Making community possible

At U.S. Bank, we are dedicated to supporting our communities through responsive and humbled actions focused on addressing racial and economic inequities and creating lasting change in our communities. Through our Community Possible Grant Program, we are partnering with organizations that focus on economic and workforce advancement, safe and affordable housing and communities connected through arts and culture.

The U.S. Bank Foundation is committed to making Community Possible through Work, Home and Play. We advance this work through collaborative grant making to bring equitable and lasting change through our focus on sustainable, high-impact funding with 501c3 nonprofit partners.

Home

Children and families are better positioned to thrive and succeed in a home that is safe and permanent. Access to sustainable low-income housing is increasingly challenging for low- to moderate-income families. In response, our giving supports efforts that connect individuals and families with sustainable housing opportunities.

Access to safe, affordable energy-efficient housing

We provide financial support to assist people in developing stability in their lives through access to safe, sustainable and accessible homes. Examples of grant support include:

• Organizations that preserve, rehabilitate, renovate or construct affordable housing developments for low- and moderate-income families, individuals, seniors, veterans, and special-needs populations
• Organizations that provide transitional housing as a direct stepping stone to permanent housing
• Organizations that focus on veterans housing and homeownership
• Construction of green homes for low- and moderate-income communities
• Clean energy retrofit programs for low- and moderate-income housing developments
• Organizations that provide access to renewable energy
• Improving waste management systems to include recycling and composting programs

Homeownership education

Owning and maintaining a home requires significant financial knowledge, tools and resources. We support programs that assist low- and moderate-income homebuyers and existing homeowners. Examples of grant support include:

• Homebuyer education
• Pre- and post-purchase counseling and coaching
• Homeownership-retention programs designed to provide foreclosure counseling

Work

We know that a strong small business environment and an educated workforce ensure the prosperity of our communities and reduce the expanding wealth gap for communities of color. We provide grant support to programs and organizations that help small businesses thrive, allow people to succeed in the workforce, provide pathways to higher education and gain greater financial literacy.

Investing in the workforce

We fund organizations that provide training for small business development, as well as programs that support individuals across all skill and experience levels, to ensure they have the capability to gain employment that supports individuals and their families. Examples of grant support include:

• Small business technical assistance programs
• Job skills, career readiness training programs with comprehensive placement services for low- and moderate-income individuals entering or reentering the labor force

Providing pathways for educational success

• To address the growing requirements for post-secondary education in securing competitive jobs in the workplace, we support:
• Organizations and programs that help low- and moderate-income and at-risk middle and high school students prepare for post-secondary education at a community college, university, trade or technical school and career readiness
• Programs and initiatives at post-secondary institutions that support access to career and educational opportunities for low- and moderate-income and diverse students

Teaching financial well-being for work and life

Financial well-being is not only critical for financial stability, it’s crucial in helping individuals be successful in the workplace. Examples of grant support include programs that positively impact:

• K-12 and college student financial literacy
• Adult and workforce financial literacy
• Senior financial fraud prevention
• Military service member and veteran financial literacy

Supporting the green economy through workforce development

The green economy is fast becoming an area of opportunity for workforce development programs. Funding support includes:

• Reskilling or retraining for jobs in renewable or clean energy
• Building and maintaining infrastructure to support renewable energy, including EV charging stations and bike/transportation programs

Play

Play brings joy, and it’s just as necessary for adults as it is for kids. But in low-income areas there are often limited spaces for play and fewer people attending arts and cultural events. That’s why we invest in community programming that supports ways for children and adults to play and create.

Access to artistic and cultural programming and arts education

Our investments ensure economic vitality and accessibility to the arts in local communities, as well as support for arts education. Examples of grant support include:

• Programs that provide access to cultural activities, visual and performing arts, zoos and aquariums and botanic gardens for individuals and families living in underserved communities
• Funding for local arts organizations that enhance the economic vitality of the community
• Programs that provide funding for arts-focused nonprofit organizations that bring visual and performing arts programming to low- and moderate-income K-12 schools and youth centers

Supporting learning through play

Many young people across the country do not have the resources or access to enjoy the benefits of active play. Supporting active play-based programs and projects for K-12 students located in or serving low- and moderate-income communities fosters innovation, creativity, and collaboration and impacts the overall vitality of the communities we serve. Funding support includes:

• Support for organizations that build or expand access to active play spaces and places that help K-12 students learn through play and improves the health, safety and unification of neighborhoods in low- and moderate-income communities
• Programs that focus on using active play to help young people develop cognitive, social and emotional learning skills to become vibrant and productive citizens in low- and moderate-income communities

Outdoor places to play

Environmental stewardship enhances and improves the livability of our communities. Supporting efforts to preserve, protect and enhance outdoor spaces is now part of our Play pillar of giving. Funding support includes:

• Cleanup efforts in community spaces, including (but not limited to) beaches, rivers, and streams
• Protecting green spaces within the community, including planting trees, mangroves and seagrass
• Programs that support community, native and/or pollinator gardens, including community composting

About the Henry T. Nicholas, III Foundation

The Foundation has been at the forefront nationally in supporting victims' rights, reflecting Dr. Nicholas' longstanding commitment to victims of violent crime. He has been a leader of the victims' rights movement since 1983, when his sister, Marsy, was murdered. He helped his parents found Justice for Homicide Victims, a leading non-profit organization that supports families of murder victims. Dr. Nicholas led the effort in 2008 to pass Marsy's Law, a state constitutional amendment that created a comprehensive Victims' Bill of Rights for California. Following this campaign, he formed Marsy's Law for All, an organization dedicated to enforcing the constitutional amendment, empowering victims' rights organizations, and creating a national movement to pass a victims' Bill of Rights as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Through Marsy's Law for All, the Foundation provides legal, technical, media and other resources to support victims' rights organizations and initiatives.

Read more about us.

Grant Information

The Henry T. Nicholas, III Foundation was created in 2006 with the vision of enabling and assisting communities and individuals to reach their highest potential. The Foundation is dedicated to improving lives through investment in Education, Youth Sports, Technology, Science, Medical Research, Victim's Rights, and National Defense.

Since its inception, the Foundation has provided more than $2.7 million to numerous public charities and non-profit organizations engaged in helping people build better lives for themselves and their neighbors.

The theme that unites the Foundation's various efforts into a single mission is investing in people and their futures:

• Grants are provided to help young people build strong educational and athletic foundations that will lead to healthy, productive and successful lives as adults.
• Advancement in science, technology and medicine is supported because these fields are the key to future health and prosperity for people and communities.
• Aid and support is provided to help violent crime victims and their families, and to assist the heroes who defend our nation and their families, because without safety and security there is no future.

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.

NOTE: Grant requests must be endorsed by a Perdue Associate in order to apply.

Perdue Farms is the family-owned parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness. Perdue Farms are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for everyone we touch through innovative food and agricultural products.

About the Foundation

A firm handshake, a clear steady gaze, a welcoming smile, a persuasive energy and a dynamic achiever… this was Frank Doyle. He attended Fordham and Rutgers Universities and he, along with his wife Gertrude R. Doyle combined education with a dedication to the belief that when opportunity knocks, it’s wise to open the door. From New Jersey to Nevada, Florida to California, Frank found challenges and embraced them with a zest and vigor that never said, “it can’t be done.” The seventh son of immigrant parents his was a life well lived. After the passing of Frank M. Doyle in 1996, Gertrude R. Doyle founded The Frank M. Doyle Foundation, Inc. Initially, the foundation provided scholarships to students in the Huntington Beach, California area. As described by Gertrude R. Doyle,

“The Frank M. Doyle Foundation offers your community a unique and unsurpassed opportunity. There is no minimum grade point average; there is no income cap. Age is not a factor. Both need based and merit scholarships are awarded. Our recipients attend trade schools, community colleges, state universities, the University of California system, the University of Nevada system, schools outside of California and Nevada, both public and private. They school to become beauticians and graphic artists as well as doctors and lawyers. The foundation’s focus is to enable students to pursue further education in order to encourage the endurance of a productive, prosperous, and resourceful community.”

Over the years, the foundation expanded the scholarship application pool to include students from Orange County, California Community Colleges, Washoe County, Nevada students, and certain vocational school students to its application pool. The foundation also branched out beyond the academic world and began providing grants to nonprofit organizations in an effort to fulfill Mr. and Mrs. Doyle’s dream of a better world for all. In late 2008, after the passing of Gertrude R. Doyle, the foundation adopted the name, The Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation, Inc., and in 2018 became “The Doyle Foundation, Inc.”

The Doyle Foundation, Inc. awards grants for the betterment of life.

The ACT on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge is advancing health equity through the support of community-based non-profit programming that prioritize the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of historically excluded and disenfranchised populations.

The ACT on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge will provide up to $1 million in funding to new and existing programs. Organizations may apply for $25,000.

Program Focus

Community-based programs must cover one of the two following areas:

Community Health & Wellbeing

Improve conditions that affect community health and wellbeing including but not limited to housing, environmental and neighborhood safety, nutrition, and access to care.

Next Generation STEM Education

Increase access to education and career readiness in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Community Focus

Programs that address health disparities among historically excluded and disenfranchised populations and prioritize their social, cultural, and linguistic needs.

Program Geographies

Nonprofit organizations across the US and US territories are invited to apply for funding to support programs focused within one or more communities

Note: This page details the Laffin Trust's Health & Human Services funding guidelines. See details on Education & Animal Related funding guidelines here. 

Mission 

To provide grants to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations supporting education, animal welfare, medical research, and human services.

Foundation Information

The John and Maria Laffin Trust was created under the Will of Valentina Laffin in honor of her parents. The Trust provides support for education at the college and university level, animal welfare, medical research, and human services. Ms. Laffin died on March 19, 1985. She was a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California.

Guidelines

The John and Maria Laffin Trust awards grants to organizations supporting education, animal welfare, medical research, and human services, as follows:

• Medical Research Funds shall be granted to medical research organizations that do not exclude from consideration any alternative or seemingly radical and/or controversial treatment that the American Medical Association may currently oppose.
• Human Services Funds shall be granted to humanitarian organizations to alleviate human misery, suffering, and starvation in any part of the world.

Within Judaism, there are two different but interrelated concepts or moral action and behavior – Tzedakah (sacred practice of charity) and gemilut hasadim (sacred practice of loving kindness). Jewish tradition distinguishes between them in several ways. The essential difference is already evident in the roots of the words: Tzedakah derives fromtzedek (justice, righteousness), and gemilut hasadim derives from hesed (loving kindness, grace, steadfast love.) The Hesed Foundation believes tzedakah to be a core component of social justice. According to the Talmud, the most virtuous form of giving comes through the promotion of self-sufficiency by offering employment and assisting a person in need; in short, the improvement of the human condition.

About the Hesed Foundation

The Hesed Foundation is dedicated to the improvement and enhancement of human life and the strengthening of communities. Hesed seeks to achieve these goals by supporting programs that enhance the lives and welfare of all people, particularly those in underrepresented populations and communities. Specifically we fund programs relating to youth and education, health, and community building. In addition we reserve a percentage of our annual giving for discretionary projects of interest to the board.

NOTE: The applications are reviewed regularly and accepted through the deadline above for the current year.

About

The Robert & Toni Bader Charitable Foundation was created in 2010 to provide philanthropic support to help make the world a better place. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, our mission is to help further Jewish ideals in the areas of education, science and the arts. 

Since our beginning, we’ve funded projects from New York to California, Michigan to Florida. We have helped teachers educate, helped children learn, helped feed the hungry, helped people earn a living, helped provide work for the unemployed, and helped find new ways to treat illness and improve quality of life. If you are engaged in any of these activities, let us hear from you.

Our logo, the Tree of Life, is a universal symbol of growth and re-growth, providing benefits to the present and future. The circle represents unity and continuity within our communities and our lives.

Guidelines

The Robert & Toni Bader Charitable Foundation (rtbcf) was created to help achieve the Jewish Ideals of improving the world through Science, Education and the Arts.

We do not have minimum or maximum grant amounts. Grants are made based on our evaluation of your project, the number of grants we are considering, and the amount of funds we have to distribute.