Best Quality of Life Grants in Alaska

The Alaska Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Funds aim to enhance the quality of care and life for nursing home residents by reinvesting collected CMPs into various supportive initiatives. These funds facilitate projects like resident relocation, consumer advocacy involvement, and facility improvements, ensuring that nursing homes comply with regulations. Organizations such as advocacy groups, nursing home associations, and state agencies can apply for these funds to drive positive changes in long-term care facilities across Alaska.

The Behavioral Health Mini Grant, administered by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, offers financial support of up to $2,500 to help individuals with mental health needs improve their quality of life. This grant aims to provide essential equipment, supplies, and services for beneficiaries, including those with developmental disabilities and substance-related disorders. Applications are accepted monthly, with a deadline on the 15th, fostering early intervention and prevention efforts in the community.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation's Community Investment Grants aim to enhance community welfare through strategic partnerships with 501(c)(3) non-profits and government entities. The focus areas include workforce development, sustainability, and thriving communities, reflecting the company's commitment to making a measurable impact in regions where they operate. Eligible organizations must be U.S.-based and recognized as non-profits. The foundation prioritizes initiatives that align with its values and community needs, ensuring support for impactful 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 Hearst Foundation's Social Service Grant focuses on tackling chronic poverty by funding direct-service organizations that implement effective solutions for economic independence and family strengthening. With a mission to support diverse nonprofits in the U.S., the Foundation allocates approximately 15% of its total funding to social services, prioritizing scalable programs that serve significant populations. The minimum grant size is $100,000, and special consideration is given to organizations addressing affordable housing, domestic violence, and youth development.

The Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Mini Grant, offered by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, provides financial support of up to $2,500 to agencies on behalf of eligible beneficiaries. This program aims to enhance the quality of life for Alaskans with intellectual and developmental disabilities through essential supplies and services. Applications are accepted monthly, with deadlines on the 15th of each month, ensuring timely assistance for those in need.

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 Richard L. and Diane M. Block Foundation Grant aims to enhance the quality of life for Alaskans through support for social services, arts, culture, and youth empowerment. The foundation prioritizes organizations that provide direct services, address underlying social challenges, and demonstrate financial responsibility. Eligible applicants must be 501(c)(3) non-profits based in Alaska for at least five years, focusing on sustainable solutions. Grants are not available for medical services or organizations that redistribute funds.

The Cowles Charitable Trust Grant supports initiatives aligned with the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. Focused on education, social justice, health, and the arts, it favors organizations recognized as 501(c)(3) by the IRS. The Trust encourages applications for general operating support and seeks partnerships rather than being the sole funder. Notably, it considers applications from established partners and supports efforts in Downstate New York and South Florida, with a preference for diverse funding sources.

The GHCF Annual Grant Program, an initiative of The Alaska Community Foundation, aims to enhance the quality of life in Fairbanks and North Pole by funding projects that address community needs. Grants support diverse areas such as health, education, arts, and community development. Eligible applicants include tax-exempt organizations that can demonstrate collaboration and measurable outcomes. The program prioritizes projects with broad community impact, fostering partnerships for lasting improvements.

The Rasmuson Foundation's RF: Collection Management Fund Grant aims to enhance collections management practices across Alaskan museums and cultural centers. Established in 2013, it supports projects focusing on preservation, cataloguing, and conservation. Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) nonprofits and tribal entities holding collections in public trust. The program encourages collaborative efforts and prioritizes emergency conservation projects, fostering a vibrant cultural landscape in Alaska.

The Sitka Legacy Foundation Competitive Grant Program, an initiative of The Alaska Community Foundation, aims to enhance the quality of life for residents of Sitka and surrounding rural communities. The program supports a diverse range of projects focusing on health and wellness, education, arts and culture, and community development. Priority is given to applications that demonstrate collaboration among organizations and have the potential for broad community impact, ultimately fostering a stronger, more connected community.

The J.W. Couch Foundation Grant focuses on supporting Wildlife Conservation nonprofit organizations that align with their mission of community betterment and environmental protection. The foundation seeks partnerships with organizations that promote animal wellbeing, early childhood education, teacher support, and outdoor activities. Eligible applicants must be registered 501(c)3 nonprofits or for-profit entities aligned with their charitable programs. This grant emphasizes collaboration and community engagement to create lasting impacts.

The Charlotte Martin Foundation's Wildlife and Habitat Program focuses on promoting biodiversity and habitat conservation in the Northwest. It engages communities in addressing climate change impacts while emphasizing the importance of ecosystem resilience. Through collaboration with local organizations, the program aims to restore critical habitats, enhance landscape connectivity, and support underserved populations in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. This initiative recognizes the vital role of community engagement and sustainable practices in protecting wildlife and natural resources.

Welcome to Chugiak Eagle River Foundation

Our Purpose

The purposes of the Foundation are to make lasting improvements to our community and its residents; to foster the tradition of neighbors helping neighbors; and to promote a healthy and productive community. Activities include provide grants to the Chugiak-Eagle River community organizations, educational scholarships, the latter a legacy of the Briggs family. Guiding the Foundation is a commitment to honesty, compassion, respect, and stewardship. By growing our endowments, our community will have the resources to thrive now and forever.

Our Mission

The Chugiak-Eagle River Foundation, an Affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation, is dedicated to improving the quality of life and to address emerging needs in the community of Chugiak/Eagle River, Alaska by providing grants and scholarships from a permanent endowment.

The Lawrence Foundation is a private family foundation established in 2000, dedicated to granting funds for environmental and human services causes. Eligible organizations include 501(c)(3) nonprofits and public schools, with grants typically ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. The foundation supports unrestricted grants for various projects, including disaster relief and environmental programs, but does not fund individuals or for-profit entities. Applications are evaluated based on alignment with the foundation's priorities.

Northrim Bank Grants focus on enhancing community vitality in Alaska. They support nonprofit organizations dedicated to economic development, strengthening low-income families, health and wellness initiatives, and higher education. Their contributions aim to create measurable impacts, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively. Proposals received during the annual budgeting process are prioritized for funding, reinforcing their commitment to local community needs and collaboration with impactful organizations.

The Alaska Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant aims to enhance student learning beyond school hours. With approximately $3.7 million available annually, the program focuses on students from high-poverty schools, fostering academic achievement through community learning centers. These centers provide academic support and enrichment activities, such as STEM, arts, and counseling, while encouraging partnerships with local organizations to improve program quality and sustainability. Grants will be awarded for a five-year period, starting in 2025.

Alaska Community Foundation

The Alaska Community Foundation connects people who care to the causes that make a difference and matter most to them. We encourage and nurture philanthropy through building and managing permanent endowments, convening stakeholders, working with partners to strengthen Alaskan communities, and providing donors with flexible giving options that are strategic to their philanthropic objectives. ACF also manages the Pick.Click.Give. program.

Mission: Inspiring the spirit of giving and connecting people, organizations, and causes to strengthen Alaska’s communities now and forever.

The Alaska Community Foundation runs competitive grant cycles throughout the year that are open to eligible local nonprofits and other organizations serving the public good.

Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP)

The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) is a five-year initiative focused on strengthening rural communities by improving healthcare access, quality, and outcomes by transforming the healthcare delivery ecosystem. Through innovative system-wide change, the RHTP invests in the rural healthcare delivery ecosystem for future generation.

Alaska’s RHTP will advance statewide health system transformation by funding projects that expand access to care, improve health outcomes, strengthen workforce capacity, modernize technology, and advance financially sustainable health care payment models.

Funding will support community-based and system-level projects aimed at improving access, workforce capacity, and care delivery statewide. The program is intentionally structured to promote fair access, a range of approaches, and geographic balance, ensuring that organizations across Alaska, regardless of size, location, or prior funding experience, can participate meaningfully.

The program is administered at the federal level by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and led at the state level by the Alaska Department of Health. The Department of Health serves as the lead for program design, policy direction, funding decisions, and overall stewardship of the initiative.

To move resources to grantees and partners quickly and effectively, the Alaska Community Foundation (ACF) is managing the grant process, facilitating grant review, and providing technical assistance to RHTP grantees.

Program Priorities

RHTP funding supports projects aligned with Alaska’s six RHTP initiatives. A detailed description of the initiatives and potential uses of funds can be found on Alaska’s Department of Health RHTP webpage.

• Healthy Beginnings: strengthens maternal and child health as a foundation for healthy families.
• Health Care Access: expands and sustains essential primary, behavioral, oral, specialty, emergency, home and community-based and post-acute care health services across Alaska’s rural communities.
• Healthy Communities: invests in enhancing access to preventive and primary care services that enable early chronic disease management, expanding the use of consumer-facing digital tools and population health clinical infrastructure, and promoting healthy lifestyles with culturally appropriate community education.
• Pay for Value: Fiscal Sustainability: incentivizes a shift from traditional volume-based reimbursement models to build the long-term financial stability of rural providers through voluntary innovative care and payment models that increase care coordination, lower costs and improve health outcomes.
• Strengthen Workforce: builds a resilient rural health care workforce through pipeline, recruitment, training and retention strategies, alongside wraparound housing and child care supports to help providers remain in rural communities.
• Spark Technology and Innovation: harnesses data and technology to expand the use of consumer wearables and digital devices, enhance telehealth, foster appropriate use of AI, strengthen cybersecurity, facilitate data sharing and system interoperability, and test new delivery modalities using emerging technologies.

RHTP Grant Opportunities

Recognizing the interconnected nature of these priorities, Alaska’s RHTP includes four funding pathways:

• Readiness Grants – early-stage support to address foundational capacity gaps, including planning, feasibility, partnership development, and community engagement.
• Planning Grants - investments to support structured planning and design for clearly defined health system interventions.
• Implementation Grants – will fund projects that are fully prepared to execute and deliver high-impact work with demonstrated feasibility.
• Future Targeted Innovation Grants - which will enable the Department of Health to advance fully developed, high-impact projects. Funding opportunities through this pathway are expected to occur at a later date.

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation’s mission is to provide Alaskans access to safe, quality, affordable housing.

Making mortgages accessible to Alaskans has been at the core of Alaska Housing. Over the years responsibilities of AHFC have expanded to include affordable housing programs, energy efficiency, senior housing and more.

Senior Housing Accessibility Modification Program (Senior Access Program)

NOFA Purpose and General Provisions

Under this Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), Alaska Housing Finance Corporation will provide funding to successful respondents to act as a Grantee under the Senior Housing Accessibility Modification Program (Senior Access Program).

Through this Senior Access Program NOFA, Grantees provide and administer grants for qualifying senior households for the purpose of making needed accessibility modifications and life-safety repairs to their homes.

The Palmer Community Foundation Grant Program, an affiliate of The Alaska Community Foundation, aims to enhance the quality of life for Palmer area residents by supporting diverse community projects. Funded by a growing endowment, the program prioritizes health, education, outdoor activities, arts, and community development. Eligible applicants include tax-exempt organizations and projects must be completed within a year. Preference is given to new applicants with measurable outcomes and broad community impact.

The Kenai Peninsula Foundation Competitive Grant aims to enhance the quality of life for residents of the central Kenai Peninsula. This grant supports diverse community projects focused on health, education, the outdoors, arts, and community development. Priority is given to organizations that have not received funding in 2024. Collaborations with other entities are encouraged to maximize impact across the community. The foundation utilizes its permanent endowment to fund these essential projects.

Alaska Community Foundation

The Alaska Community Foundation connects people who care to the causes that make a difference and matter most to them. We encourage and nurture philanthropy through building and managing permanent endowments, convening stakeholders, working with partners to strengthen Alaskan communities, and providing donors with flexible giving options that are strategic to their philanthropic objectives. ACF also manages the Pick.Click.Give. program.

Sitka Legacy Foundation Grants

As an Affiliate of The Alaska Community Foundation, Sitka Legacy Foundation’s goal is to support projects that enhance the quality of life for residents of Sitka and surrounding rural communities, addressing immediate needs while working toward long-term improvements. 

We use proceeds from our growing permanent endowment to award grants that fund charitable organizations and programs. We seek projects that have the potential to impact a broad range of residents and show collaboration with other organizations.

Sitka Legacy Foundation’s Local Food Security Grant Program

Sitka Legacy Foundation is offering a special, one-time grant opportunity aimed at strengthening food security in our community. A total of $15,000 in funding is available to support projects that increase access to healthy, local food. This opportunity is made possible through a generous double match from the Alaska Community Foundation’s Nourished Communities program. We are accepting applications for projects that support local food security needs and programs in Sitka and Port Alexander.

The O'Reilly Automotive Foundation Grant focuses on enhancing community welfare through philanthropic initiatives that support economic stability, workforce development, health services, and disaster relief. Established in 2020, the Foundation seeks to empower underrepresented individuals and organizations in the U.S. by addressing vital community needs. It particularly aims to provide assistance to nonprofits that foster positive change and improve quality of life for those in need, ensuring a lasting impact in local communities.

The True Inspiration Awards, established by Chick-fil-A in 2015, recognizes nonprofit organizations that significantly impact their communities. In 2025, the program will distribute $6 million in grants, ranging from $30,000 to $350,000, to sixteen selected organizations. Categories include Caring for People, Caring through Food, Community, and Caring for our Planet, with a focus on educational initiatives, food security, housing services, and environmental stewardship, honoring the legacy of founder S. Truett Cathy.

The Douglas-Dornan Fund Grant, established in honor of Brian Douglas and Wythe Dornan, aims to enhance the health, education, and welfare of individuals in Southeast Alaska. Grants support 501(c)(3) organizations, childcare institutions, and programs that benefit children, youth, and elders. The foundation prioritizes organizations that demonstrate need for services or training, while excluding personal development grants. Through community involvement, this fund fosters a supportive environment for diverse groups in the region.

The Jessica Stevens Community Foundation: Healthy Communities Grant aims to enhance the quality of life for residents in the northern Susitna Valley. It provides funding for projects in arts, healthcare, education, social engagement, recreation, and the environment. Eligible organizations include 501(c)(3) nonprofits, faith-based groups, and local governments. Collaboration among organizations is encouraged, with a focus on projects that can make a broad impact on the community.