Search Through Corporate Grants for Nonprofits in California in the U.S.

Through our Arts and Culture program, Mellon celebrates the power of the arts to challenge, activate, and nourish the human spirit. We support exceptional creative practice, scholarship, and conservation practices while nurturing a representative and robust arts and culture ecosystem. We work with artists, curators, conservators, scholars, and organizations to ensure equitable access to excellent arts and cultural experiences and support approaches that place the arts and artists at the center of thriving, healthy communities.

Guiding strategies

Three interconnected strategies guide Mellon’s Arts and Culture grantmaking.  

Supporting visionary artists and practitioners and the participatory roles they play across institutions and communities 

Artists reveal our shared humanity and connect us all. We invest in visionary artists and arts leaders whose practices extend beyond their studios or workspaces to catalyze change in our world. We celebrate artist-driven, cross-sector collaborations and acknowledge the dimensional nature of an artist’s work and place in society. 

Supporting exceptional organizations and artists that have been historically under-resourced, including the creation, conservation, and preservation of their artwork, histories, collections, and traditions 

Mellon seeks to engender an understanding of broader histories, narratives, and aesthetic traditions through multi-year support of artists and communities historically subject to disinvestment. Grants seek to ensure the legacies of many instead of few.

Creating scaffolding for experiments with new economic paradigms and institutional models that center equity and justice and creative problem-solving in arts and culture  

Mellon seeds experiments that center and embolden artists to imagine new structures and organizational models that reflect their holistic approach to social change. Mellon provides support for projects that pilot new operating and funding models for individual artists and organizations that foster a more inclusive, nimble, and cooperative sector.

About Us

The Awesome Foundation is a global community advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time.

Each fully autonomous chapter supports awesome projects through micro-grants, usually given out monthly. These micro-grants, $1000 or the local equivalent, come out of pockets of the chapter's "trustees" and are given on a no-strings-attached basis to people and groups working on awesome projects.

What do you mean by "Awesome"?

Every chapter interprets "awesome" for itself. As such, awesome projects include initiatives in a wide range of areas including arts, technology, community development, and more. Many awesome projects are novel or experimental, and evoke surprise and delight. Awesome sometimes challenges and often inspires. Browse some grants on the chapter pages of this site to see what we mean! We're still waiting for something with dinosaurs (hint, hint).

Awesome is everywhere!

The Awesome Foundation is an ever-growing worldwide community devoted to forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe. Created in the long hot summer days of 2009 in Boston, the Foundation distributes $1,000 grants, no strings attached, to projects and their creators. At each fully autonomous chapter, the money is pooled together from the coffers of ten or so self-organizing “micro-trustees” and given up front in cash, check, or gold doubloons.

Please see individual chapter pages for preferences & restrictions.

Our Grants

Since its inception, The Del Mar Foundation has supported community projects and organizations through its robust grants program, fiscal sponsorship, and fiscal management expertise.

The Foundation’s grants focus on activities, programs, and acquisitions that further its mission to acquire and preserve open space, improve beaches and parklands, and support diverse cultural programs and community events in Del Mar.

Examples of Past Grants

• Climate Change Symposia
• Beach Wheelchairs & Access Mats
• DMCC’s Tuesday Lunch Connections
• Del Mar Garden Club
• Girl Scout Succulent Kiosk
• Lifeguard Truck
• Student Art Canvases
• Red Nose Run

Grant Requests

The Del Mar Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to promoting civic pride and community cohesiveness, acquiring and preserving open space, improving beaches and parklands, raising and granting funds, and sponsoring diverse cultural programs and community events in Del Mar. The Del Mar Foundation has a grant budget to support organizations and projects/activities that further these objectives.

 The Foundation makes every effort to distribute funds evenly throughout the year so that funds are available to fund grant requests as they are received throughout each year. The Foundation is also willing to support organizations in other ways, such as providing organizational fundraising and marketing expertise as well as providing “seed” funding for fundraising and other ongoing activities. 

The Grants Committee accepts grant applications throughout the year. An applicant may apply as often as needed. There are no minimum grant amounts however our budget is limited so that we can grant numerous grants throughout the year. No grant is to exceed 25% of the yearly grant budget. Modifications to the annual grant budget require prior Board approval. Applicants may be asked to attend a Foundation Board meeting to discuss the grant request.

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.  

Environmental Conservation: Special Projects

Supporting breakthrough innovations in environmental conservation. We support innovative new approaches to addressing conservation challenges.

New ideas come from many directions. In conservation work, we have seen solutions emerge from technological innovation, unprecedented partnerships or collaborations, and fresh perspectives from other disciplines including economics and behavioral science.

As our annual budget allows, we typically use a small percentage of the Environmental Conservation Program’s grantmaking for a handful of special one-time opportunities that arise outside the large-scale, long-term, targeted initiatives, which represent the vast majority of our funding.

Our special projects in environmental conservation have addressed a diverse array of issues but are united by a common thread. In every case, these special projects connect the dots in new ways.

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Open Philanthropy Project Focus Areas

So far, the focus areas we have selected fall into one of two broad categories: Global Health and Wellbeing (GHW) and Global Catastrophic Risks (GCR). We summarize the key differences between these portfolios as follows: 

• While GCR grants tend to be evaluated based on something like “How much this grant reduces the chance of a catastrophic event that endangers billions of people”, GHW grants tend to be evaluated based on something like “How much this grant increases health (denominated in e.g. life-years) and/or wellbeing, worldwide.”
• The GHW team places greater weight on evidence, precedent, and track record in its giving; the GCR team tends to focus on problems and interventions where evidence and track records are often comparatively thin. (That said, the GHW team does support a significant amount of low-probability but high-upside work like policy advocacy and scientific research.)
• The GCR team’s work could be hugely important, but it’s very hard to answer questions like “How will we know whether this work is on track to have an impact?” We can track intermediate impacts and learn to some degree, but some key premises likely won’t become very clear for decades or more. (Our primary goal is for catastrophic events not to happen, and to the extent we succeed, it can be hard to learn from the absence of events.) By contrast, we generally expect the work of the GHW team to be more likely to result in recognizable impact on a given ~10-year time frame, and to be more amenable to learning and changing course as we go.

Global Health and Wellbeing focus areas

Effective Altruism (Global Health and Wellbeing) - Many people want to help others, and seek out ways to do so effectively.

We empower people to use their careers and donations to help others as much as possible.

We believe that individuals can have a huge positive impact on the world by being thoughtful about how they can best use their resources to help others.

We support organizations and projects that enable people to use their careers and donations to improve the lives of humans and animals around the world.

Our work is guided primarily by two observations:

• First, there is large variation in the impact that different charitable organizations can achieve. By focusing on important, neglected problems and relying on evidence-based solutions, top charities, such as those recommended by GiveWell, can achieve much more than others with the same donation. GiveWell estimates that the funding it has directed since inception will save at least 200,000 lives.
• Second, the career a person chooses is one of the most important decisions they can make — and a career focused on important and neglected problems is likely to achieve much more impact. Today, however, there is a lack of quality resources and guidance that can help people find and pursue these kinds of careers.

Farm Animal Welfare - Tens of billions of animals are kept in factory farms globally, usually in harsh and inhumane conditions. 

We support efforts to improve the lives of animals confined on factory farms, and to end factory farming.

We support reforms to phase out the worst factory farm practices on land and sea. Through our cage-free work, we seek to end the use of cruel battery cages, used to confine about seven billion hens globally. Our broiler welfare initiative supports better welfare for the roughly 15 billion broiler chickens alive globally. And our fish welfare work supports the establishment of minimum standards for the world’s over 70 billion farmed fish.

We also fund scientific research to find new ways to help farm animals. This includes the development of innovative technologies (like in ovo sexing to end the killing of male chicks in the egg industry) and research into chronic welfare problems (like keel bone fractures in layer hens) in the hope of finding ways to reduce pain and suffering. We want to expand the global farm animal welfare movement, especially in emerging economies where the majority of the world’s farmed animals live. We’re especially focused on expanding advocacy in East and Southeast Asia.

Global Aid Policy - International aid improves millions of people’s health and wellbeing. We think it can do even more.

We’re working to create a future where wealthy countries give more aid to other countries in ways that help more people survive and thrive. 

International aid has helped save millions of lives, reduce poverty, and increase prosperity for millions of people throughout the past century. But there is still more to do. At the end of 2022, more than 8% of the world’s population — as many as 670 million people — were thought to be living on less than $2.15 per person per day. If trends continue, we will not achieve the global goals of ending global poverty and significantly improving health and well-being by 2030.

We launched our Global Aid Policy program in early 2022 to support efforts to increase government aid and guide it toward more cost-effective approaches that can improve people’s health and well-being.We focus our new, relatively small resources in ways we believe complement other donors and can go especially far:

• Increasing aid budgets, especially for multilateral health organizations operating in low-income countries.
• Improving existing aid programs by helping leaders draw on evaluations and technical analysis.
• Using our flexible resources creatively to accelerate progress.

Global Health & Development - We believe that every life has value — and that philanthropic dollars can go particularly far by helping those who are living in poverty by global standards.

We support work to save and improve lives in low- and middle-income countries.

Most of our giving in this category is to organizations recommended by GiveWell, with whom we have a close relationship. We are excited to support cost-effective interventions to save and improve lives in low- and middle-income countries. An additional subset of our giving supports scientific research we believe can help address diseases that disproportionately afflict the global poor.

Global Health R&D - Improving diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the most neglected diseases could save and improve the lives of millions of people..

We seek to support the development of new vaccines, drugs, and other tools to improve global health.

Historically, health technologies like vaccines and drugs have saved millions of lives around the world. However, diseases primarily affecting the world’s poorest people, such as tuberculosis, malaria, diarrheal diseases, rheumatic heart disease, and sickle cell disease receive much less research and development spending relative to their health burdens than diseases affecting the wealthy. Further investments could prevent millions of deaths and illnesses caused by neglected diseases.

Open Philanthropy has supported scientific research for human health since 2016. Over time we have learned that there are many excellent opportunities in global health R&D that we could support with increased resources and specialized staff. As a result, we launched this new program in 2023, substantially increasing our total funding in the area.

The Global Health R&D team works in parallel and in collaboration with our Scientific Research team, but with a greater focus on supporting tools and treatments through the development life cycle, including those requiring early proof of concept studies, human efficacy trials or implementation research. We are interested in funding research and development for new vaccines, diagnostics, drugs, monoclonal antibodies, and vector control tools for diseases with a large global health burden, as well as efforts to make these products more affordable and accessible.

Global Public Health Policy - Some of the world’s worst health issues can be addressed through public policy.

We support work on policies that cost-effectively address major public health issues.

Policies like air quality regulations, tobacco and alcohol taxes, and the elimination of leaded gasoline have saved and improved millions of lives.

These policies typically improve public health by addressing risk factors to alleviate the burden of non-communicable disease, which comprises a growing share of the health burden but receives relatively few resources. Policy interventions affect entire populations and are often cost-effective for governments to implement. We think philanthropy can have an outsized impact by helping governments design, implement, and enforce more effective public health policies. Because the benefits are diffuse, and responsibility for addressing them can cut across government departments and disease categories, many problems that are addressable through public health policy are currently neglected.

Innovation Policy - Scientific discovery and technological innovation are key contributors to economic growth and material progress.

We hope to safely accelerate scientific and technological progress to make life better for billions of people.

Historically, economic growth and scientific innovation have created enormous social benefits, lifting billions of people out of poverty and improving health outcomes around the world. At the same time, innovation carries risk; some technologies have the potential to do far more harm than good.

Our goal is to accelerate growth and innovation, without unduly increasing risks from emerging technology. Even small changes to the annual growth rate can compound to great effect over time, which gives us the opportunity to make high-leverage grants.

We’re interested in pursuing a wide range of strategies. Our current interests include:

• Helping build a scientific ecosystem that experiments with new ways of doing things, learns from those experiments, and adopts evidence-based practices.
• Supporting early-stage development of general technologies with the potential to accelerate scientific progress across many disciplines.
• Investigating programs and policy reform to help more migrants, especially highly-skilled migrants, move to countries operating on the scientific and technological frontier.
• Providing financial support for individuals to write “living literature reviews” that rigorously synthesize research and communicate it to a non-specialist audience. (See our call for pre-proposals at right!)
• Funding programs and research to help identify and minimize potential catastrophic risks from new scientific and technological capabilities.

Land Use Reform - Excessively restrictive local land use regulations push people away from centers of economic activity, inhibit innovation, and raise costs for renters.

We seek to reduce the harms caused by excessively restrictive local land use regulations.

These price increases ( see diagram)  are pronounced in large, high-wage metro areas (e.g., New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington D.C.). More permissive policy which enabled a greater supply of housing in those areas could unlock value by:

• Encouraging economic growth through greater innovation and agglomeration.
• Increasing the earnings of individuals moving to high-wage jobs in those areas.
• Enabling more people to live in denser areas, which have lower carbon emissions.
• Redistributing wealth and income to lower-income households and supporting access to housing for lower earners.

Scientific Research - We believe scientific progress has been, and will continue to be, one of the biggest contributors to improvements in human wellbeing, and we hope to play a part in this

We aim to support research that could affect a large number of people.

We primarily support biomedical research but our interests are not limited to any particular field, disease, condition, or population. Instead, we seek to identify scientific research that has the potential for high impact and is under-supported by other funders. We are excited to support high-risk and unconventional science when the potential impact is sufficiently large.

We are broadly interested in research that may lead to improved understanding of topics related to human health. We are most interested in research that could affect a large number of people. We typically start by looking for metrics related to the number of lives affected (often starting with the World Health Organization’s Global Health Estimates and IHME’s Global Burden of Disease Study). We begin with landscaping exercises to identify important research topics that could have the greatest impact in a given area.

Once we understand the research gaps in these fields, we assess which gaps are underfunded and seem most amenable to progress if funded. Often as part of this process, we will attend scientific conferences and interview scientists as advisors, peer reviewers, or potential grantees.

Some aspects of the following topics are currently of particular interest:

• broad-spectrum antiviral drugs,
• vaccine development,
• basic immunology,
• some aspects of cardiovascular disease,
• Alzheimer’s disease, predicting mouse-to-human translation, control of inflammation,
• epigenetics,
• novel scientific tools and methods,
• malaria, and
• research on how biomedical research may be improved. 

About the I Could Do Great Things Foundation

We believe that a lot of people have innovative ideas for helping their communities and solving important problems. We believe that one idea, one project or one person can change the world in a positive way. However, many people never get the chance to see their ideas to fruition.

We want to change that by helping people turn their good ideas into a great reality.

We’re here to encourage and support inspiring people and exciting projects. For us to consider your idea, you must have a concrete plan and a serious commitment. We want to understand what Great Things you intend to do, how you are going to do Great Things and how financial backing or other resources we may supply will lead to Great Things.

Our Core Values

In living our values we are taking an aspirational approach to our philanthropy. Our values lead us to constantly search, inquire and educate ourselves about new thought-provoking ideas, creative methods and talented people. We truly believe we’re one great idea away to a better world.

I Could Do Great Things Foundation Grant

We are in the business of providing support and encouragement to people, to help them turn their ideas into reality.

Welcome to our “minimum of red tape” grant application. If you’ve written grant proposals before, you’ll find that this one is a bit different. We’re not looking for audited financial statements, lists of board members and staff, or tons of supporting documents. Rather, this application is designed to help you tell us about your great idea – and your concrete, thoughtful plan for turning it into reality.

About Us

We care about what happens outside of State Farm®. So, we team up with others to help build safer, stronger and better educated communities across the United States.

Sponsoring Partnerships

We’re happy to team up with other brands, organizations or causes that align with our goals and vision.

With more than 19,000 agents around the country, State Farm is a committed member of your community and we welcome any opportunities that build our brand and tie into our marketing strategies on both a local and national level.

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.

Our Responsibility to the World Around Us

Nikon’s passion to be at the heart of individual self-expression and personal memory keeping is a powerful thing. It’s this passion that inspires us to create products and inspire opportunities with our community and our planet in mind.

About Nikon's Sponsorships

Corporate sponsorships are a strategic component of Nikon's Marketing and Communications objectives. In assessing corporate sponsorships, we evaluate the overall opportunity, which includes how it fits with Nikon's marketing brand strategies, consumer reach, consumer engagement, sponsorship opportunities and the impact on the communities we serve.

At Nikon, we would like to hear from you if your request embodies innovative, unique ideas that give Nikon products a competitive advantage.

Limitations

As you can imagine, Nikon receives a large number of sponsorship requests. We regret that we're unable to fulfill or respond to every request, however, please describe your request below and we’ll contact you if more information is needed.

Global grants

Global grants support large international activities with sustainable, measurable outcomes in Rotary’s areas of focus. By working together to respond to real community needs, clubs, and districts strengthen their global partnerships.

Read A Guide to Global Grants below for detailed information on planning your project, applying for a grant to fund it, carrying it out, and reporting on your progress and outcome.

What global grants support

Global grants can fund:

• Humanitarian projects
• Scholarships for graduate-level academic studies
• Vocational training teams, which are groups of professionals who travel abroad either to teach local professionals about their field or to learn more about it themselves

Areas of Focus

• Promoting peace
  • Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas. Learn more >
• Fighting disease
  • We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas. Learn more >
• Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
  • We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We don’t just build wells and walk away. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term. Learn more >
• Saving mothers and children
  • Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger. Learn more >
• Supporting education
  • More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. Learn more >
• Growing local economies
  • We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities. Learn more >
• Protecting the environment
  • Rotary members are tackling environmental issues the way they always do: coming up with projects, using their connections to change policy, and planning for the future. Learn more >

How they’re funded

Global grants have a minimum budget of $30,000 and a maximum World Fund award of $400,000. Grant sponsors can use a combination of District Designated Funds (DDF), cash, and/or directed gift and endowed fund program award spendable amounts to fund a global grant. The Foundation will provide an 80 percent World Fund match for all DDF contributions. There is no minimum World Fund match.

Social Impact Fund

What We Fund

The Social Impact Funds support community-led transformation by strategically deploying capital to social entrepreneurs who are using their lived experience to tackle three vital social drivers of health.

• Health Care Access & Quality - Overcoming barriers to high-quality, affordable, accessible health care that is age, gender and culturally appropriate.
• Food Security - Increasing access to healthy, affordable food via sustainable farming, mobile markets, food hubs, food as medicine and more.
• Economic Empowerment - Promoting economic health through job creation, skill upleveling, banking access, financial literacy, violence prevention, housing support and more.

We’re looking for organizations that are translating evidence-based science research and clinical know-how into solutions that address health care access and quality, food security, economic empowerment or a combination of these three social drivers of health.

The Social Impact Funds support both for-profit and nonprofit organizations that have less than $10M in revenue and can provide evidence their program is making an impact.

Nationwide Grant

We are looking to fund sustainable and scalable solutions to the underlying social and environmental determinants of health challenges – access to healthcare, food security, and economic empowerment.

Funding

Up to $250,000

About Takeda

Takeda is a patient-focused, values-based, R&D-driven global biopharmaceutical company committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to people worldwide. Our passion and pursuit of potentially life-changing treatments for patients are deeply rooted in over 230 years of distinguished history in Japan.

Commitment to Community

Takeda has a long history of supporting nonprofit organizations through corporate giving, employee volunteerism and employee giving. Our Growing Communities program enables us to engage our employees and make meaningful contributions to support the communities where we live and work in the U.S., aiming to build deep, impactful relationships with our community partners.

Philanthropic Giving

Takeda’s purpose of “better health for people, brighter future for the world” serves as the inspiration for our corporate giving efforts. We seek to reduce the social disparities affecting communities in need by supporting meaningful programs in two focus areas: Food is Health and Building STEM Foundations.

Food is Health

• Access to nutritional food
• Medically tailored meals
• Elimination of swamps and deserts
• Urban farming

Eating a healthy diet is essential for maintaining good health and preventing chronic diseases. By providing access to healthy food and promoting education and awareness around healthy eating habits, we can help support communities in need and take an active role in improving healthcare and overall well-being. This is why we support programs that focus on the role of food in improving health.

The lack of good, healthy food burdens the U.S. health care system with an estimated $53 billion in avoidable expenses each year, says Feeding America. The pandemic further increased the demand for nutritious food and inflation put affordable healthy food out of reach for many working families. Yet good nutrition is essential for people to stay healthy.

We work with partners to provide the right nutrition to those who need it the most. Incorporating healthy foods into diets can help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain types of cancer. In addition, a healthy diet can improve mental health, boost energy levels and promote healthy aging.

Building STEM Foundations

• K-8 math
• High school STEM enrichment
• College success

To solve many of the most pressing challenges facing the world, like climate change and population health, we need diverse perspectives in science and technology. By investing in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, we can prepare the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers to drive progress and shape the future. We support programs in the areas of K-8 math, high school STEM enrichment and college success.

Building a strong foundation in STEM subjects is critical for students who aspire to pursue careers in science. STEM education provides students with the necessary skills and knowledge to solve complex problems, think critically, and innovate. By developing a strong understanding of STEM fundamentals, students can pursue careers of tremendous impact.

STEM education can also help students develop important life skills such as teamwork, communication, and adaptability, which are essential for success in any career. By investing in STEM education, we can prepare the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers who will drive progress and shape the future. We focus on supporting programs in the areas of K-8 math, high school STEM enrichment and college success.

About

The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative catalyzing social impact on a grand scale. Every year we select and nurture a group of big, bold solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges, and with the support of an inspiring group of donors and supporters, come together to get them launched.

Housed at TED, the nonprofit with a long track record of surfacing ideas worth spreading, and with support from leading social impact advisor The Bridgespan Group, the funding collective is comprised of several respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy.

Our goal is to match bold ideas with catalytic resources.

• We encourage the world’s inspirational changemakers to dream bigger than ever before.
• Help shape their best ideas into viable multi-year plans.
• Present those solutions in a compelling way to potential supporters.

The Process

Every year, The Audacious Project works with proven change-makers to surface their best, boldest ideas for tackling global problems.

Sourcing & review

Projects are sourced from public applications and a global network of partners and donors. They are narrowed down to a group of finalists whose ideas are representative of a broad range of geographies and issue areas while elevating leaders with proximity to the communities they serve.

Idea shaping & investment support

Each finalist project goes through a rigorous ideation, due diligence, and investment support process, to ensure their proposal is achievable and compelling.

Funding & launch

Finalist projects are presented privately to groups of donors and are then publicly unveiled at TED. Funded projects then pursue their plans and share regular updates on key milestones reached with donors and the public.

Is Your Idea Audacious?

• Are you a changemaker with a bold vision?
• Are you a non-profit with an experienced team equipped to receive large scale philanthropic support?
• Is your idea a proven concept that aspires to create a better world?
• We look for ideas that cover a wide range of issues, from global health and climate change, to social justice and education.

What Makes An Idea Audacious?

Inspire

• Transformative vision
  • Your idea should capture a bold vision for tackling one of the world's most urgent topics.
• Creating a better world
  • It is your opportunity to take a giant leap forward; you may be tempted to think incrementally, but remember for it to be bold, your idea should offer significant, enduring impact.
  • This vision should bring us much closer to your version of an ideal world in a matter of years rather than generations.
• Innovative and original
  • There should be a unique aspect or creative element to your approach that challenges convention or status quo or changes the narrative for the greater good.

Convince

• Proven concept
  • There should be evidence that the idea will have impact based on a track record of past success, a demand from those that would be affected, and justified confidence that results can be sustained in the future.
• A bold vision that has clear outcomes
  • There should be a sense of where you will be at the end of a multi-year funding term and the strategy, resources and timeline required to achieve it. We want to hear about the changes that would take place because of your idea, not just the components that go into implementing it.

• Established support
  • You and your capable and confident team have the backing of a nonprofit, NGO, or institution (or is part of a collaboration between multiple such entities). This organization should be able to receive philanthropic funds and have the core infrastructure necessary to support the work. (Note: Past projects have had an annual operating budget of $1 million or more.)

Please refer to FAQ for additional guidelines.

Are We a Match?

Do you envision a world where every child and family sees the road to success? Where a community’s future is determined by the people who live there?A world where:

• All kids receive nurturing early care and education.
• Health care for mothers, birthing people and babies is readily available where they live.
• Good food is a given, along with support for the people who grow it.
• Parents and caregivers land career pathways that sustain their family
•   And where everyone can heal from the harms of racism and contribute to a more equitable world.

That’s the world we want to see, too!

Where We Fund

Across the United States, with generational commitments in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans. We also fund in Chiapas and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and in central and southwest Haiti.

The Impact Fund awards recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits, private attorneys, and small law firms who seek to confront economic, environmental, racial, and social injustice. Since our founding in 1992, the Impact Fund has made more than 800 recoverable grants totaling more than $10 million for impact litigation. We award grants four times per year, most within the range of US$10,000 to US$50,000.

Social Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants and legal support to assist in human and civil rights cases. We have helped to change dozens of laws and win cases to improve the rights of thousands. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Texas and North Carolina, incarcerated people with mental health disabilities are forced to remain in jail despite being found not guilty and unable to proceed with a criminal trial.
• In Orange County, California there are currently 13 gang injunctions under effect, which disproportionately affect young men of color.
• In Chicago, Illinois, the city’s homeless shelter program is inaccessible to people with disabilities.
• In Springfield, Oregon, the city and its police department used excessive force against Black Lives Matter protesters.
• In West Virginia, the state fails to protect children in foster care from abuse and neglect. 
• In Montana, voter suppression laws disadvantage young adults and give priority to gun owners.
• In Gary, Indiana, a gun manufacturer negligently marketed and distributed its guns, leading to an epidemic of gun violence in the city. 
• In Vancouver, British Columbia, the police perpetuate systemic discrimination against Indigenous people through bureaucratic measures.

Environmental Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants to support local litigation for environmental justice. These grants are for cases aiming to help people or communities who are affected by environmental harm or who lack access to basic environmental needs, such as clean water, clean air, adequate waste treatment, and green spaces. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Centreville, Illinois, the city’s failure to maintain its sewer system has caused raw sewage to flood peoples’ homes, endangering the property and health of a predominantly Black community.
• In Fresno County, California, the California Department of Transportation approved a highway expansion project that would increase air pollution and traffic in one of the state’s most environmentally burdened communities.
• In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the proposed expansion of a highway would divide the region's Black, Asian, and Latine neighborhoods and cause pollution and ill health.
• In North Dakota, the five-month closure of a highway in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests disproportionately affected the livelihoods and health of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe members.
• In Ontario, Canada, mercury contamination of the English-Wabigoon river system causes catastrophic environmental and health impacts for the Grassy Narrows First Nation.
• In Sacramento, California, the county government and Sacramento Area Sewer District violated the Clean Water Act by discharging raw sewage into nearby rivers.
• In the Eastern Coachella Valley in California, 1,900 residents of the Oasis Mobile Home Park suffer from arsenic-laced drinking water, wastewater contamination, and overcharging for utilities.

Economic Justice

The Impact Fund provides financial and other forms of support to cases fighting for economic justice. From workers' rights to consumer protection for vulnerable populations, impact litigation is a powerful tool to hold corporationss and the government accountable. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Brooklyn, New York, a prominent mortgage lender engaged in predatory practices, leaving homeowners of color at risk of losing their homes. 
• In Washington, live-in caregivers are unconstitutionally excluded from the state’s wage-and-hour protections.
• In Ravalli County, Montana, the county has created a “modern-day debtors’ prison” by incarcerating people unable to afford pre-trial fees. 
• In San Diego, California, vehicle ordinances target unhoused vehicle owners even when no adequate housing alternative exists.
• In New York, a federal immigration detention facility is violating minimum wage and forced labor laws by forcing detainees to work for just a dollar a day. 
• In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the city and county destroy the property of unhoused individuals and conduct forced evictions from public spaces. 
• In Miami, Florida, insurance companies discriminate against a nonprofit community development corporation renting to tenants with Section 8 rental subsidies.

What is Emergent Fund?

Founded in 2016, Emergent Fund is a national rapid response fund created to explicitly support Black, Indigenous and People of Color-led (BIPOC) social justice movements. From family separation, to Muslim bans to continued violence against Black communities, Emergent Fund grantees are BIPOC organizers and directly impacted communities responding to the biggest crises of our time by boldly fighting to build the world we all deserve.

As a rapid response fund, we play a unique role in the funding eco-system; often filling a gap by providing low barrier funding in a little as a week to organizers when they need it most. Our team is committed to:

• Fiercely fundraising for and moving as quickly as possible our rapid response, low barrier, no strings attached grants
• Keeping Black liberation core to our organizing and philanthropic praxis
• Deepening multiracial solidarity practices to show up for Black and Indigenous leadership
• Positioning our folks to win and build real power that transforms our tangible living conditions so that we can thrive
• Raising to the moment with affirmative outreach, from Minneapolis to Mauna Kea
• Using rapid response grants to invest in emergent strategy not just emergencies

What kind of projects does Emergent Fund support?

We support work where rapid response meets emergent movement strategy. This includes...

• Evolving approaches or tactics that help communities organize in the face of urgent and rapidly changing conditions, or resisting new or amplified threats in ways that build power and move a proactive agenda towards collective liberation
• Leveraging "organizable moments" to advance social and economic justice and directly disrupt and challenge hostile oppressive structures
• Rapid response initiatives grounded in sound power analysis and propose meaningful investments in movement infrastructure

Our grantees often lead at the following intersections:

• New solutions responding to rapidly changing conditions in the current political environment
• Visionary and Power Building organizing that seeks transformational systemic changes rooted in social and economic justice.
• Develops community power through organizing and/or leadership development (including through new tools), direct action, and/or cultural work
• Leadership from impacted communities
• Intersectional Analysis: Engages multiple identities and multi-racial alliance building as core to theory of change
• Endorsed: Recommended by a member of the Nominations Network
• Right size of need: The level of Emergent Fund support is appropriate to the work
• Proposals can be ideas, collaborations, campaigns, or organizations, whether or not they are fully formed; don't worry about your notes being perfect or comprehensive.

About the Fred Morgan Kirby Prize for Scaling Social Impact

The Fred Morgan Kirby Prize for Scaling Social Impact is an annual global prize of USD $150,000 in unrestricted funds that amplifies and accelerates the work of an enterprise working to scale its impact on social or environmental problems around the world.

The Kirby Prize recognizes enterprises pursuing strategic pathways to impact at scale, who are close to the challenges at hand, who center the voice and experience of the populations they serve, who have demonstrated traction, and who embody courageous and collaborative leadership. This prize is open to any legal form, geographic location, and any social or environmental impact area. 

Mission Statement

The Papé Family Foundation will seek to affect in a positive way the communities in which the various family members reside. The foundation will encourage family interaction and will engender family unity and mutual respect. It will foster the members’ interests, activities and values in service, philanthropy, and stewardship.

The Foundation will consider grant requests from eligible organizations for:

• small capital projects
• building improvement projects
• project equipment needs
• operation requests for new program start-ups only (programs must be less than 2 years old, requests may not include salaries).

Direct Action Visionary Grants

The APF Direct Action Visionary Grants seek to fund innovative interventions, based on psychological knowledge, that directly address pressing needs of communities.

Research is critical to advancing the field of psychology, but communities also need care right now. APF is uniquely positioned to accomplish both. Through APF Direct Action Visionary Grants, we are particularly interested in supporting communities and populations dealing with prejudice, bias, intolerance, and all forms of bigotry including racism, antisemitism, homophobia, and misogyny.

Projects should support APF’s four Visionary Priorities:

• Serve Marginalized Communities
• End Prejudice & Stigma
• Prevent Violence
• Explore Mind-Body Health Connections

Examples of Types of Projects

Below are examples of the types of projects this grant aims to support. APF encourages innovative projects that utilize evidence-based psychological principles in new and impactful ways to reach those in need. These examples are meant to be informative, not limiting.

• Evaluation of the implementation of an evidence-based intervention in a specific community.
• Translation of psychological knowledge into a form that can be easily distributed to and understood by a community in need. (e.g. development of a fact sheet on recognizing risks of suicide among LGBTQIA+ youth; translating an evidence-based resource into another language)
• Bridging the gap to bring an evidence-based intervention to a community in need. (e.g. funding for a community outreach program)

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

About the APA Foundation

Medical science, public education and dedication drive our vision of national awareness, personalized treatment and compassion. As the charitable foundation of the American Psychiatric Association, we:

• Raise awareness and overcome barriers.
• Invest in the future leaders of psychiatry.
• Support research and training to improve mental health care.
• Lead partnerships to address public challenges in mental health.

With the backing of the APA, the world's leading psychiatric organization, our efforts are strengthened by research and designed to achieve results ensuring that we're making real impact, every step of the way.

Awards for Advancing Minority Mental Health

The Awards for Advancing Minority Mental Health were established in 2003 by the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) to recognize community organizations that have undertaken innovative and supportive efforts to:

• Raise awareness in underserved minority communities about mental illness including the need for early recognition, access to and the availability of treatment, and the cultural barriers to treatment.
• Increase access to quality mental health services for underserved minorities.
• Improve the quality of care for underserved minorities, particularly those in the public health system or with severe mental illness.
• Have been operational for at least two (2) years.

Driving real-time impact

We believe visionary creators are the catalyst for a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world. The Unity for Humanity program uplifts, supports, and connects changemakers using real-time 3D to build a brighter future.

What is Unity for Humanity?

The Unity for Humanity program empowers real-time 3D creators to make the world a better place by helping bring their visions to life and amplifying their impact.

The Unity for Humanity Grant is an open call for impact-driven project submissions. Through this annual grant we award funding, technical support, marketing, and other resources. Although we only grant to a limited number of projects through this call, we add all submissions to a database which we utilize throughout the year to award other opportunities.

What type of projects are eligible to apply?

Impact driven projects of any genre (i.e., game, XR, film, solution) created using any RT3D platform (Unity, Unreal, Quill, etc.) are eligible to apply. Impact is defined as supporting any of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Projects must be in production beyond conceptualization with a prototype or demo.

Unity for Humanity’s Guiding Principles

• Empathy, respect, and opportunity
  • We celebrate and support creators with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
• Positive global change
  • We provide opportunities for creators to realize a more sustainable and inclusive world.
• Uplifting community
  • We foster a social impact creator community grounded in inclusion to empower changemakers.

Vision

An elevated place for species in the global conservation debate and a thriving global community of well-resourced species conservationists.

Mission

Elevate the importance of species in the conservation debate by:

• Providing timely support for grass-roots initiatives which make a real difference to species survival.
• Supporting those whose passion, dedication and knowledge is the key to saving species.
• Assisting the  conservation of species  in their natural habitats.
• Heightening awareness of species conservation.
• Stimulating renewed interest among young people in natural sciences.
• Attracting further contributions to species conservation from across the globe.

Grants

During 2023 the Fund will be trialing a process whereby the Fund awards grants for the conservation of threatened soil species. This is in addition to the usual grants awarded.

The Fund has been established to provide targeted grants to individual species conservation initiatives, recognize leaders in the field and elevate the importance of species in the broader conservation debate. Its focus is global and eligibility for grants will extend to all plant, animal and fungi species conservation efforts, without discrimination on the basis of region or selected species.

The Fund was established to support species conservation work, and so if your project is not about an endangered species it is probably not worth your while submitting an application.

The Fund will use the IUCN Redlist as the primary guide to the conservation status of a given species, although documented variations for sub-species, distinct populations and sub-populations will be taken into account. For those species not assessed through the IUCN Redlist we welcome other methods of assessment and the submission of quantative data to confirm a species status.

About

The WISE Awards has celebrated over 90 groundbreaking innovative education solutions since 2009. With over 5,300 applicants from across 151 countries, the legacy of the WISE Awards has grown to span a global network of innovators in, early childhood education, EdTech, life-long learning, climate action, social emotional learning, education in emergencies, higher education, 21st Century skills, informal learning and many more. 

After 15 years of celebrating innovation, WISE is now launching the next generation of the WISE Prize to identify a group of finalists to partake in a new competition. WISE will identify and provide support through capacity building and mentorship to organizations tackling new challenges ahead. This iteration of the WISE Prize will work with the chosen finalists over the span of one year to develop solutions that address key education challenges. 

WISE Prize for Education

Since 2009, the WISE Awards and WISE Prize for Education have highlighted over 100 global innovative solutions and individuals in education and, throughout the past 15 years, many of them have grown to become more impactful, have contributed to the work of WISE, have scaled to new regions, and more. The legacy of the WISE Awards and WISE Prize for Education stemmed from the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, with the aim to elevate players in the field of education.

Now, in 2024, WISE is launching the next generation of the WISE Prize as one sole initiative, identifying a group of finalists to partake in this competition. WISE will identify and provide support through capacity building and mentorship to organizations tackling new challenges ahead.

Education Challenges

This iteration of the WISE Prize will work with the chosen finalists over the span of one year to develop solutions that addresses one of the following key education challenges:

Improving the teaching of Arabic language

• Develop a solution to improve the effectiveness of teaching, acquisition and use of the Arabic language.

Accelerating foundational literacies

• Create a personalized learning tool to accelerate basic literacy and numeracy skills, particularly in under-resourced areas.

Addressing challenges in A.I.

• Design a tech-based intervention to equip youth with skills to navigate challenges of increasing presence in an A.I.-driven market and society, such as biases and disinformation.

What type of applicants are we looking for?

Applicants should have evidence of the transformative impact on individuals, communities and society in education already achieved from previous ventures, with:

• A strong record of proven success
• Minimum 2 years in operation
• More than one source of funding
• At least one dedicated full-time team member (or full-time equivalent) to drive the solution development
• A clear plan indicating the project’s objectives and development in response to the education challenge it will address
• A scalable solution and ability to replicate in other contexts and regions

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. 

About

The Zayed Sustainability Prize, an evolution of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, is the UAE’s pioneering global award in sustainability and a tribute to the legacy of the late founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Established in 2008, this annual award recognises and rewards the achievements of those who are driving impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainability solutions across five distinct categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water and Global High Schools.

Categories

This category recognises organisations that have demonstrated impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainability solutions in the areas of health that include, but are not limited to:

• Ensuring access to essential and affordable healthcare
• Improving maternal and newborn health
• Tackling epidemics (AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, etc.)
• Preventing and treating waterborne, communicable, and noncommunicable diseases
• Reducing illness from pollution, hazardous chemicals, and contamination

Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.

This category recognises organisations that have demonstrated impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainability solutions in the areas of food that include, but are not limited to:

• Decreasing hunger and malnutrition
• Increasing agricultural or other food processing productivity
• Enhancing sustainable food production
• Ensuring sustainability of food systems

Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.

This category recognises organisations that have demonstrated impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainability solutions in the areas of energy that include, but are not limited to:

• Ensuring access to affordable and reliable clean energy
• Increasing production of clean energy
• Improving energy efficiency and energy infrastructure
• Implementing clean energy technology innovations

Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.

This category recognises organisations that have demonstrated impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainability solutions in the areas of water that include, but are not limited to:

• Ensuring access to safe and affordable drinking water
• Ensuring access to sanitation and hygiene
• Increasing water use efficiency

Organisations must also demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan to further deploy their solution and scale up their impact, as well as inspiring others to follow suit by advancing sustainable and human development.