Aging)

Simply put, the choice of grantmaking style is dependent on the funding organisation, its mission and its desired outcomes. This method of grantmaking requires the funder to build relationships with the grantees and even other funding organisations. It also involves the use of best practices to ensure that the funds are properly utilised. The funding organisation is saddled with the responsibility of taking the first steps and ultimately ensuring the actualisation of the grantmaking. The funder champions the cause, hence the style’s nickname of “proactive grantmaking”. Strategic grantmaking is a grantmaking style in which the funding organisation takes the initiative to lay out a detailed scheme to attend to a certain area of focus.

RRF: Responsive Grants – Advocacy

Organizations receiving a current GOS grant that ends later than Dec. 31, 2025 may not apply. “Instrumentl has fundamentally changed the way we work, especially in terms of finding foundations that really fit us.” It is designed to help the Foundation determine whether the request is a good match for the Foundation’s present interests and funds. Once the window for LOI submission opens (in accordance with the timeline below), a link will appear beneath the picture. If there is any uncertainty regarding requirements, please contact the Foundation before submitting the LOI. Or, if you’re looking for a specific past call, enter a keyword from the name of the call into our website’s Search feature.

These grants will be reviewed on a monthly basis or quicker when rapid response is needed. For 2025, our responsive grant priorities are immigrant and refugee youth, LGTBQ+ youth, environmental work, and advocacy. As a health foundation, we know that health disparities by race are pervasive and rooted in structural racism.

Create an account or log into our grant application portal.

No information sessions are planned at this time for Cultural Vibrancy, Livable and Resilient Communities, Successful Aging, or Youth Success impact areas. Call us to learn about our funding opportunities or how we can help connect you to a larger endeavor. Committed to advancing social change through philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Jen serves on the boards of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Fetzer Institute, and The Healing Trust, where she is the Board Chair. Applicants must serve people within the Community Foundation twenty-town region and meet The Foundation’s minimum eligibility requirements.

Power of Law in People’s Hands: What the US Can Learn

Organizations are eligible for one Responsive Grant award per calendar year. The selection criteria emphasize organizational strength, potential for community impact, and a sound implementation plan, including a feasible project budget, capacity for execution, and a method for tracking progress and outcomes. Support is also available for non-501(c)(3) organizations utilizing a fiscal sponsor with the necessary IRS designation, subject to the review of the fiscal sponsor’s health and a signed sponsorship agreement. Through proactive approaches, funders can develop a roadmap for tackling ambitious philanthropic goals, and can capitalize on opportunities for leverage, learning, and leadership. We recognize that our shift to multi-year funding is challenging for organizations who are not recent grant recipients and would benefit from an opportunity to apply for funding through a competitive grant process. We continue to work with our staff, board, and non-profit partners to identify and invest in programs that support your work outside of the Responsive grants, including capacity-building for nonprofits, peer learning and strategic partnerships.

Stronger Boards, Stronger Impact: The Case for Independent Directors

For many, this translated into a greater ability to plan for the coming year and in turn, greater stability in the programs and services this provides for our communities. However, if the funder is indeed eager to show its support to the community through a variety of initiatives and seeks input and direction from the community, then the responsive approach is the answer. This is ideal if the funding organisation prefers to stay open to the variety of ideas springing forth from the community.

If you would like to bring your project or organization to the Foundation’s attention, please complete and submit a Concept Note through the grants portal. These grants will support capacity building for organizations as well as staff development and leadership care for organizations working in our focus areas. These grants might include strategic planning, leadership transitions, staff respite/healing, and celebration of organizational milestones. Organizations that are newly formed or have budgets of under $100,0001 are not eligible (please refer to Good Samaritan grant program guidelines).

• She is Co-Founder of The People’s Supper, a global initiative that has hosted over 2,000 gatherings in 135 communities to foster conversation and collective healing across lines of difference.
• Even when it feels like the odds are stacked against us, everyday people around the world are strengthening democracies from the ground up—by knowing, using, and shaping the law.
• Local community foundations like ours allow us to preserve a bright future for our friends, families, and neighbors for generations to come.

Often a funder will create a separate process for responsive grants, defining the purpose of those grants more broadly. For example, a funder may designate responsive grants specifically for community needs, innovative approaches, or special opportunities that relate to its primary mission yet fall outside the focus of proactive initiatives. In our experience, defining some parameters for responsive grantmaking can be very helpful in making the process more manageable for the funder, and in providing constructive guidance to nonprofit organizations. In TPI’s experience, many funders – particularly those that are place-based and have a history of responding to community needs – believe it is important to continue to allocate some resources for responsive grantmaking. Some may allocate 10% or less of their grantmaking budget for responsive grants, while others may reserve a much larger percentage.

• Multi-year funding is a commitment to provide grant funds over two or more years.
• “I tried other grant tools, but there wasn’t really anything that kept me going. With Instrumentl, I’m able to take a deeper dive into the data.”
• If the organization is new, then the budget should be based on potential funding sources exclusive of Sisters of Charity Foundation funding.
• Organizations applying for funding must be tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofits, government institutions or schools in the greater Wilson community, whose funds will be directed toward the enhancement of the healthcare outcomes of the Wilson community.

Responsive grants fund community-led initiatives that improve access to justice. Responsive grants aim to encourage new projects that fill existing legal gaps, supplement existing services, or otherwise help address emerging needs by connecting more people to legal information and support, especially people who are not currently being reached. Community Memorial Foundation believes our grantee organizations are our partners in community transformation.

This is an opportunity for non-profits to share updates, successes and challenges, and to connect with resources at the Area Foundation. Programs that enhance the quality of life for all animals, educate the community regarding responsible pet care, and enhance spay/neuter and adoption services. Responsive grants are reseponsive grants three-year, general operating support grants awarded to organizations whose services align with the vision of at least one of our four primary impact areas. Priority is given to organizations serving under-represented and under-served communities. A diverse cohort of 15 organizations was recently awarded grants by the Henry Luce Foundation—part of a new initiative to identify and support work in the areas of Democracy, Ethics and Public Trust.