Best Community Development Grants in Africa

The Big G Charitable Foundation, founded in 2009 by Mike Galesi, is dedicated to supporting environmental conservation and emergency relief efforts. Inspired by his father, John (Big G), Mike's commitment to helping others drives the foundation's mission to protect the defenseless and promote sustainability. Through grants, the foundation aids qualified non-profit organizations focused on these critical areas, ensuring that both our planet and those in crisis receive the support they need.

The Creag Foundation, established in 2009 in Woodinville, Washington, provides funding to innovative 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations addressing social issues. Focused on smaller organizations, the foundation seeks to support those with unique approaches to improve the human condition. Eligible applicants must have held 501(c)(3) status for at least one year and present a new or previously unaddressed solution to societal challenges. Applications are by invitation only, encouraging creativity and passion in charitable work.

The DanPaul Foundation aims to enhance early childhood development by training teachers and parents, protecting children from abuse, and promoting social responsibility. They provide grants to non-profits for programs that focus on education, health, and welfare of youth. Key initiatives include scholarships, environmental education, and support for underprivileged children. Grant amounts range from a few hundred dollars to $15,000 annually, with a focus on impactful, community-driven projects.

The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation provides grants to early-stage social entrepreneurs working on scalable solutions to pressing social and environmental issues. By supporting organizations with innovative approaches and proven impact, they aim to uplift underserved communities globally. The foundation offers operational support, funding of up to $300,000 over three years, and fosters a collaborative community among its portfolio organizations. They focus on candidates demonstrating measurable impact and sustainable growth potential.

The Global Impact Cash Grants by Cisco Systems Foundation support innovative early-stage solutions aimed at addressing significant social problems. Targeting nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, these grants focus on four key sectors: crisis response, education, economic empowerment, and climate regeneration. Eligible organizations must demonstrate alignment with these areas, particularly serving underserved communities. The foundation seeks to leverage technology for impactful solutions, ensuring sustainability and community resilience through strategic investments.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation provides grants to organizations focused on improving the lives of children in urban poverty in the U.S., India, and South Africa. They prioritize projects in education, health, and family economic stability. Grants typically do not exceed 25% of a project's budget or 10% of an organization's annual expenses. The foundation seeks to partner with organizations already making an impact, ensuring funding supports impactful social enterprises.

The One by One Program Grant, offered by 4Imprint, provides support to organizations making a difference in their communities. Each business day, three selected organizations receive $500 in promotional products to aid their efforts. Eligible applicants include 501(c)3 charities, religious organizations, and accredited schools. Applications must be submitted two months prior to the event, and organizations can apply only once every 12 months. This initiative embodies a commitment to small, impactful contributions.

The RNP Foundation Grant focuses on enhancing the well-being of underserved communities through education, nutrition, housing, and environmental care. The foundation seeks partnerships with like-minded nonprofits to collaboratively address issues such as homelessness and promote spiritual growth. With a commitment to sustainable development, the RNP Foundation aims to create lasting happiness and security for all individuals, ensuring that basic needs are met before fostering personal and communal spirituality.

Roche Corporate Donations and Philanthropy (CDP) focuses on impactful projects that foster sustainable development, engage employees, and leverage Roche's expertise. Their philanthropic efforts prioritize humanitarian, educational, environmental, and cultural initiatives, aiming to build stronger communities and support innovative projects. Eligibility is limited to local organizations, while ineligible projects include those with political or religious ties. The foundation strives to create a positive societal impact through collaboration and strategic partnerships.

The Sachs Family Foundation Grant aims to enhance the quality of life for economically and educationally disadvantaged individuals and families. The Foundation supports self-sustaining charitable organizations focusing on economic and educational opportunities, particularly in low-income communities in the U.S. and developing countries. Grants are available for various initiatives, including education, housing, and job training, with a keen interest in programs that demonstrate clear potential for sustainability.

Save the Rhino International (SRI) Grant aims to protect critically endangered rhinos through strategic funding and collaboration. With a focus on key populations like black, Sumatran, and Javan rhinos, SRI emphasizes law enforcement, biological management, and stopping illegal markets. They support field programs that meet specific eligibility criteria and prioritize sustainable financing mechanisms. SRI's efforts aim for the long-term recovery of these species, ensuring their survival and promoting international awareness and support for rhino conservation.

The Semnani Family Foundation, established in 1993, is dedicated to supporting marginalized communities worldwide through health, education, and disaster relief initiatives. Founded by Khosrow and Ghazaleh Semnani, it began by funding an orphanage in Romania. The foundation also operates locally, providing free healthcare through the Maliheh Free Clinic in Utah. Its commitment to human welfare drives impactful partnerships in countries such as Afghanistan, India, and South Africa, focusing on the most vulnerable populations.

The Skees Family Foundation offers mission-aligned Seed Grants to nonprofits focused on job creation and readiness, primarily outside the U.S. These grants, beginning at $2,500 and increasing over three years, aim to support organizations with annual budgets of $250,000 or less. By prioritizing international efforts, the foundation seeks to maximize the impact of its limited resources, fostering growth in community-based organizations dedicated to alleviating poverty and promoting economic development globally.

 

Skees Family Foundation

The Skees Family Foundation, a 501(c)3 private charitable foundation (EIN#83-0411607), works with nonprofits (NPOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) serving families in need around the world.

The Skees Family Foundation — family helping families — extends self-help to youth and families to end poverty worldwide. We support organizations in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Central and South America, India, and the Pacific to promote job creation and economic development. We value love in action to create equal opportunity for all. And as a diverse multigenerational group with limited time and funds, we believe that we — and you — can change the world for good.

Mission: Skees Family Foundation works to end global poverty by partnering with community-based organizations to create fulfilling jobs and build job readiness through vocational or entrepreneurial training.

How We’re Different

We approach grantmaking in ways that differ from many funders, in ways intended to minimize the power imbalance between nonprofits and funders:

• No Restrictions: Unrestricted funding shows trust and respect for our partners. They know where the money is most needed, and we don’t have the burden of keeping track of specific projects.
• No Applications: All the information we need is found through our own research. This helps us keep our workload lighter by not having to go through hundreds of applications, and it provides our new partners a welcome surprise, with infinite return on investment. 
• Limited Reporting: We have calls once a year with our partners to discuss how they’re doing and their plans for the future. We don’t ask for written reports – we talk to our partners and create enduring relationships. 
• Multi-Year Grants: Two to six-year grants give us the opportunity to build relationships with our partners and for them to have the security of longer-term funding.
• Storytelling Assistance: Through our Seeds of Hope blog and the My Job social mission project, we tell the stories of our partners. We get to shine a light on their work, and they get a bit of free promotion!
• Funding Channels: Our partners are often challenged in finding their next level of funding. In response, we are creating a network of funders to help guide our partners toward their next grant. We can pass on our knowledge about individual organizations, as well as receive recommendations from other funders, saving everyone a lot of time.
• Direct Impact Investments: For many of our partners, the ability to scale rests on access to capital, and we often maintain relationships through direct impact investments. This allows us to stay in touch with our partners and invest in someone we trust, while giving them access to affordable debt and a reasonable return to the Skees corpus.
• 100% ESG Market Investments: Beyond impact investments, the remaining majority of the corpus is invested with an Environmental Social Governance screen, ensuring our corpus is working for good. This helps us increase our impact substantially while avoiding investments that are working in contradiction with our mission, all while maintaining strong returns to support our grantmaking.

Mission-Aligned Grantmaking

Our mission-aligned grants are focused on organizations whose primary work is outside of the United States. We do this for two reasons:

• Given our relatively small grantmaking budget, funding international programs allows each dollar to go further than it would in the U.S, enabling our foundation to have greater impact with our limited resources.
• We support organizations without geographic limitations through our discretionary board and family grants, both in the U.S. and abroad, that our family members are connected to and passionate about.

These grants are typically distributed every three years, and go out at the start of the new year.

Catalyst Grants

Catalyst Grants are three-year grants, distributing $25,000 in year one, $15,000 in year two and $10,000 in year three. These grants are for organizations that have demonstrated some success with their models and are ready to work at a broader level by scaling or deepening their programs. Catalyst Grants are focused on organizations with an annual budget of less than $500,000, but groups with budgets of up to $1 million are eligible.

It is our hope that Catalyst Grants truly serve as a catalyst for organizations ready to scale, which our foundation views as critical to long-term change. Although the funds are for general operating expenses, we encourage these organizations to invest in expanding and deepening their programs in a self-sustaining way.

By allocating a large proportion of our annual grantmaking budget to a few nonprofits through our Catalyst Grants, we aim to have a more meaningful impact on our Catalyst partner organizations and the issue areas in which they work. 

The Audacious Project Grant Program, supported by TED, aims to catalyze social impact by funding bold solutions to pressing global challenges. This initiative encourages changemakers to develop transformative ideas into actionable plans, with a focus on various issues, including health and education. The program operates on a rolling basis, welcoming applications from individuals and organizations with a proven track record and a budget of at least $2 million. Join us in creating lasting change for a better world.

The Global Commons Alliance's Accountability Accelerator Grant supports early-stage projects that foster accountability in corporate actions related to nature. With grants ranging from USD 50,000 to 100,000, the initiative focuses on critical areas such as data standards, finance, and legal frameworks. Emphasizing local impacts, the program encourages proposals that address urgent needs and leverage collaboration. It prioritizes Indigenous and local communities, aiming for at least half of its funding to reach those most affected by environmental challenges.

The World Land Trust Grant focuses on supporting projects that protect biodiversity and ecosystems, primarily in the Global South. The grant prioritizes sustainable conservation activities such as land acquisition and habitat restoration. While aimed at NGOs, it may also support other organizations that can effectively contribute to conservation. Current priorities include projects in Asia, West Africa, and North Africa, with an emphasis on exceptional conservation value.

The Conservation, Food & Health Foundation Grant Program aims to enhance public health, food security, and environmental conservation in underfunded regions across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East. It supports innovative projects and applied research that promote local solutions, leadership development, and community capacity building. With grants typically ranging from $25,000 to $50,000, the program prioritizes initiatives that foster sustainability, replication, and systemic change beyond immediate project goals.

The Dr. Scholl Foundation offers grants annually to IRS 501(c)(3) organizations, primarily focusing on U.S. applicants. The foundation supports projects in education, social services, healthcare, civic and cultural initiatives, and environmental efforts. While the grant cycle runs from October 1 to March 1, it encourages innovative solutions to global challenges. Only one application per organization is accepted each year, and funding is limited to one year. Unqualified organizations, including political entities, are ineligible.

NextWorldNow Community Investments aims to enhance community well-being through targeted funding for development projects. By supporting local initiatives, they ensure measurable social impact while fostering sustainable solutions. Their approach prioritizes direct engagement with communities, minimizing overhead to maximize the flow of resources. With a commitment to accountability and innovation, NWN invites proposals from diverse geographies, focused on long-term benefits for the communities. They believe small changes can lead to significant transformations, addressing unmet global needs.

The Wikimedia Foundation General Support Fund empowers organizations and volunteers to enhance free knowledge globally. It supports diverse projects that align with Wikimedia's mission, focusing on knowledge equity and regional engagement. Eligible applicants include Wikimedia Movement organizations that dedicate their efforts exclusively to Wikimedia projects. Funding can cover various expenses, including operational and programmatic costs, ensuring sustainable development in underrepresented communities.

The Zimmer Family Foundation provides national and international grants to support religious, educational, and social programs aimed at assisting the less fortunate. Based in Sarasota, Florida, the foundation focuses on seeding short-term pilot projects with potential for self-sustainability. Eligible applicants must be 501(c)(3) IRS Tax exempt organizations, with projects that can be national or international in scope. The foundation does not fund scholarships, capital purchases, or operating support.

The EEP Africa Call for Proposals invites innovative early-stage clean energy projects in Southern and Eastern Africa. The Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund, supported by Nordic Development Fund and various countries, offers financial assistance to enhance clean energy access and development. Eligible applicants must demonstrate innovation, active project development, and local commitment. Grants range from EUR 200,000 to 1,000,000, requiring co-financing of 30-50% of the total project budget. This initiative aims to support sustainable development and job creation.

The International Foundation Grant is aimed at U.S.-based non-profit organizations working in developing countries to enhance health, education, and income levels for impoverished communities. While currently not accepting new applications, the foundation reviews proposals from previously invited organizations. The focus lies on holistic, community-driven projects in sectors such as agriculture, education, environment, and health. Partnerships with local entities are encouraged to ensure sustainable and impactful outcomes.

The Moderna Charitable Foundation, established in 2022, aims to enhance public health and healthcare access while fostering scientific education and inclusion in underserved communities. Their initiatives include grant-making to aligned organizations, supporting humanitarian crises, and employee matching for personal causes. The Foundation focuses on building resilient health ecosystems, advancing STEM education, and addressing systemic barriers in communities, all while committed to addressing the ongoing impact of COVID-19.

The F5 STEM Education and AI Grants for Women and Girls of Color aim to support nonprofit organizations that enhance access to STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups. With a focus on women and girls of color, the grants provide $50,000 in unrestricted funding to organizations with a commitment to increasing representation in the tech sector. Applications from around the world are welcomed, with priority given to those emphasizing AI literacy and tool usage.

The KFAS: Al-Sumait Prize for Health recognizes groundbreaking contributions to food security, health, and education in Africa. This prestigious award, established in honor of Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sumait, seeks nominations for individuals or institutions that have made significant advancements in various fields, including sustainable agriculture and innovative health solutions. The prize aims to celebrate impactful research and initiatives that contribute to the continent's socio-economic development, with nominations open for the 2025 cycle.