Philanthropic Focus

The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant communities. The Citi Foundation's "More than Philanthropy" approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation.

We focus our resources on partners working in the following three focus areas:

Youth Economic Opportunities

The Citi Foundation supports efforts that help boost the employability of low-income young people around the world. In particular, we seek to increase the number of low-income youth, primarily aged 16-24, who become employed or start an income-generating business through leadership and skills training, experiential learning, and access to professional networks. Further, we believe that consistent and meaningful engagement of young people in the design and execution of programs that are intended to benefit them can help ensure that those programs are addressing their priorities and aspirations and improving their economic prospects.

Financial Inclusion

The Citi Foundation supports efforts to develop a more inclusive financial system that provides greater access to financial products, services and capital to low-income communities and individuals. Access to capital and financial products empowers adults and young people to build financial assets, enables entrepreneurs to grow or launch businesses that create jobs, and helps community-based organizations strengthen and transform communities. However, we believe access to capital and products alone is not enough. Financial capability—the ability to establish financial plans and develop strategies for preserving a strong financial position during times of both economic prosperity and instability—is critical to the financial well-being and upward economic mobility of individuals and communities.

Community Solutions

The Citi Foundation supports efforts that break down silos and bring stakeholders together to develop and scale solutions to the most pressing challenges confronting low-income communities. By strengthening nonprofit organizations and building partnerships and networks, we seek to transform communities into sustainable and thriving epicenters of economic opportunity. We support collaborations among stakeholders such as local government, community-based organizations and residents, the private sector, and research institutions and invest in efforts that spur innovation in key areas, including affordable housing, environmental sustainability, job training and small business development.

NOTE:  This program is NOT a grant, but rather a matching funds program.

About Elevation

Mission

Traditionally, technology and nonprofits have existed in separate worlds. At Elevation, we are bridging this longstanding gap by combining these two ostensibly different industries into one. We believe that technology is a catalyst that can propel nonprofits into making a greater impact. Our team at Elevation is that bridge and our solutions are the driving forces behind nonprofits generating quantifiable change and inspiring others to do the same. This idea is the foundation of how we do business every day.

Read more about mission & values here. 

Our Approach

At Elevation, we are united under one goal – provide quality digital solutions to nonprofit organizations so they can continue generating measurable change in their communities. In order to fulfill this mission, we have fostered a design process that is customized, flexible, and results-driven. Our clients receive fully functioning, efficient websites, and more. Your website is a tool and an integral part of fulfilling your nonprofit’s mission. When developed with the right team and ideas, you’ll be able to reach broader audiences and transmit a greater positive impact.

Read more about Elevation's team & clients here.

1 for 1 Matching Fund

For every dollar your nonprofit invests in Elevation’s in-house services, we will match that dollar with one of our own.

Born out of our mission to elevate nonprofits’ impact, our 1 for 1 Matching Fund helps us to provide otherwise out-of-reach services to eligible nonprofit partners.

What is the 1 for 1 match?

Making professional design & web services affordable

For every dollar your nonprofit invests in Elevation’s in-house services, we will match that dollar with one of our own.

Born out of our mission to elevate nonprofits’ impact, our 1 for 1 Matching Funds program helps us provide otherwise out-of-reach services to eligible nonprofit partners.

How can your organization participate?

If you are a nonprofit with a project and would like to apply for assistance, please complete our brief online application.

Are there Additional Requirements? 

We work with all sectors, from religious to environmental, provided that their missions align with the values listed on Elevation's "About Us" page. For logistical purposes, we do rely on a point of contact based in the US, Canada, or Europe, but past recipient organizations have been located across the Americas and Africa as well.

Which Projects are Eligible? 

• Website Design & Re-design in WordPress
• Copywriting
• CRM Integrations in WordPress
• Branding & Graphic Design
• Marketing & Google Grants
• On-going WordPress Support
• Website Hosting

Is there a maximum benefit? 

We match what you raise, up to a 50K project. (For a 50K project, we’ll fund up to 25K. For a 16K  project, we fund up to 8K, etc.) We consider projects over 50K to be appropriate for well-established organizations and thus are not eligible for this program. We still strive to provide all nonprofits with the best results for every dollar they spend.

Why do we need other funding for the first half of our project?

We understand that nonprofits are under-resourced. We include a stipulation about additional funding to support an organization's commitment to finishing a project, which we have found to work best when additional parties are invested. If you feel the project minimums are unachievable for your organization but you can provide empirical data showing strong community support, please include that information in your application.

What is the timeframe for projects? 

The minimum timeframe for projects is 4 months, though most projects take 5 to 6 months to complete. Projects that take longer than 6 months due to delays from the client incur an extraordinary fee.

What is the time commitment required from our staff? 

On average, website clients can expect their staff to dedicate 10 labor hours each week in order to make adequate progress. The amount of time required from your staff members depends on how much they split up the work and how much support your organization has for creating content, writing copy, and accessing hosting and integration information from the other technologies you use. Significant, actionable progress on a project must be made within two weeks of a request from the Project Manager, or your project will be placed on hold.

Fund for Community Good

With our Fund for Community Good (unrestricted) and field of interest fund assets, we seek out and respond to requests for resources from partners who share our commitment to becoming actively anti-racist.

Systemic and institutional racism is present in every issue our community faces. Thanks to the generosity of donor partners, we continue to provide financial support across a broad spectrum including education, the environment, health, the arts and social engagement, neighborhoods and economic prosperity.

In all instances, we continuously assess how we work and with whom we partner, in order to dismantle barriers to equity and justice.

Funding Priorities

Education

We strive for equitable educational attainment when race, ethnicity, and first generation status are not predictive of post-secondary enrollment, persistence, and degree or credential attainment.

Health

We invest in culturally effective solutions that lead to equitable health outcomes and well-being.

Neighborhoods

We seek to create greater access to housing prosperity for all who call Kent County home. We invest in the production and preservation of equitable, stable, quality, affordable housing in historically under-resourced neighborhoods.

Arts + Culture Engagement

We invest in opportunities that seek to sustain arts and cultural opportunities to advance equity and are led by or primarily reach communities of color. We also invest in leaders and networks that inspire, grow and connect movements aimed at advancing equity.

Economic Prosperity

We invest in workforce development that results in sustainable, living wage jobs with competitive benefits. We also seek to increase access to capital and opportunities for historically under-resourced entrepreneurs.

Environment

We invest in efforts led by those most affected by environmental injustice and that ensure equitable environmental benefit.

Hearst Foundations' Mission

The Hearst Foundations identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and inspiring lives.

Hearst Foundations' Goals

The Foundations seek to achieve their mission by funding approaches that result in:

• Improved health and quality of life
• Access to high quality educational options to promote increased academic achievement
• Arts and sciences serving as a cornerstone of society
• Sustainable employment and productive career paths for adults
• Stabilizing and supporting families

Funding Priorities

The Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of interests – culture, education, health and social service – and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.

Culture

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those which enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent.

Types of Support: Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Education

The Hearst Foundations fund educational institutions demonstrating uncommon success in preparing students to thrive in a global society. The Foundations’ focus is largely on higher education, but they also fund innovative models of early childhood and K-12 education, as well as professional development.

Types of Support: Program, scholarship, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Health

The Hearst Foundations assist leading regional hospitals, medical centers and specialized medical institutions providing access to high-quality healthcare for low-income populations. In response to the shortage of healthcare professionals necessary to meet the country’s evolving needs, the Foundations also fund programs designed to enhance skills and increase the number of practitioners and educators across roles in healthcare. Because the Foundations seek to use their funds to create a broad and enduring impact on the nation’s health, support for medical research and the development of young investigators is also considered.

Types of Support: Program, capital and, on a limited basis, endowment support

Social Service

The Hearst Foundations fund direct-service organizations that tackle the roots of chronic poverty by applying effective solutions to the most challenging social and economic problems. The Foundations prioritize supporting programs that have proven successful in facilitating economic independence and in strengthening families. Preference is also given to programs with the potential to scale productive practices in order to reach more people in need.

Types of Support: Program, capital and general support

Background

Decolonizing Wealth Project is an Indigenous and Black-led racial justice organization that envisions a world where racial equity has become a societal norm – where new systems ensure everyone can live their best lives, thrive in their cultures, and heal from generations of colonial trauma. Our work aims to disrupt the existing systems of moving and controlling capital by offering truth, reconciliation, and healing from the ails of colonization through education, radical reparative giving, and narrative change.

Last year, through our fund, Liberated Capital, we announced the redistribution of $1.7M to our inaugural cohort of 23 #Case4Reparations grantee partners to support movement-building & advocacy efforts to advance reparations in the U.S. This first-of-its-kind funding initiative aims to fuel and amplify movement building & campaigns efforts to achieve reparations where wealth (money or land) can be redistributed by institutions and/or governments to Black & Native American communities in the U.S.

#Case4Reparations is a multi-year, multi-million dollar initiative, and we are excited to announce an additional $2 million funding opportunity for both current #Case4Reparations grantee partners and new organizations, supporting systemic and policy change efforts in service of reparations.

Why Reparations?

The United States was built on a history and practice of enslavement, genocide, and extraction of and from Indigenous peoples and African descendants - resulting in more than 400 years of policies and procedures that fueled economic extraction and systemic violence in Indigenous and Black communities.

In 2020, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) reintroduced legislation to fund the first commission to study and develop proposals for providing reparations to African Americans. The bill was reintroduced in 2021 (as it has been at every congressional session since 1989) and is gaining traction with national support from leaders. This year, the momentum has continued with the legislation nearing the required House votes to pass through to the Senate and pressure building for President Biden to sign an Executive Order. There are also a number of reparative efforts underway to address the historical and ongoing theft and control of land that has led to the extreme concentration of wealth among a small group of people that exists today.

Because of the effectiveness of social movements over the past few years – coupled with the successful philanthropic organizing of Decolonizing Wealth Project – we are seeing new opportunities to unearth, support, and scale efforts to actualize reparations for Black and Indigenous peoples.

To support this progress, Liberated Capital will provide untethered resources to support organizing and advocacy for community-driven reparations efforts that will help build the case for local, regional, and national policy opportunities that will inform ways wealth can be redistributed by institutions and/or governments.

This funding opportunity aims to source both the spaces and places where reparations campaigns are taking hold, provide vital funding to fuel their efforts, and utilize our platform as a reparations fund and field disruptor to document and share this reparations movement ecosystem with our network of national philanthropic institutions and donors. The spirit of reparations is that those who hold the bulk of ill-gotten resources and influence (including philanthropy) must hold responsibility for repairing the harms done.

The Challenge

Good health is the foundation of a thriving community. Yet not everyone in America is afforded the opportunity to achieve their optimal level of health, due to systems, policies, and practices grounded in racism that create and perpetuate inequities.

BUILD seeks to support communities in their efforts to advance health equity—to ensure that no one is disadvantaged from achieving their full health potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.

The Award

With a specific focus on strengthening cross-sector and community-driven partnerships, BUILD awards are designed to support collaborations ready to put Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, Data-Driven plans into action. Organizations jointly applying for a BUILD award should have a strong track record of working together; have developed their joint priorities and implementation plans with strong levels of community engagement and leadership; and be primed to advance equitable systems-level changes in their community.

For this fourth cohort, BUILD is looking to support up to 19 innovative community collaboratives that include a: 1) community-based organization, 2) hospital/health system and/or health plan, 3) public health department, and 4) residents, who are all working together in dynamic ways to address upstream challenges and drive sustainable improvements in community health. Inclusion of additional cross-sector partners such as businesses, universities, foundations, and others that are aligned with proposed efforts are encouraged.

Each award will include:

• Up to $300,000 in funding over three years
• A robust array of coaching and support services
• Specialized trainings and capacity building opportunities
• Participation in a national network of peers engaged in similar work
• Opportunity to spotlight your local work on a national level

About The BUILD Health Challenge Awards

The BUILD Health Challenge’s mission is to contribute to the development of a new norm in the U.S.: one that puts multi-sector, community-driven partnerships at the center of health in order to reduce health disparities caused by systemic or social inequity.

With a specific focus on strengthening partnerships between community-based organizations, hospitals and health systems, local health departments, and others, The BUILD Health Challenge awards are designed to support collaborations ready to put Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, Data-Driven (see below descriptors) plans into action. Organizations jointly applying for The BUILD Health Challenge award should have a strong track record of working together; have developed their joint priorities and implementation plans with strong levels of community engagement and leadership; and be primed to advance equitable systems-level changes in their community.

This effort is grounded in the following principles and rooted in health equity:

• BOLD: Aspire toward a fundamental shift beyond short-term programmatic work to longer-term influences over policy, regulation, and systems-level change.
• UPSTREAM: Focus on the social, environmental, and economic factors that have the greatest influence on the health of your community and produce more equitable outcomes, rather than on access or care delivery.
• INTEGRATED: Align the practices and perspectives of communities, health systems, and public health under a shared vision, establishing new roles while continuing to draw upon the strengths and diversity of each partner.
• LOCAL: Engage neighborhood residents and community leaders as key voices and thought leaders throughout all stages of planning and implementation, with a particular focus on populations most affected by health disparities and inequities.
• DATA- DRIVEN: Use data from both clinical and community sources as a tool to: disaggregate data to identify inequities and understand areas of highest need, measure meaningful change, facilitate transparency among stakeholders, and generate actionable insights.

What Outcomes Are Expected? 

The BUILD Health Challenge aims to place multi-sector, community-driven partnerships at the center of promoting health equity. To do so requires a concerted effort to shift the systems that affect upstream, social determinants of health. We recognize that this type of change is a long-term proposition and nuanced, and it also requires a laser-like focus on this shift as a specific goal. Competitive projects should articulate how their activities will result in systems changes that will ultimately improve health outcomes. 

NOTE: AN optional, one-page letter of intent may be submitted by the above deadline.

Purpose

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) works to build a Culture of Health that ensures everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be healthy by removing obstacles such as poverty and discrimination, providing access to quality education, good jobs with fair pay, affordable housing, safe environments, and effective health care. The historical and contemporary manifestations of systemic racism and injustice play powerful roles in sustaining obstacles to health, transmitting them across generations, and making them resistant to remedies. Social determinants of health such as those related to housing instability, food insecurity, social isolation, financial strain, and interpersonal violence remain dominant causes of preventable disease and injury.

Systems for Action (S4A) is a signature research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that helps to build the evidence base for a Culture of Health by rigorously testing new ways of connecting the nation’s fragmented medical, social, and public health systems. New strategies and tools are needed to help medical, social, and public health systems work together to dismantle structural racism and improve health and well-being for all.

S4A studies a variety of novel approaches for aligning systems, using rigorous scientific methods to determine their impact on health and health equity. This 2022 call for proposals (CFP) will provide funding for a new cohort of research studies to produce new, actionable evidence about how to help medical, social, and public health systems collaborate to address structural barriers to health and health equity, including racism and the social conditions that impact health.

Categories:

The full proposal application deadline for both award categories is listed above. Applicants must read the descriptions below to determine which award category (Development Studies or Impact Studies) they will apply for, and apply only to that specific award category:

• Developmental Studies: This award will support pilot testing of the proposed systems alignment approach in order to examine its feasibility and acceptability for actors in the relevant medical, social, and public health systems, and its potential to dismantle forms of structural racism and inequity embedded within these systems. This award category is for applicants who have not previously completed a pilot study of their proposed systems alignment approach and do not yet have preliminary evidence about the feasibility of implementing the approach and the feasibility of related research strategies. The pilot studies supported by this award should also test the feasibility of key research strategies to be used, including issues related to participant recruitment and retention, data exchange and linkage, measurement strategies, and random assignment or other statistical control methods if applicable. This award will provide up to $100,000 in total funding to be used over a 12-month period to pilot test the proposed system alignment approach. After completing a successful pilot study under this award category, applicants will be well-positioned to pursue subsequent studies of the impact of their proposed system alignment approach, either by applying to a future call for S4A Impact Studies or by applying to other research funding opportunities.

• Impact Studies: This award will support studies that examine the impact of the proposed system alignment strategy on relevant measures of health and health equity, with a focus on understanding the strategy’s success or failure in dismantling forms of structural racism and inequity embedded within systems. This award will provide up to $500,000 in total funding to be used over a 36-month period to study the impact of the proposed system alignment approach on relevant measures of health and health equity. This award category is open only to applicants who have completed a pilot study of their proposed system alignment approach and can provide results that confirm the feasibility of the approach and its acceptability to key actors within the relevant medical, social, and public health systems. Applicants must provide documentation of pilot test results as part of their application, which may include a publication, report, working paper, or research brief. If the pilot test study was completed by an organization other than the applicant organization or a partnering organization, applicants must explain how their organization will ensure that it has the necessary knowledge, experience, community relationships, and trust to replicate the results of the pilot test.

AARP Community Challenge

The AARP Community Challenge provides small grants to fund quick-action projects that can help communities become more livable for people of all ages. In 2023, the AARP Community Challenge is accepting applications across three different grant opportunities, two of which are new this year.

Flagship Grants

The flagship AARP Community Challenge grants have ranged from several hundred dollars for smaller, short-term activities to tens of thousands of dollars for larger projects. Since 2017, AARP has funded projects ranging from $500 to $50,000 with an average grant amount of $11,900 (83 percent of grants have been under $20,000.) AARP reserves the right to award compelling projects of any dollar amount.

We are accepting applications for projects that benefit residents — especially those age 50 and older. Projects can:

• Create vibrant public places that improve open spaces, parks and access to other amenities
• Deliver a range of transportation and mobility options that increase connectivity, walkability, bikeability, and access to public and private transit
• Support housing options that increases the availability of accessible and affordable choices
• Ensure a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion while improving the built and social environment of a community;
• Increase digital connections by expanding high-speed internet and enhancing digital literacy skills of residents
• Support community resilience through investments that improve disaster management, preparedness and mitigation for residents
• Increase civic engagement with innovative and tangible projects that bring residents and local leaders together to address challenges and facilitate a greater sense of inclusion
• Improve community health and economic empowerment in support of financial well-being and improved health outcomes

NEW! Capacity-Building Microgrants

By combining $2,500 grants with additional resources — such as webinars, AARP Livable Communities publications, cohort learning opportunities and/or up to two hours of one-on-one coaching with leading national organizations — this new grant opportunity will benefit residents (especially those age 50 or older) in the following categories:

• Walkability: Implement a walk audit to assess and enhance the safety and walkability of a street or neighborhood with support from America Walks, using the AARP Walk Audit Tool Kit.
• Community Gardens: Start or enhance a community garden with support from 880 Cities, using the new AARP publication Creating Community Gardens for People of All Ages.

NEW! Demonstration Grants

By supporting demonstration efforts that encourage the replication of promising local efforts, this new grant opportunity will benefit residents (especially those age 50 and older) by:

• Advancing solutions that build capacity towards transportation systems change. This opportunity for grant funding of approximately $30,000 to $50,000 per project is sponsored by Toyota Motor North America.
• Implementing accessory dwelling unit (ADU) design competitions that increase public understanding of this housing option and encourage the implementation of ADU supportive policies. This opportunity for grant funding will provide approximately $10,000 to $15,000 per project.