Search Through Arts Grants for Nonprofits in Rhode Island in the U.S.

Background

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation seeks to dramatically improve the lives of underserved communities across the globe by supporting scalable, innovative, and impact-first solutions that leverage existing systems and stakeholders. Our goal is to find social entrepreneurs with dynamic products or services that have a proven ability to positively impact the lives of underserved people, and nurture those organizations at the early stages by providing capacity, capital, and community.

Our application process is designed to be open and accessible, and we accept applications year round from across our priority geographies and sectors. Borrowing from our venture capital legacy, we find exceptional entrepreneurs and provide them with: 

Capacity

• The core of DRK’s model is deep and extensive operational and technical support for each portfolio organization, both through dedicated hands-on Board service and specialist capacity-building resources for fundraising, board and organizational development, leadership, financial support, and scaling strategy,

Capital

• DRK provides up to $300,000 USD in either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital over a three-year period, and

Community

• DRK convenes our portfolio and alumni annually, facilitating connections and community. 

What We Fund

DRK Foundation funds early-stage social impact organizations solving the world’s biggest social and environmental problems using bold, scalable approaches.

What stage of growth does DRK Foundation typically fund?

Early stage: Organizations who are early stage, which we define as post-pilot and pre-scale. This typically means: 

• Your program, product or service is already being used in the market or in the field, 
• You have early indication that your model is having its intended impact on the beneficiary populations,
• Your organization is relatively young (ideally between two and five years old, although we will consider both younger and older organizations).

Venture funding: In the case of for profits, we typically support Seed to Series A organizations, and never lead rounds; we also generally but not exclusively refrain from participating in financings exceeding a $15M USD post-money valuation.  

Global Impact Cash Grants

Cisco welcomes applications for Global Impact Cash Grants from community partners around the world who share our vision and offer an innovative approach to a critical social challenge.

We identify, incubate, and develop innovative solutions with the most impact. Global Impact Cash Grants go to nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that address a significant social problem. We’re looking for programs that fit within our investment areas, serve the underserved, and leverage technology to improve the reach and efficiency of services. We accept applications year-round from eligible organizations. An initial information form is used to determine whether your organization will be invited to complete a full application.

Social Investment Areas

At Cisco, we make social investments in three areas where we believe our technology and our people can make the biggest impact—education, economic empowerment, and crisis response, the last of which incorporates shelter, water, food, and disaster relief. Together, these investment areas help people overcome barriers of poverty and inequality, and make a lasting difference by fostering strong global communities.

Education Investments

Our strategy is to inclusively invest in technology-based solutions that increase equitable access to education while improving student performance, engagement, and career exploration. We support K-12 solutions that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as well as literacy. We also consider programs that teach environmental sustainability, eliminate barriers to accessing climate change education, and invite student engagement globally to positively affect the environment.

What we look for:

• Innovative early grade solutions using the internet and technology to bridge the barriers preventing access to education for underserved students globally.
• Solutions that positively affect student attendance, attitudes, and behavior while inspiring action by students to improve learning outcomes, whether they participate in person, online, or in blended learning environments. 
• Solutions with high potential to replicate and scale globally, thereby increasing the availability of evidence-based solutions that support student-centricity, teacher capacity in the classroom, and increased parental participation to help students learn and develop.

Economic Empowerment

Our strategy is to invest in early stage, tech-enabled solutions that provide equitable access to the knowledge, skills, and resources that people need to support themselves and their families toward resilience, independence, and economic security.

Our goal is to support solutions that benefit individuals and families, and that contribute to local community growth and economic development in a sustainable economy.

We target our support in three interconnected areas:

• Skills development to help job seekers secure dignified employment and long-term career pathways in technology or other sectors, including environmental sustainability/green jobs.
• Inclusive entrepreneurship with small businesses as engines of local growth as well as high growth potential start-ups as large-scale job creators nationally and internationally, in technology or other sectors, including environment sustainability/green businesses.
• Banking the unbanked through relevant and affordable financial products and capacity building services.

Cisco Crisis Response

We seek to help overcome the cycle of poverty and dependence and achieve a more sustainable future through strategic investments. We back organizations that successfully address critical needs of underserved communities, because those who have their basic needs met are better equipped to learn and thrive.

What we look for:

• Innovative solutions that increase the capacity of grantees to deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently
• Design and implementation of web-based tools that increase the availability of, or improve access to, products and services that are necessary for people to survive and thrive
• Programs that increase access to clean water, food, shelter, or disaster relief and promote a more sustainable future for all
  • By policy, relief campaigns respond to significant natural disaster and humanitarian crises as opposed to those caused by human conflict. Also by policy, our investments in this area do not include healthcare solutions.

Climate Impact

Our strategy is to invest US$100 million in Cisco Foundation funds over the next decade to help reverse the impact of climate change, working toward a sustainable and regenerative future for all.

The commitment includes both grant and impact investment funding for early-stage climate innovation. Both categories of support will be focused on bold climate solutions, and the grants side will also concentrate on community education and activation. Grants will go to exceptionally aligned nonprofit organizations, while impact investments will go to highly promising for-profit solutions through the private sector and climate impact funds.

Funding comes from the Cisco Foundation and will focus on:

• Identifying bold and innovative solutions that:
  • Draw down the carbon already in the atmosphere
  • Regenerate depleted ecosystems and broadly support the transition to a regenerative future
• Developing curricular initiatives to spur community engagement that can lead to measurable behavioral change and collective action

We will prioritize organizations that can achieve, measure, and report outcomes such as:

• Reduction, capture, and/or sequestering of greenhouse gas and carbon emissions
• Increased energy efficiency and improved mapping and management of natural resources, such as ecosystem restoration, forest treatments, reforestation, and afforestation that also will help repair our water cycles
• Transition to inclusive, just, coliberatory, and regenerative operating models, ways of being, and ways of organizing economies
• Creation of, and increase in, access to green jobs and job training
• Changes in community and individual behavior that lead to carbon footprint reduction, community climate resilience, and localized roadmaps to a sustainable shared climate future for all

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation only accepts unsolicited proposals for specific areas within the education, family economic stability and childhood health sectors in select countries where we work, namely the United States, India and South Africa.

As a guideline, the foundation does not fund more than 25% of a project’s budget or more than 10% of an organization’s total annual operating expenses.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has always recognized the power of providing grants to partner organizations that we knew were already working hard to improve the lives of urban children living in poverty. By aligning with organizations that are already making a difference, we continue to make an immediate impact on the lives of thousands of children.

Foundation priorities:

We fund social enterprises that directly serve or impact children or youth from urban low-income communities in the areas of education, health, and family economic stability (including livelihoods and financial inclusion). These social enterprises may be structured as for-profit or nonprofit entities.

Partnerships

We collaborate with a range of organizations focused on creating opportunities for children and families living in urban poverty, with a deep emphasis on measuring impact. Our funding advances projects already making an impact in education, health, and family economic stability. Through these enduring and long-standing partnerships, we create lasting change together.

Mission

Driven by a philanthropic calling to support marginalized communities throughout the world, the Semnani Family Foundation partners with on-the-ground organizations and leverages its resources in a cost-effective and efficient manner that delivers the maximum benefit.

History

Guided by his grandmother Maliheh’s example and teachings, Khosrow Semnani and his wife Ghazaleh established the Semnani Family Foundation in 1993. The foundation’s first grant was issued through CARE International to an orphanage in Romania that cared for newborns affected by HIV. Over the last few decades, the foundation has continued to build upon its mission to empower the disaffected, partnering with a variety of organizations in different countries who can make the greatest impact.

In addition to its global influence, the Semnani Family Foundation established roots within the state of Utah with the founding of Maliheh Free Clinic in 2005 to provide free healthcare to thousands of uninsured people in the Salt Lake City area.

Where We Work

The Semnani Family Foundation focuses primarily on promoting health, education, and disaster relief for marginalized communities all around the world. Driven by a clear mission to adapt and serve at the global level, we have leveraged our resources to make a meaningful impact in the following countries so far:

• Afghanistan
• Bosnia
• Colombia
• England
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Guatemala
• India
• Iran
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Mexico
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Romania
• Somalia
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Tonga
• Uganda
• United States
• Yemen

At the heart of the Foundation lies a fervent commitment to human welfare, always prioritizing health and the needs of society’s most vulnerable.

The Sidney Stern Memorial Trust is devoted solely to the funding of charitable, scientific, medical and educational organizations.

The Board endeavors to support soundly-managed charitable organizations that give service with a broad scope, have a substantial effect on their target populations, and contribute materially to the general welfare. The Board does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

Helping Build Better Futures

Our mission is to deliver great value to our customers every day. For over four decades, our deep commitment to the principles of providing value and caring for others has helped define our culture. It extends beyond the walls of our stores, distribution centers, and offices, and into our local communities around the world. The intersection of these principles defines our global community mission:

Deliver great value to our communities by helping vulnerable families and children access the resources and opportunities they need to build a better future.

Our Social Impact Areas

We bring our community relations mission to life around the world by focusing our giving on four social impact areas where we believe we can have the most impact and are critical to helping families and children succeed and thrive.

Basic Needs

We are passionate about supporting nonprofit organizations that help fill critical basic needs such as a warm meal, clean clothing, and a safe place to sleep for vulnerable families.

Education & Training

Our efforts have focused on quality enrichment and extracurricular programs that provide skills, resources, and opportunities to support school and career success for children, teens, and young adults.

Patient Care & Research

We support organizations that deliver services to families and children facing health challenges and life-threatening illnesses.

Empowering Women

We support programs that provide services ranging from help for those fleeing domestic violence, to others that offer education, training, and job placement resources.

Our Mission

The Tony Robbins Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of people often forgotten.

We’re dedicated to creating positive changes in the lives of youth, seniors, the hungry, homeless and the imprisoned population, all who need a boost envisioning a happier and deeply satisfying way of life. Our passionate staff, generous donors and caring group of international volunteers provide the vision, inspiration, and resources needed to empower these important members of our society.

Grants

Dedicated to meeting challenges within the global community, creating solutions and taking action, The Tony Robbins Foundation provides monetary donations to various organizations around the world. Funding requests are evaluated on an ongoing basis. We look for organizations that align with our mission to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of those often forgotten.

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

As Rhode Island’s only community foundation, we mobilize generosity and motivate change that makes a difference. Our local roots, state-wide relationships, and century of experience anchor our work, and our hopes for our home reach high.

The 1829 Legacy Fund, formerly the Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund, was established at the Rhode Island Foundation in 2012 with the transfer of assets from the Providence Journal Charitable Foundation which had been awarding grants since 1956.

The Fund supports qualified nonprofit organizations that provide programs and services in the following areas:

• Human services and healthcare, with a focus on the homeless
• Education and youth
• Arts and culture
• Responsible and ethical journalism

Applicants may apply once per calendar year and can expect to receive a funding decision within approximately three months of applying.

About the Foundation

Jesse W. Couch lived a life of zeal, honor, and dedication to the betterment of his community. The Couch family now humbly stewards the foundation he created to carry on his legacy of service for future generations. We believe that impact is best accomplished through partnerships with local organizations that know the people and communities they serve. We invest in and support efforts to protect the environment, further conservation and preservation initiatives, and save historical architecture that preserves community heritage. We also support initiatives that promote wellness and mental health and organizations seeking to provide and further education for all communities.

Annual Grant Focus

Each year, we seek to partner with and support non-profit organizations making an impact in the focus areas listed here.  The focus areas for 2025 are:

• Animal Wellbeing: We are dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations that nurture compassion and respect for all living animals. We must have animal-focused organizations that advocate for animal rights and provide humane treatment across all spectrums.
• Early Childhood Education: We are looking for schools that are providing young children with a creative and balanced approach to education. Things we love in early childhood curriculums:
  • Life Skills
  • Collaboration With Their Peers and Teachers   
  • Having Fun   
  • Montessori Teachings   
  • Project Based Teachings   
  • Diversity   
  • More Time Outside   
  • Less Screen Time
• Teachers: Teachers are essential to providing children with the best possible education. We must invest in their future and are always looking for teams that help them succeed in educating future generations.
• Get Outside: Being outside can improve memory, fight depression, lower blood pressure, and more! We support organizations that facilitate and encourage more outdoor activities that help create healthier communities. 

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

Corporate Contributions

Community involvement and corporate citizenship are an example of Insperity’s mission in action. We are committed to helping the communities where we live and work because together, we know we can make great things happen.

Grants

Philanthropic grants are a strong part of our community outreach and aid institutions needing financial support to meet important service goals.

Event Sponsorship

Fundraising events are an important part of nonprofit support. Insperity provides event sponsorships to approved charities to assist them in meeting their financial and community goals.

Arts in Academics

In 2004, retired Rhode Island art educator Karel Greenblatt Gertsacov endowed the Arts in Academics Fund to support educational projects that integrate art disciplines into other core academic subjects. Successful Arts in Academics projects create collaborations among artists and educators and promote the arts as an integral part of the learning process. 

Grant amounts range from $500 to $1,000. Potential projects might include:

• Collaboration between artist and educator: An architect and a math teacher help students learn about scale by reading and using rulers when building a scale model.

• Field trips: Students take a trip to the zoo to study symmetrical patterns as they relate to mathematics. (Trips may not be for entertainment purposes, but must serve an academic need.)

• Professional training: A teacher attends a workshop or other course in critical/creative problem-solving to expand arts literacy skills and incorporate its principles into other core academic areas. 

The Lawrence Foundation is a private family foundation focused on making grants to support environmental, human services and other causes.

The Lawrence Foundation was established in mid-2000. We make both program and operating grants and do not have any geographical restrictions on our grants. Nonprofit organizations that qualify for public charity status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or other similar organizations are eligible for grants from The Lawrence Foundation.  

Grant Amount and Types

Grants typically range between $5,000 - $10,000. In some limited cases we may make larger grants, but that is typically after we have gotten to know your organization over a period of time. We also generally don’t make multi-year grants, although we may fund the same organization on a year by year basis over a period of years.

General operating or program/project grant requests within our areas of interests are accepted. In general, regardless of whether a grant request is for general operating or program/project expenses, all of our grants will be issued as unrestricted grants.

Centene Charitable Foundation

Successful corporate citizenship happens when companies invest in the local organizations that know their communities best. The Centene Foundation works with our local partners on initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person and community development.

Vision

Centene’s purpose is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. The Centene Foundation is an essential part of how we pursue this purpose. We achieve measurable impact for the communities we serve through partnerships and philanthropy efforts that invest in initiatives with holistic approaches to dismantling barriers to health.

Areas of Focus

Reflecting Centene’s commitment to the needs of those who rely on government-sponsored health care and to addressing social determinants of health and health equity, preference will be given to initiatives in three distinct areas of focus.

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

Our Commitment

​Connecting with our community is an integral part of our company's core values. It is something we act on every day. From volunteering with local organizations to our relationships with community partners, Cox employees are making our community a better place.

Charitable Giving Overview

Since 2001, Cox has invested nearly $8 million in Cox Charities grants and in-kind support to organizations providing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math programming to youth throughout Connecticut, Ohio, and Rhode Island.  

Cox Charities funds organizations that focus on youth education, health services, military and conservation.

Community Grants

Cox Charities Community Grants range between $5,000 and $12,000 and are given each year to deserving non-profit organizations dedicated to STEAM education.

Cox is seeking applications for the 2025 Cox Community Grant Program. This grant supports non-profit organizations focused on:

• Youth innovation programs centered on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math.
• Conservation and sustainability initiatives.
• Inclusion.

Since 2001, Cox has invested nearly $7 million in grants and in-kind support to non-profit organizations providing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) enrichment programs to youth in our service areas of Connecticut, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Cox Charities is funded entirely, by Cox employees and business partners. 

Cox Charities Community Grants range between $5,000 and $12,000 and are given each year to deserving non-profit organizations dedicated to STEAM education.

Recipients will be selected by considering a number of factors, including the following criteria:

• How well the project aligns with the Cox Charities focus area: STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math).
• The overall community impact of the program and a clear explanation of what makes this program unique.
• The ability to define clear metrics for success.

Funding

Cox plans to award nearly $140,000 in grants to nonprofits in our region. Proposals are reviewed by the Cox Charities Community Advisory Committee, comprised of area civic, business, community leaders and Cox employees.

New England States Touring (NEST) funds performances, readings, and screenings of work by regional, national, and international artists presented by New England-based nonprofit organizations.

Program Goals

• Expand direct access to high quality artists and aesthetic diversity for all New England communities by artists from New England, the nation, and across the globe.
• Stimulate opportunities for collaboration and partnerships among New England cultural organizations and between artists and organizations.
• Encourage projects that provide meaningful interaction between artists and communities, extending beyond the stage.

NEST Artists

NEST artists are professional artists from New England who meet the NEST artist requirements. They represent a wide range of disciplines, including dance, folk art, interdisciplinary work, media, music, musical theater, opera, poetry, storytelling, and theater. NEST artists must be available for public performances and must maintain a permanent residence in New England.

About the New England States Touring Grant Program

There are three distinct grant opportunities for New England nonprofit organizations: NEST 1, NEST 2, and NEST 3. Organizations serving rural communities and/or deeply engaging Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities are encouraged to apply.

NEST 1

Funds the public presentation and engagement of a New England artist presented by a New England nonprofit organization based in a different New England state from the artist’s home state. 

NEST 2

Funds the public presentation and community engagement activities of a New England artist presented by two New England nonprofit organizations. Tours must include one presenting organization based inside of the artist’s home state and one other organization from outside of the artist’s home state.

NEST 3

Funds tours, including public presentation and community engagement activities, of regional, national, or international artists presented by New England nonprofit organizations. Tours must include a minimum of three New England organizations in different communities presenting the same artist. The organizations applying must be from at least two different New England states. 

• Each organization is responsible for reviewing the program goals and criteria, negotiating the terms of the engagement with the artist, and completing a NEST 3 application.
• Organizations may submit up to three NEST 3 applications.
• The annual deadline is the first business day of March.
• Grants provide up to 60% of the artist fee to a maximum of $10,000.
  • Applications with artist fees under $2,000 may request the full artist fee.
• New England artists must be listed as NEST-eligible on CreativeGround.
• For non-New England artists, an artist work sample must be submitted by one of the touring partners.
• Grant period: Touring projects must occur between June 1, 2025 - August 31, 2026.

Deadlines

NEST 1 & 2 grant deadlines occur three times a year, as follows:

• First business day of August, for projects beginning on or after November 1.
• First business day of December, for projects beginning on or after March 1.
• First business day of March, for projects beginning on or after June 1.

The annual NEST 3 grant deadline is the first business day of March.   

Ameriprise Financial Grantmaking

At Ameriprise Financial, giving back is deeply rooted in our culture. We’ve initiated positive change in the communities where we live and work for more than 120 years. We believe our community involvement enables us to actively live our values. Through grant making, volunteerism and employee and financial advisor gift matching programs, we support a diverse group of over 6,000 nonprofits across the country.

Focus Areas

Awarding grant dollars to nonprofits is one way we strengthen our communities and help individuals on a path to financial independence. To ensure we're meeting the needs of our communities and making an even greater collective impact, we focus on three key giving areas when awarding grants.

Volunteer engagement is a priority across all focus areas:

The engagement of Ameriprise employees and financial advisors is a critical component of our philanthropy. Whether it’s serving on a nonprofit board, engaging friends, clients and community members in volunteering or providing skills-based support, our relationships with nonprofits go deep. For this reason, we give priority across all focus areas to applications where there is active volunteer engagement of Ameriprise advisors and employees. 

Meeting Basic Needs

At Ameriprise Financial, we help clients achieve financial security and peace of mind. That’s satisfying, meaningful work. We also help the people in our neighborhoods who struggle to meet basic needs such as where their next meal comes from, where they’ll sleep tonight or how they’ll find a higher wage job. We’re here to help them through the three platforms of our Meeting Basic Needs focus area.

Consideration is given to applications addressing the following: 

• Hunger
• Food banks, food shelves and food pantries, daily meal programs or meal services for the homebound
• Hunger-relief programs targeted to meet the special needs of children, ethnic populations or veterans
• Food programs run by nonprofits where hunger is not their sole focus, for example a youth meal program at the YWCA or a backpack program run by a Boys & Girls Club
• Shelter
• Emergency shelter, including youth homelessness
• Transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and efforts to end chronic homelessness
• Housing-first models (programs quickly providing housing and then addressing needed services)
• Achieving and maintaining home ownership, repair and maintenance efforts helping keep seniors, veterans and other populations in their homes 
• Adult Self-Sufficiency: Programs serving adults age 21 and older that help address the following areas:
• Basic hard and soft skills that help adults achieve economic and family stability
• Basic financial and budgeting skills
• Increase employability and wages, including work readiness and job transitions
• Employment of disabled adults

Supporting Community Vitality

We believe communities should be strong, healthy and resilient. We want livable places for all, where neighbors look out for one another, cultural events are well-attended and people pull together in times of crisis and joy. We work to create economic vitality and cultural enrichment through the following areas of focus.

Consideration is given to applications addressing the following: 

• Community Development
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Economic development
• Strengthening and supporting small businesses and nonprofits through technical expertise
• Cultural Enrichment
• Arts education
• Access for underserved populations
• Diverse artists and performances that spark topical community conversations 

Volunteer Driven Causes: Ameriprise employees and financial advisors are outstanding volunteers who serve in teams and also as individuals bringing personal skill-sets to nonprofits. Volunteering is part of the culture at Ameriprise and we are proud to support communities through contributions of both service and financial resources. 

Funding for Volunteer-Driven Causes is determined by current Ameriprise volunteerism. In general, funding is in proportion to the size of the Ameriprise volunteer team supporting a nonprofit. A team may include employees, financial advisors and/or staff or a combination of any Ameriprise volunteers. 

Foundation History

Since 1932, the Foundation has awarded nearly $600 million.

Champlin’s investment in Rhode Island’s nonprofit community for the past nine decades has been almost entirely for capital projects. These investments have enabled better medical care, improved educational outcomes, expanded access to social services, fostered economic impact, conserved open space, preserved historic buildings, cultivated creativity and artistic expression, safeguarded care for animals, and more.

It all started with Stanton B. Champlin. Champlin was only twelve years old when he ran away from his family farm in South Kingstown, RI. It was 1838 and he was shoeless and alone. A grocer on Dorrance Street in Providence took pity on the boy and let him sleep in the back room of his store.

That simple act of kindness started a journey that would span generations and create a legacy of generosity that would improve the lives of untold thousands.

The boy would become a jeweler’s apprentice and years later would establish the S.B. Champlin Company. It would grow beyond jewelry and become an industrial empire that expanded into the manufacturing of aluminum, copper and brass tube, jewelry wire, valves, hand trucks, pipe fittings, and hand pumps.

Through the leadership of Champlin, his son, George Byron Champlin, and grandson, George Stanton Champlin, this vast conglomerate became a powerful economic engine that employed thousands and helped drive the economy of Rhode Island and the nation.

While the businesses were retired, the wealth has remained intact in service of Rhode Island, thanks to the creation of the first of the family’s philanthropic foundations in 1932 by the runaway’s grandchildren.

From the first gift of $50 to Rhode Island Hospital in 1933 to buy eyeglasses for the needy, to the preservation of thousands of acres of open space to the distribution of millions of dollars to support social services—it is humbling to think of how that simple act of kindness by a grocer has been multiplied a million-fold.

We continue to build on this rich tradition today, seeking to work in relationship with Rhode Island’s nonprofits, acting as a convener, a coach, and a facilitator for collective success and engagement. We prioritize listening and learning, especially with those organizations serving marginalized communities. The Champlin story is nearly a century old, yet it continues to evolve in new ways for the betterment of all our Rhode Island communities.

Challenge Grants

Challenge grants that enable organizations to leverage Champlin funding to secure matching donations are considered on a highly limited basis at the discretion of the Distribution Committee.

The foundation supports nonprofit organizations and agencies working in nine different fields:

• Arts & Culture: 
  • Creative expression enables greater understanding and a deeper perspective of our society. Artists give voice, spark imagination, and inspire. Creative communities are economic drivers. Supporting theaters, museums, music groups, and other arts organizations provides access for children and adults to enjoy Rhode Island’s exceptional artists and arts organizations.
• Conservations & Parks:
  • As the nation’s second most densely populated state, open space is a precious, priceless resource in Rhode Island. Preserves and parks contribute mightily to the high quality of life enjoyed in the Ocean State, which is why working with land trusts, conservancies, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, The Nature Conservancy, and others has been a priority for the foundation.
• Education:
  • Our young are a reflection of what our future will be. This is why Champlin maintains a focus on supporting those organizations and schools that provide equitable access to experience and learning—in the classroom, after school, or beyond. Whether it is funding equipment for classroom innovation or grants toward building infrastructure, for preparatory and enrichment programs or independent and charter schools, it all plays a role in Champlin’s grant strategy.
• Healthcare:
  • Every Rhode Islander deserves equal access to quality, affordable healthcare and a strong public health system in our state. This means ensuring that our local hospitals, community health centers, treatment centers, and other nonprofit healthcare providers have the infrastructure and state-of-the-art equipment needed to provide quality care and service to all, regardless of the patient’s background or zip code.
• Historic Preservation & Heritage:
  • Learning from the past contributes mightily to understanding the present. Rhode Islanders respect and treasure their history—from First Nations, Colonial era, and the Industrial Revolution through the Great Wars. Historic homes, landmark locations, and museums are one reason Rhode Island is a fascinating place to live and visit.
• Libraries:
  • In the 21st century, libraries have evolved into hubs for education, professional development, and community engagement. In many communities, the local library also serves as an after-school haven and the access point to technology for young and old. With programming that fosters creativity, innovation, and dialogue, libraries across Rhode Island remain a home for knowledge and meaningful connection.
• Social Services:
  • We see and support the often-invisible heroes in our communities, whose efforts are providing our most vulnerable and marginalized populations with food, shelter, education, job training, and more. We are committed to keeping these essential agencies and organizations strong.
• Youth Services:
  • The Champlin family recognized the importance of investing in the young—the future leaders of industry, community, and government. From Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCAs to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, summer camps, and career and leadership development, supporting the organizations that help them to develop physically and mentally is a cornerstone of the Foundation.
• Welfare of Animals:
  • Sadly, animals have the same ability to suffer as humans. Our support of well-established regional organizations that offer care, adoption services, medical treatment, and more helps ensure that more animals across the state are healthy, well-nourished, and free from distress.

The Champlin Foundation

Since 1932, The Champlin Foundation has awarded more than $550 million to fund capital projects for Rhode Island non-profit organizations. These investments have fostered better medical care, improved education, expanded access to social services, conservation of open spaces, preservation of historic buildings, enrichment of the arts, advancement of animal welfare and more. Quietly and steadfastly, The Champlin Foundation helps those who do good do more – to the benefit of all.

Areas of Focus

We support a range of sectors serving Rhode Island. The Foundation supports nonprofit organizations and agencies working in nine different fields:

• Arts & Culture
• Conservation & Parks
• Education
• Healthcare
• Historic Preservation & Heritage
• Libraries
• Social Services
• Youth Services
• Welfare of Animals

Capital Grants

Capital funding is often the hardest to raise. Champlin grants are focused on ensuring the long-term stability of the charities in our community by supporting their equipment needs and their facilities.  Our grants are not used for programming or general operations. This isn’t the flashiest form of philanthropy, but we know it makes a world of difference—all the more reason why we believe this funding is so critical.

Mission

Through grantmaking, programming, convening, policy-building and education, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts ensures that arts and culture will play an ever more significant part in the well-being and experience of all Rhode Island residents.

Vision

We envision a Rhode Island where arts and culture are valued as an essential part of life, and for their contribution to a thriving state.

Values

We believe in the transformative power of arts and culture. All Rhode Islanders benefit from creative expression and a culturally vibrant state. As the agency of state government charged with supporting arts and culture in Rhode Island, RISCA is committed to:

• Openness: Being respectful, welcoming and inviting to all.
• Consistency: Behaving intentionally, in a knowledgeable, responsive, engaged, respectful and transparent manner.
• Dedication: Developing authentic relationships, as a team and with others, built on our passion, humor, kindness and optimism.
• Through grantmaking, programming, and services, RISCA promotes:
• Equity and Access: Ensuring the identification and removal of barriers in all contexts, including cultural opportunities, resources and RISCA support for diverse communities throughout Rhode Island.
• Collaboration: Creating networks of mutual support among individuals, organizations and RISCA to strengthen communities.
• Economic Value: Honoring the time, skills, talents and excellence of artists and arts administrators through fair compensation.
• Collective Responsibility: Supporting culturally relevant and responsive art to ensure the health and well-being of the arts and cultural ecosystem, beginning with arts education.
• Artistic Expression: Protecting freedom of artistic expression in Rhode Island.
• Leadership Development: Fostering diverse arts and cultural leaders in, from and for Rhode Island.

Project Grants in Education

Arts Education helps students discover, develop, and create a rich context for learning all while deepening engagement.

RISCA’s Project Grants in Education (PGE) program provides project-specific support to schools, non-profit organizations, arts educators, and teaching artists to engage students in rich and meaningful artistic experiences in dedicated learning environments. PGE projects must be experiential and focus on the exploration of art and the artistic process. PGE strives to build the capacity of local teaching artists and nonprofit organizations, while providing students with high-quality artistic learning experiences. 

Award Amount

• Up to $10,000 for organizations.
• Up to $3,000 for individuals.

Match Requirement

Organizations

1:1 Cash Match is Required for requests of $3001 or more

        • the amount over $3000 must be matched (see FAQs)

No Match Required if:

        • Requesting $3,000 or less

        • Applying as a program in a pilot year (1st or 2nd year program)

        • Applying as a school or non-profit organization meeting

Free-or-Reduced-Price Lunch (FRPL) or state identified need criteria.

Schools or non-profit organizations must serve students who primarily attend schools with 40% or more students eligible for Free-or Reduced-Price Lunch, or attend schools that had been identified by the state as being in need of support and intervention as determined by a 1 or 2 Star Rating on the RIDE School Report Card, or a district under “state control” at the time of application.

Individual

• No Match Required

Read FAQs for additional guidelines.

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA)

Mission

Through grantmaking, programming, convening, policy-building and education, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts ensures that arts and culture will play an ever more significant part in the well-being and experience of all Rhode Island residents.

Vision

We envision a Rhode Island where arts and culture are valued as an essential part of life, and for their contribution to a thriving state.

Values

We believe in the transformative power of arts and culture. All Rhode Islanders benefit from creative expression and a culturally vibrant state. As the agency of state government charged with supporting arts and culture in Rhode Island, RISCA is committed to:

• OPENNESS: Being respectful, welcoming and inviting to all.
• CONSISTENCY: Behaving intentionally, in a knowledgeable, responsive, engaged, respectful and transparent manner.
• DEDICATION: Developing authentic relationships, as a team and with others, built on our passion, humor, kindness and optimism.
• Through grantmaking, programming, and services, RISCA promotes:
• EQUITY AND ACCESS: Ensuring the identification and removal of barriers in all contexts, including cultural opportunities, resources and RISCA support for diverse communities throughout Rhode Island.
• COLLABORATION: Creating networks of mutual support among individuals, organizations and RISCA to strengthen communities.
• ECONOMIC VALUE: Honoring the time, skills, talents and excellence of artists and arts administrators through fair compensation.
• COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY: Supporting culturally relevant and responsive art to ensure the health and well-being of the arts and cultural ecosystem, beginning with arts education.
• ARTISTIC EXPRESSION: Protecting freedom of artistic expression in Rhode Island.
• LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Fostering diverse arts and cultural leaders in, from and for Rhode Island.

RISCA’s General Operating Support for Organizations Program (GOS-O), formerly called the Investments in Arts and Culture (IAC) Program, provides multi-year unrestricted operating support to arts and culture organizations and culturally specific organizations across Rhode Island that meaningfully engage and inspire their community through arts and culture programming. Organizations in this program make important contributions to the diversity and vitality of our communities, the economy of our state, the enrichment of all Rhode Islanders, and our quality of life.

Goals

The working group developed these goals for the new general operating support program, now called General Operating Support for Organizations (GOSO).

• Provide multi-year unrestricted operating support for arts and culture organizations throughout the state through a competitive grant program.
• Include organizations that are evaluated by peer review panels as being responsive and accountable to the cultural needs of their identified communities.
• Through extensive recruitment and a streamlined entrance process, includes organizations that better represent the diversity of the state along the following parameters:
  • Racial: only five BIPOC centered* organizations are in this program as of 2020. RISCA has set a goal of at least ten BIPOC centered organizations in the program by 2025.
  • Geographic: there are towns and communities that have no organizational representation in GOSO. RISCA has set a goal of including at least three organizations from three different, unrepresented towns or cities in the GOSO program by 2025.
    • Current unrepresented towns and cities include Barrington, Burrillville, Charlestown, Coventry, Cumberland, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton, Johnston, Little Compton, Middletown, Narragansett, North Kingstown, North Providence, North Smithfield, Richmond, Smithfield, Tiverton, Warren, West Greenwich, and West Warwick.
• Provide a just and equitable distribution of funding that helps address the damage done by generations of institutional racism.
  • For this goal to be realized, additional funding consideration will be given to organizations that represent historically and/or continuously marginalized communities or constituencies in their mission, programming, staff leadership, and board.
  • In this specific context, historically and/or continuously marginalized communities may include but are not limited to BIPOC communities, such as African and African American, Arab, Asian and Asian American, Latinx, Middle Eastern, Native American and Indigenous, or Pacific Islander communities; people with disabilities; or others who can make a case for being historically and/or continuously marginalized.

Deadlines

Applications and application requirements will be slightly different for each budget cohort commensurate with the size and resources of different sized organizations.

• Budgets over $500,000: FY24 – Deadline is April 1, 2023.
• Budgets from $100,000 – $500,000: FY25 – Deadline is April 1, 2024.
• Budgets under $100,000: FY26 – Deadline is April 1, 2025.

In the event that the April 1 deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, the revised deadline will be 11:59 PM on the next business day.

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA)

Mission

Through grantmaking, programming, convening, policy-building and education, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts ensures that arts and culture will play an ever more significant part in the well-being and experience of all Rhode Island residents.

Vision

We envision a Rhode Island where arts and culture are valued as an essential part of life, and for their contribution to a thriving state.

Values

We believe in the transformative power of arts and culture. All Rhode Islanders benefit from creative expression and a culturally vibrant state. As the agency of state government charged with supporting arts and culture in Rhode Island, RISCA is committed to:

• OPENNESS: Being respectful, welcoming and inviting to all.
• CONSISTENCY: Behaving intentionally, in a knowledgeable, responsive, engaged, respectful and transparent manner.
• DEDICATION: Developing authentic relationships, as a team and with others, built on our passion, humor, kindness and optimism.
• Through grantmaking, programming, and services, RISCA promotes:
• EQUITY AND ACCESS: Ensuring the identification and removal of barriers in all contexts, including cultural opportunities, resources and RISCA support for diverse communities throughout Rhode Island.
• COLLABORATION: Creating networks of mutual support among individuals, organizations and RISCA to strengthen communities.
• ECONOMIC VALUE: Honoring the time, skills, talents and excellence of artists and arts administrators through fair compensation.
• COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY: Supporting culturally relevant and responsive art to ensure the health and well-being of the arts and cultural ecosystem, beginning with arts education.
• ARTISTIC EXPRESSION: Protecting freedom of artistic expression in Rhode Island.
• LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Fostering diverse arts and cultural leaders in, from and for Rhode Island.

Project Grants for Organizations

RISCA’s Project Grant for Organizations program provides grants of up to $3,000 in support of arts and culture projects that are relevant and meaningful to a Rhode Island community or communities. The Project Grant for Organizations (PGO) program is RISCA’s entry-level grant program for organizations.

RISCA defines a project as a discrete set of connected activities with a defined beginning and an end. Projects may be one-time events like a festival, show, or exhibition, or a defined series of events such as a roster of classes or series, or thematically connected concerts, productions or arts events.

Core to all funded programs is a connection and value to the community being engaged with by the public, fulfilling RISCA’s charge to facilitate a meaningful cultural life for all Rhode Island residents. Per our partnership agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and our agency values around equity and access, programs that engage “underserved” communities are particularly suitable for PGOs. The NEA defines “underserved” communities as “ones in which individuals lack access to arts programs due to geography, economic conditions, ethnic background, or disability.” Rather than “underserved”, RISCA prefers to use the term “historically and/or continuously marginalized.” In either case, these definitions may include immigrant groups, BIPOC communities, rural populations, aging populations, people living in poverty, people experiencing homeless, people with disabilities, incarcerated populations, communities recovering from trauma or disaster, and military service members and veterans.

RIF: Miss Swinburne Fund Grant

Miss Elizabeth Swinburne, a civic-minded woman of the early 1900s, established a school in her home to educate young women in the science and skills of household arts. In her will, she designated the Civic League of Newport to continue her mission of educating young women in Newport County. In 2002, the League established a fund in Miss Swinburne’s name at the Foundation to support scholarships and charitable programs and services for women and girls in Newport County, Rhode Island. Programs that provide certificates, degrees, and/or formal credentialing for the participants are encouraged.

This fund provides annual awards to nonprofit organizations that support the self-sufficiency and independence of girls and women in Newport County. An application to the Miss Swinburne Fund does not restrict an organization from applying to other funds administered by the Foundation. 

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.