Search Through Financial Assistance Grants in California in the U.S.

Watershed Programs - California

Watersheds impact every community; every town, city, and farm and provide a vital resource for all living things to survive and thrive. All watersheds are interconnected, creating a land-water system that conveys water to its final destination—a larger stream, an inland lake, a wetland, an estuary.

NRCS Watershed Programs provides technical and financial assistance to local government agencies, tribal organizations and other eligible sponsors, to help communities implement conservation practices that address watershed resource concerns.

Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP)

The EWP Program offers technical and financial assistance to help local communities relieve imminent threats to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural disasters that impair a watershed. EWP does not require a disaster declaration by federal or state government officials for program assistance to begin. The NRCS State Conservationist can declare a local watershed emergency and initiate EWP program assistance in cooperation with an eligible sponsor (see the Eligibility section below). NRCS will not provide funding for activities undertaken by a sponsor prior to the signing of a cooperative agreement between NRCS and the sponsor.

NRCS offers financial and technical assistance for various activities under the EWP Program, including:

• Remove debris from stream channels, road culverts and bridges;
• reshape and protect eroded streambanks;
• correct damaged or destroyed drainage facilities;
• establish vegetative cover on critically eroding lands;
• repair levees and structures;
• repair certain conservation practices, and
• purchase of EWP Buyouts. 

Locally-Led Solutions

All EWP projects must have a sponsor and demonstrate that they reduce threats to life and property; be economically, environmentally and socially sound; and must be designed to acceptable engineering standards.

Sponsors can apply for EWP Program assistance directly to NRCS while public and private landowners can apply for this assistance through a local sponsor. Landowners do not need a sponsor to apply for assistance through EWP-floodplain easements.

Recovery Projects

Recovery projects begin with a local sponsor or legal subdivision of state or tribal government. Interested public and private landowners must work through a sponsor.

Floodplain Easement Option

In some situations, landowners can directly apply for assistance through a floodplain easement at the local NRCS office when project funding for floodplain easements becomes available. States will hold a signup period for the impacted communities and the local NRCS offices will publicize that information in the affected communities.

Supporting Our Communities

We care deeply about the communities where we live and work. That’s why we support programs and organizations that address unmet medical needs, help students grow through STEM education, and deliver basic human services to our neighbors.

For all community giving applications, we strongly urge you to submit your application at least 12 weeks in advance of the date of required funding

Our initiatives

Addressing Unmet Needs

Each year, we work with nonprofit partners to improve access to treatment, eliminate health disparities and promote healthy lifestyles throughout our communities.

Neighbors help neighbors. Together with our nonprofit partners, Bristol-Myers Squibb works to improve access to treatment and eliminate health disparities for those that live in and around the communities we also call home. Working with our nonprofit partners, we’re able to provide programs that address the health challenges of our underserved citizens.

Improving Science Education

Because today’s students will discover tomorrow’s medicines, we’re committed to improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies in schools and community organizations.

Science and technology are at the core of everything we do. We're always eager to open young minds to the exciting possibilities of both. Through grants and other programs, we've introduced students to genetics, robotics, engineering, alternative energy, and environmental science. Our employees also serve on advisory boards at career academies and two- and four-year colleges.

We're improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the communities where our employees work and live.

Helping People In Need

Through philanthropy, volunteerism and partnerships, we provide essential human needs to the our hungry, homeless, elderly and underserved citizens.

• Feeding the Hungry: Bristol-Myers Squibb provides volunteer and financial support to groups that help feed families.
• Fighting Homelessness: Bristol-Myers Squibb is proud to assist a number of organizations working to provide shelter and other necessities to those suffering from homelessness
• A Helping Hand for the Elderly and Homebound: With limited mobility and financial resources, elderly people that live alone often require help with the simplest tasks of daily life
• Helping neighbors when disaster strikes: In the aftermath of emergencies such as fires and floods, the American Red Cross is there. Bristol Myers Squibb supports the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey and its Emergency Services Program, which enables vulnerable families to recover from disasters that may otherwise push them into poverty and homelessness.
• Making the holidays – and every day – brighter for children: Our employees lend their support to various organizations focused on making the holidays – and every day – a little brighter for children in need. 

OUR MISSION

The Douglas Foundation partners with organizations committed to providing more equitable access to education, healthcare, and the arts.

Guided by the charitable goals of its founders, Anne and Kirk Douglas, the Foundation is particularly focused on improving the lives of children and women in California.

About

“Joan Marilynn Wismer was born on January 18, 1940, in Oakland, California, the only child of Preston and Hilda Davis. When she was young, the family moved to Los Angeles, where her father was general counsel of United Parcel Service during its formative years.

Joan graduated from Hamilton High School in 1957 and attended the University of Southern California, joining the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta.

Joan learned the value of service and charity from her parents, who believed that generosity is its own reward and a generous person is twice blessed. A forty-year resident of North Hollywood, she was an active member of many charitable organizations, including USC Trojan League Associates of the Valleys, Rotary Club of North Hollywood, Daughters of the Nile (Mokattam Temple No. 12), Order of the Eastern Star (Van Nuys Chapter No. 338), and Las Floristas.

In 2001, Joan established the Joan M. Wismer Foundation. She loved finding worthy programs, making grants, and meeting new friends. During Joan’s lifetime, the Joan M. Wismer Foundation supported education, projects assisting children, medical research, international relief, and the training and placement of ordnance-sniffing dogs for service in war-torn countries.

Joan passed away on March 12, 2015, and the Foundation is proud to honor her legacy.”

Mission Statement

The Joan M. Wismer Foundation is dedicated to improving and enriching the lives of youth and adults in the United States and abroad. The foundation supports programs that focus on education and youth development, safety and humanitarian services, medical and scientific research, culture and the arts.

The Leighty Foundation (TLF) is a small family foundation incorporated under Iowa law.  Directors and advisors live in Colorado, Alaska, and California.

Mission

To carry on the Leighty family legacy of service and stewardship by leveraging our time and talents, as well as our financial resources, primarily in the areas of Earth Protection, Education, Philanthropy, and Strategic Volunteer Engagement.Focus Areas Earth Protection “Environmental” has become trite, and does not convey the profound, urgent, and necessary changes in the way our species perceives and relates to our fellow species on Earth, and to its wonderful physical systems. The Leighty Foundation is especially interested in accelerating humanity’s transition to a sustainable, equitable, benign, affordable global energy system based entirely upon renewable energy sources — driven by radiant energy from our local star, the Sun, and by geothermal. Our earliest, most rewarding investments will be energy conservation and efficiency, while we invent and invest to “run the world on renewables.” We assist science education, so that we will better understand who and what and where we humans are, and to better understand Earth and our options for cooperation within its context and limits. Thus, we intend to invest wisely in Earth Protection, with both Foundation funds and with our personal involvement. An urgent Grand Challenge is transforming the world’s largest industry from about 80% fossil to nearly 100% renewable, CO2-emission-free energy sources, as quickly as we prudently and profitably can. Prudently: with acceptable social and economic disruption. Profitably: the huge amount of capital needed will flow only to attractive opportunities for returns. Electricity systems may be inadequate or technically and economically suboptimal for this transformation. Therefore, we now need to think beyond electricity, to comprehensively consider alternatives. Hydrogen (H2) and Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) are attractive, energy carriers, storage media, and fuels – as complete renewable energy systems. The Leighty Foundation Earth Protection program focuses on the Big Three challenges of time-variable renewable generation:

• Gathering and transmission;
• Low-cost, annual-scale, firming storage;
• Distribution, integration, and end-use of energy services.

Strategic Volunteer Engagement Our nation finds itself faced with a perfect storm with shrinking resources and escalating needs. Meeting these needs will require a dramatic increase in the number of people willing to give their time and skills as well as their financial resources. However, the challenge may be less about increasing the number of people who volunteer, and more about building infrastructures which connect people with worthy opportunities, and empower them to make a meaningful difference.There is a growing awareness that even if Americans respond to the myriad of calls for service, many charities are not prepared to effectively engage them. A recent survey found that more than 30% of charities do not currently have the infrastructure to effectively deploy volunteers. Now is the time for us as funders to seize this unique opportunity to financially support nonprofits in building their capacity.

About Us

Sweeping cuts to school and community athletics have drastically limited opportunities for youth, especially in low-income communities. Importantly, participation in sports prevents childhood obesity and has also been linked to reducing school dropout rates, gang participation, teen pregnancy and other high-risk behaviors, all of which pose tremendous consequences to our society.

MaxInMotion® is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to providing young athletes an opportunity to compete at both the recreational and competitive levels in major youth sports. The Foundation provides financial support directly to youth sports organizations throughout the states of Arizona and California, to help underwrite inclusion in sports programs of financially challenged boys and girls who would not otherwise be able to participate. MaxInMotion® also develops programs to include special needs populations in youth sports activities. The Foundation embraces the philosophy that youth sports contribute dramatically to character development and personal fitness, and that team participation helps establish values of community, interdependency and collective responsibility.

Maxinmotion Grants

MaxInMotion provides financial support to help underwrite the costs associated with inclusion of financially challenged boys and girls who would not otherwise be able to participate in sports programs. MaxInMotion® also provides financial assistance for the development of programs to include special needs populations in youth sports activities.

Due to a high volume of requests, MaxInMotion® is able to assist only a limited number of select organizations.

Overview

The Oak Woodlands Conservation Program offers landowners, conservation organizations, cities and counties, an opportunity to obtain funding for projects designed to conserve and restore California's oak woodlands. While the Program is statewide in nature, it provides opportunities to address oak woodland issues on a regional priority basis.

The Program is designed to help local efforts achieve oak woodland protection. More importantly, this Program provides a mechanism to bring ranchers and conservationists together in a manner that allows both to achieve that which is so valued - sustainable ranch and farming operations and healthy oak woodlands.

Eligible Easement Acquisition, Restoration or Long-Term Agreement Projects

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 1363, the Act requires that no less than 80 percent of the funds be used for the following type of projects:

Grants for the purchase of oak woodland easements.

The holder of the conservation easement shall ensure, on an annual basis that the conservation easement conditions have been met for that year. To facilitate this annual review, a Baseline Condition Report shall be prepared that identifies the biological resources that are present on the property and covered under the conservation easement. The Act requires that priority be given to projects designed to protect oak woodlands in perpetuity with conservation easements.

Grants for restoration or enhancement projects.

Project proposals must contain an appropriate management plan that describes the restoration effort and the management practices that will be used to ensure the restoration or enhancement effort achieves the goals of the landowner and the goals of the project.

Grant for long-term leases.

Projects are designed to protect oak woodlands for purposes of open space, viewshed, wildlife habitat or alternative grazing opportunities. Such leases must be managed according to a management plan prepared to meet the goals stated in the long-term lease or project agreement. 

Grants for cost-sharing incentive payments. 

Projects designed to achieve conservation objectives and the landowner is willing to enter into long-term agreements. Such agreements shall include management practices that benefit the goals of the landowner and the oak woodlands. The length of the long-term agreement will be dependent upon the nature of the project, the goals of the landowner and benefits to the oak woodlands. Typical long-term agreements could run 15, to 45-years. Cost-share incentive payments could include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:

• Compensation for not cutting trees for firewood.
• Long-term payment to keep the land in open space, managed according to a plan designed to benefit the landowner and the oak woodlands.
• Reimbursement for conservation improvements such as fencing, solar panels, grazing cages to protect young oak saplings, alternative water sources, tree planting and tree maintenance.
• Compensation for alternative grazing practices such as up-front payments to defer grazing on restoration areas.
• Areas would be managed according to a plan designed to benefit the goals of the landowner and the restoration of the oak woodlands.

Applicants are encouraged to seek input from the local Fish and Game Biologist or other resource professionals when developing proposals that request funding for conservation easements, development of management plans or long-term agreements.

Eligible Public Education, Outreach and Technical Assistance Projects

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 1363, the Act allows for 20 percent of the funds to be used for the following type of projects:

• Grants for public education and outreach by local governments, park and open space districts, resource conservation districts and nonprofit organizations.
• Assistance to local government entities, park and open space districts, resource conservation districts and nonprofit organization for the development and implementation of oak conservation elements in local general plans.
• Technical Assistance.

What we support

We look for projects rooted in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California that aim to make a difference in the lives of rural children, ensuring the family, educational and community supports they need to thrive.

Grant Funding Priorities

Family

Grants aligned with our Family impact area help strengthen connections between a parent or other primary caregiver and a child. We focus on ensuring that children have nurturing attachments from their earliest years, including preventing child abuse and neglect. We also focus on promoting financial stability so that families have the resources they need to care for their children.

Current grant funding examples

• Children’s mental health supports
• Parenting support programs
• Domestic violence programs and shelters for families with children
• Child abuse prevention and intervention programs
• Supports for children in foster care
• Maternal-child health programs
• Two-generation family literacy programs
• Family financial education and access
• Earned Income Tax Credit access and utilization
• Scholarships for parents to complete their college education
• Statewide networks and systems reform to support all of the above

Education

Grants aligned with our Education impact area aim to ensure that rural children have the supports and opportunities they need to succeed in their education. Our emphasis is on early childhood education, helping children start strong in their early grades, and preparing students for the transition from high school to postsecondary education or a career.

Current grant funding examples

• Child care and early childhood education
• Early literacy programs
• Family engagement in their children’s education
• Programs that support social-emotional learning
• Youth development and summer learning programs
• Programs supporting students of color and marginalized populations
• College and/or career preparation programs
• Scholarships for aspiring low-income rural and urban students to attend and complete college
• Programs to support low-income, first-generation rural student success beyond high school

Community

Grants aligned with our Community impact area support conditions that help children and families thrive in rural communities. This includes focusing on their local economies, social capital, community visioning and planning capacity, and public gathering spaces.

Current grant funding examples

• Community building and engagement efforts
• Community centers and convening spaces
• Community social service centers (Where direct youth programming is provided)
• Arts and culture centers
• Libraries
• Rural health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers)
• Disaster resiliency planning and fire halls
• Community economic development planning, feasibility studies
• Community supports for entrepreneurs, including start-ups, business retention, and youth and women entrepreneurs
• Business development services

Technical Assistance grants

Strengthen your organization’s internal capacity to make a positive impact with a Technical Assistance grant. These grants can be used to attend a conference, develop leadership expertise, engage in strategic planning or hire an outside consultant with specialized expertise. You will typically hear from us in six to 10 weeks.

Grant amount: Up to $5,000

Grant examples

• Paying for staff members to attend a training or conference that builds their skills and capacity or hiring a trainer for your board and/or staff
• Contracting with a consultant to develop a strategic plan, create a transition plan for outgoing leadership or set up new organizational financial systems
• Hiring a facilitator to carry out community engagement activities to inform your organization’s project or program
• Contracting with a consultant to develop a capital campaign plan

Legal Services Program

The BFF Legal Services Program originated from a query about the role of and definition of “safety net” organizations. Following the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the founders of BFF began to explore the various different types of non-profits that were called to action to help those most impacted by the Great Recession. Alongside medical clinics, food banks and shelters, legal services representatives worked tirelessly to help their clients.  

From this origin, BFF began to explore the role of legal services both as a “safety net provider” and as a poverty alleviation tool. Based on a metric created by the Robin Hood Foundation and on impact report submitted by over a dozen different types of organizations, it became apparent to us that legal aid is, dollar for dollar, more effective than all other anti-poverty interventions. Time and time again when we read the Social Return on Investment reports (SROIs) from our grantees, we are both amazed and impressed with their outcomes.

I & R Grants

Our I & R Grants target projects and programs that are both innovative and replicable. We support these grants to allow legal services leaders to test new models that have the potential to help their individual organizations and when replicated, to help their peer organizations. 

This includes, but is not limited to, new strategy-focused projects designed to enhance the effectiveness of an organization to answer questions posed by either the organization or by the legal services sector.

Sector Supporting Grants

"": Organizations that do not generally provide direct legal services programs, but provide technical assistance and substantive back-up to the direct services programs. They provide support service to legal services offices in the following areas: training, technical assistance, research and advocacy. Examples include: 

• Support Centers
• Think Tanks
• Design Labs 
• Impact Litigation

: In an effort to support the legal services sector and ensure a strong and consistent pipeline of new legal services staff, we support grants that focus on recruitment & retention of legal services professionals. Examples of such grants include:

• Public Services Loan Forgiveness Programs
• Loan Assistance Repayment Programs
• Fellowships
• Staff Well-Being

: We fund advocacy work that supports to the legal service sector. 

Spark Grants is an innovative, just-in-time grantmaking process.

Our vision is to introduce a process that can fill urgent needs for education organizations that are well-aligned with our focus areas. We seek to fund highly impactful initiatives that would not be possible if they needed to wait through a traditional grant decision timeline.

Student Basic Needs

We seek to increase persistence and graduation rates through systems change, research, and technological innovations that help students meet their basic needs.

• Leveraging technology solutions to maximize and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of basic needs supports and capture student academic success. This could include:
  • Systems to help assess student basic needs by providing data that captures the need for additional support and tells the story of who is accessing basic needs services
  • Streamlining deployment and information about basic needs supports, emphasizing local resources—both on and off campus—for students taking classes online or in-person
  • Providing support for students during “off-hours
• Incorporating basic needs within the campus culture and climate. This could include efforts that strengthen the continuum of care for students’ basic needs. Topics may include:
  • Support for students transitioning between two-year and four-year institutions
  • Identifying students who have stopped or dropped out due to basic needs issues and assisting them with re-enrollment
  • Using student voices and perspectives to inform student basic needs efforts, policies, programming, etc.
• Innovative approaches and promising practices that promote positive academic outcomes for students receiving direct financial assistance aimed at mitigating student basic needs concerns. This could include research, evaluation, or efforts that scale the impact of public benefits assistance, tax credits for eligible students, universal basic income, and approaches to liquidating institutional HEERF dollars.

Purpose 

The San Marcos Community Foundation (SMCF) serves to enrich the quality of life for the community of San Marcos by serving as a nonprofit public benefit corporation providing financial and other assistance programs benefiting the City or its residents. The Foundation was established by the San Marcos City Council on October 27, 1987, creating an Endowment Fund originating from a one million dollar contribution by the builders of the North County Energy and Resource Recovery Center. The Foundation provides grants to a wide variety of nonprofit groups serving San Marcos residents. Grants have been awarded to a diverse group of nonprofit organizations serving different purposes:

• Arts & Culture
• Health & Well-being
• Children & Youth
• Seniors
• Civic Life
• Wildlife
• Education

Mini grants are for agencies interested in applying for $1,500 or less. No matching funds are required for mini grants.

Purpose 

The San Marcos Community Foundation (SMCF) serves to enrich the quality of life for the community of San Marcos by serving as a nonprofit public benefit corporation providing financial and other assistance programs benefiting the City or its residents. The Foundation was established by the San Marcos City Council on October 27, 1987, creating an Endowment Fund originating from a one million dollar contribution by the builders of the North County Energy and Resource Recovery Center. The Foundation provides grants to a wide variety of nonprofit groups serving San Marcos residents. Grants have been awarded to a diverse group of nonprofit organizations serving different purposes:

• Arts & Culture
• Health & Well-being 
• Children & Youth
• Seniors
• Civic Life
• Education
• Wildlife

Regular Grants are for those agencies interested in applying for a grant of $1,500 to $10,000.  Whether or not matching funds are required for a regular grant is at the discretion of the Board depending upon the specifics of the request.

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.

Purpose

Communities in Charge is California’s market-accelerating, light-duty electric vehicle (EV) charging incentive project funded by the California Energy Commission’s Clean Transportation Program, implemented by CALSTART, and supported in partnership with GRID Alternatives and Tetra Tech. Communities in Charge is designed to transform EV accessibility, rapidly catalyze new markets, and swiftly deploy Level 2 EV charging stations.

Communities in Charge is built to scale as funding is made available and aims to help set participants up for success before, during, and after chargers are installed. The project integrates transparent participation requirements and technical assistance to help participants plan for a successful project. The project team will offer support and outreach for participants of various readiness levels, with financial incentives reserved for projects with the highest levels of readiness.

The Clean Transportation Program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.

Guidelines

Grants from National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by supporting on-going preservation work and by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for preservation projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector.

A small grant at the right time can go a long way and is often the catalyst that inspires a community to take action on a preservation project. Grants generally start at $2,500 and range up to $5,000. The selection process is very competitive.

Eligible Activities

National Trust Preservation Fund grants are awarded for planning activities and education efforts focused on preservation. Grant funds can be used to launch new initiatives or to provide additional support to on-going efforts.

Planning: Supporting existing staff (nonprofit applicants only) or obtaining professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archaeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, and law. Eligible planning activities include, but are not limited to:

• Hiring a preservation architect or landscape architect, or funding existing staff with expertise in these areas, to produce a historic structure report or historic landscape master plan.
• Hiring a preservation planner, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce design guidelines for a historic district.
• Hiring a real estate development consultant, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce an economic feasibility study for the reuse of a threatened structure.
• Sponsoring a community forum to develop a shared vision for the future of a historic neighborhood.
• Organizational capacity building activities such as hiring fundraising consultants, conducting board training, etc.

Education and Outreach: Support for preservation education activities aimed at the public. The National Trust is particularly interested in programs aimed at reaching new audiences. Funding will be provided to projects that employ innovative techniques and formats aimed at introducing new audiences to the preservation movement, whether that be through education programming or conference sessions.

Awareness. Education. Prevention.  These are three key tenets of Bayer Fund’s investments in health and wellness.  With a focus on cancer and cardiovascular disease, we provide resources to organizations dedicated to educating and/or providing services to patients, caregivers and at-risk populations.

Health & Wellness Grants

Programs that Bayer Fund will support include those that focus on patients and their families needing assistance with issues to managing cardiovascular disease and cancer. This includes education, disease awareness, and supportive services for these diseases. In areas related to cardiovascular disease, priority (though not exclusivity) will be given to charitable organizations that focus on programs and support for the African American community due to the high incidence rate of disease in this population.

Giving in this category will focus on support services such as education, disease awareness, and general access to care (e.g., housing for families traveling for cancer or heart care).

All funding requests and budgets must be for program activities and expenses that start after funding decisions are made. All programs must be completed within one year of the start date, except in limited situations where longer term programs have been agreed upon. Grant award amounts vary, depending on the size of the community, the type of programming, and the reach of the organization.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Berdach Trust Grant

Otto P. Berdach, a resident of Jacksonville, Illinois for many years, was a generous man who cared greatly about the welfare of his fellow man. In his Last Will & Testament, Mr. Berdach expressed his generosity through the creation of the Otto P. Berdach Trust. Mr. Berdach’s expressed desire was that the trust funds be used to assist individuals in genuine need of financial assistance and for whom public welfare or assistance is inadequate or unavailable. At the time of his death he resided in the county of Los Angeles, California.

Mission

To support organizations that assist individuals in genuine need of financial assistance and for whom public welfare or assistance is either inadequate or unavailable.

Program areas

• Health
• Human services
• Public/society benefit

States served

Illinois, California

Geographic limitations 

The trust primarily supports organizations that operate in Illinois and California (particularly the Long Beach area).

Types of support 

Grants must provide direct financial help to persons in need. No support for administrative or other expenses.

Background & Purpose

The California Arts Council’s policies and practices prioritize racial equity and have a broad geographic reach into communities of all sizes and needs, and this includes providing critical services to artists and to the community at large. The CAC is committed to funding opportunities that support all of California’s creative ecosystem. Offering fellowship support to artists responds to the CAC’s Strategic Framework by directly supporting individuals who embody aesthetics, a key value of the CAC, recognizing all art forms and artistic traditions that enable full and meaningful creative expression.

Through a network of regionally-based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program will continue to recognize, uplift, and celebrate the excellence of California artists practicing any art form. In doing so, the CAC will showcase the centrality of artists’ leadership in guiding the evolution of our traditional and contemporary cultures.

Excellence, for purposes of this grant, is defined as an artist’s:

• Unique artistic vision
• Ongoing commitment to creative practice
• Engagement with and impact on the larger cultural ecosystem

This program will support artists at key moments in their careers, elevating their capacity for continued contribution to the field and our state. Fellowship grants support individual artistic practice through unrestricted funding. This program is intended to support a broad spectrum of artists working in all disciplines, from diverse geographies and communities of all sizes across the state of California.

Administering Organizations (AO)

The AOs will be responsible for the planning and implementation of the Individual Artist Fellowship program in their region, including but not limited to:

• Provide access and support for individual artists and culture bearers throughout the course of the application, award, and evaluation processes
• Engage in robust, culturally and discipline-specific engagement and outreach to ensure comprehensive geographic reach within the service area
• Convene fellows at least once over the course of the grant activity period to engage in networking and co learning
• Provide platforms including but not limited to virtual or print publications, exhibits, or performances to increase the visibility of the work of the fellows
• Engage in regular reporting to and collaboration with the CAC, including providing interim and final reports on program outcomes and findings.

Funding Structure

Administering Organizations will regrant fellowship awards to provide unrestricted funding in support of the fellows’ artistic practice. The following three tiers of funding are available. (Awards will be funded at the full dollar amount for each tier, partial awards will not be made):

CAC Emerging Artist Fellows - $5,000

Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice. Individuals at this career stage may have had a few public showings of their work, but do not yet have ongoing resources or support.

CAC Established Artist Fellows - $10,000

Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice. Individuals in this tier can give multiple examples of artistic and/or cultural works that have made significant social impact.

CAC Legacy Artist Fellows - $50,000

Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact. Artists in this tier may be able to point to Emerging and Established Artists that they have mentored or otherwise positively influenced.

Each AO will make grants to a minimum of three fellows in each career tier. The total grant award is for $800,000.

AOs may use up to 20% of the grant award for administrative costs and costs associated with program design and implementation, including convening and publication and/or production costs to support visibility of fellows’ work.

AOs will regrant the remaining 80% of funds to individual artists and culture bearers in their region(s).

The State-Local Partners (SLP) program provides general operating support and technical assistance for county-designated local arts agencies. The purpose of the program is to foster cultural development on the local level through a partnership between the State and the counties of California. The nature of this partnership includes funding, information exchange, cooperative activities, and leadership. The partnership enables individuals, organizations, and communities to create, present, and preserve the arts of all cultures to enrich the quality of life for all Californians.

A local arts agency is defined as the official county-designated organization that supports arts and cultural activity in service to individuals and communities throughout an entire county. Local arts agencies provide financial support, services, and/or other programming to a variety of arts organizations, individual artists, and the community. A local arts agency can be a unit of local government or a nonprofit organization.

This program requires a 1:1 match of award funds for organizations with Total Revenues (TRs) of $1,000,000 or more in their most recently completed fiscal year

Samueli Foundation

Our vision is well-being for all.

Our mission is to make Orange County, California a thriving mosaic of community well-being. We support and unite catalytic forces whose innovations yield a high quality of life for everyone.

Breakaway Fund

A breakaway is one of the most electrifying moments in hockey. It’s a turning point, the moment. when a player or individual charges ahead, unimpeded, nothing but opportunity between them and the goal. With the Breakaway Fund, we’re bringing that same momentum of possibility to our local community.

This fund provides unrestricted, easy-to-access capital that helps you and your team barrel past the usual obstacles, giving you the best possible advantage for achieving your goals. No red tape. No onerous applications. Just the support you need, when you need it most.

Grant Categories

According to our Orange County Nonprofit Needs Assessment, nonprofits serving Orange County face significant challenges in securing unrestricted funds to support staffing and leadership development, enhance their infrastructure, and engage in meaningful inter-organizational collaboration. The Breakaway Fund will provide one year grant awards of $50,000-$100,000 for projects in the following categories:

• Talent and Leadership
  • Every professional hockey team invests in coaches, trainers, nutritionists and other people who help their players thrive. Why should nonprofit organizations go without the same types of support? We will consider requests that cover investments in human capital to improve employee recruitment, professional development, organizational culture, and retention other than personnel salaries.
  • Examples include:
    • Professional development classes, executive coaching, and conference registration fees
    • Employee perks or discounts (lunches)
• Systems and "Stuff"
  • Hockey players rely on having abundant equipment including skates, sticks, pads, helmets, and mouth guards. Their coaches use sophisticated technology to assess game play and plan team logistics. Nonprofits also need to purchase new equipment to support their missions. We will consider requests that cover capital expenses or physical assets that improve your organization’s ability to deliver its mission.
  • Examples include:
    • Technology upgrades (hardware or software)
    • Facility or equipment upgrades
• Expertise
  • Behind every great team are experts that help with complex legal issues, human resources, financial planning, and other work that requires specific contracted expertise. We will consider requests that cover third party technical assistance to augment your current team with the right experts at the right time.
  • Examples include:
    • Specialized legal support
    • Accounting assistance
• "Season Ticket"
  • Not everything you dream of fits into neat boxes. If you have a unique funding request that falls outside of the above categories, please describe your request and we will consider it.

Selection Criteria

Eligible projects will be selected for funding based on the following criteria:

• Organization:
  • The organization helps to advance well-being and opportunity for all individuals and families living in Orange County
• Project:
  • The proposed activities are realistic and feasible and will enable the organization to better deliver its mission
• Funding:
  • “Right resources” for the project (would allow the organization to cover 100% of the requested expense)

Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program

The Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC), a component of the Strategic Growth Council’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program, supports California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals by making strategic investments to protect agricultural lands from conversion to more GHG-intensive uses. It also contributes to implementation of Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-82-20, which calls for the accelerated use of nature-based solutions to address the climate and biodiversity crises. Protecting critical agricultural lands from conversion to urban or rural residential development promotes smart growth within existing jurisdictions, ensures open space remains available, and supports healthy agricultural and tribal food systems, and resulting food security. Healthy and resilient food systems are becoming increasingly important in meeting the challenges occurring and anticipated as a result of climate change.

Capacity and Project Development

Capacity and Project Development grants expand organizational capacity to develop agricultural conservation acquisition projects.​

SALC capacity grants will be provided to:

• build organizational and financial capacity to develop agricultural conservation acquisition projects,
• assist eligible applicants in developing agricultural conservation easement and fee acquisition projects in preparation for submitting such projects for acquisition funding in future rounds, and
• provide funds to cover associated costs to help close agricultural conservation acquisition projects where the cost of the acquisition is covered by an alternate source of funding.

California Access to Justice Commission

The Mission

The California Access to Justice Commission advances access to justice for all Californians by expanding resources, removing barriers, and developing innovations so everyone can effectively and efficiently resolve their civil legal issues.

All Californians deserve justice. We envision a robust civil justice system that is well-integrated and coordinated so that everyone receives effective assistance to resolve their legal issues. Everyone should be able to get prompt access to the information and assistance they need, when and where they need it, in a format and language they can use. We collaborate with some of the most important stakeholders in the state, including the courts, the bar, the public, and the other branches of government, to achieve the following goals: Create a Continuum of Service; Improve Existing Systems; Expand Representation; and Promote Public Awareness and Trust.

Legal Aid Infrastructure & Innovation Grants

For the fifth year, the State has appropriated $5,000,000 through the Judicial Council for the California Access to Justice Commission (CalATJ) to provide grants to nonprofit organizations that provide civil legal aid to indigent persons. These funds are to support infrastructure and innovation in organizations that provide legal services to create access to justice in civil matters. Applicants do not need to be IOLTA-funded to be eligible for these grants. 

Project Requirements

Project funds must be used to support the infrastructure and/or innovation needs of legal services in civil matters for indigent persons as defined by individuals living at or below 200% FPT.

• Infrastructure: Similar to capacity building, infrastructure refers to foundational elements that help a nonprofit reach new levels of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity, so it may more effectively and efficiently advance its mission into the future. Infrastructure projects may include planning, governance, staffing, evaluation, financial management, legal accountability, communications, administrative functions, and technology. Infrastructure can also include leveraging relationships to access resources, exchange ideas, address shared issues, and collectively problem-solve in an effort to build capacity, both for a nonprofit and for the broader network, with the common goal of addressing pressing social concerns tied to legal issues.**
• Innovation: Innovation is not necessarily a new project. It could be an expansion project, or improvements to a unique service delivery model. Innovations in legal aid change the affordability, accessibility, or effectiveness of practices or tools used to provide high-quality legal assistance to low-income persons. This can include approaches for using technology or partnerships in legal services delivery; enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of existing technologies or partnerships so that they may be better used to increase the quality and quantity of services to clients; or replicating, adapting, or providing added value to the work of prior technology projects or partnerships. Innovation efforts can be applied to programs, products or devices, partnerships, communications, or operating processes. Innovation results in improvements to service delivery, quality of legal work, and managerial practices. Innovations often incorporate technology, but can also be reflected in partnerships, or service delivery models.***

Award Information

• Total Funding: $4,875,000
• Expected Number of Grants: 35-50
• Grants Size: $25,000 - $150,000 per project
• Anticipated Median Range: $75,000 - $125,000
• Grant Period: The grant period is 12 months

Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF)

The Inland Empire Community Foundation’s mission is “Strengthening Inland Southern California through Philanthropy.” The Foundation does this by raising, stewarding and distributing community philanthropic assets and by providing grants and scholarships to nonprofit organizations, and working toward a shared vision of a vibrant, generous and just region with unlimited opportunities. 

Community Impact Fund: Meeting the Moment

IECF’s Community Impact Fund (CIF) is its only unrestricted grantmaking. Two years ago, the Community Impact Fund, IECF’s competitive grant opportunity, funded efforts by IE nonprofits to embark on their own journey of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to consider how those ideas could enhance their impact. In 2025, given the impact of executive orders, federal funding cuts, and threatened future financial support to our nonprofit sector, IECF is focusing the CIF grant opportunity to assist nonprofits in this moment.

In June 2025, we hosted focus groups in three (3) locations – Riverside, San Bernardino and Coachella Valley. Twenty-two organizations participated from the sectors of Arts & Culture, Veteran Services, Youth Mentoring, Capacity Builder, College Prep, Immigrant Services, After School Program, Foster Youth, Health, Housing, Child Advocates, Senior Services, and Food Insecurity. Participants provided context on the state of IE nonprofits and consequently identified, prioritized, and delineated the most impactful, relevant and simplest ways to distribute $500,000 in grant funding.

Six (6) Months Core Operating Support Grants

Grants awarded are for general operating costs and may support efforts that enable an organization to effectively carry out its mission by strengthening organizational capacity and infrastructure to meet this moment of uncertainty.

Preserve Route 66 Grant Fund

The most enduring highway in our public consciousness, Route 66 represents a unique moment in history that continues to define the nation’s identity: the rise of the automobile and its implications of freedom, mobility, and a quintessential American story. Grants from this fund will help preserve and enhance historic places on or connected to Route 66 for future generations.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preserve Route 66 Grant Fund provides financial support to public agencies, tribal governments or nonprofit organizations to preserve and interpret historic places along the Route 66 corridor. The National Trust has a special interest in illuminating the narratives of communities whose places and stories have been historically underrepresented, which may include communities and neighborhoods along the Route 66 corridor associated with People of Color (including but not limited to indigenous peoples, Latinx, Black Americans and others), women, immigrants, LGBTQIA communities, veterans, and economically distressed communities.

Grants made from the Preserve Route 66 Fund will generally range from $2,500 to $10,000.

Community Progress Makers Fund

Community Progress Makers is a Citi Foundation initiative aimed at supporting local community organizations connecting low-income communities to greater social and economic opportunity. The Foundation first launched the Community Progress Makers initiative in 2015 with a vision of empowering local community organizations to grow their transformative impact through unrestricted, trust-based funding. The Foundation is committing an additional $50 million to support a fourth cohort of Community Progress Makers. Through an open request for proposals (RFP) process, the Foundation will select 50 community organizations to receive the following over three years: 

• $1 million in unrestricted grant support
• Access to technical assistance from national experts and leading researchers
• Opportunities to connect and share learnings through webinars and local and national gatherings

Selection Priorities

For this funding opportunity, the Citi Foundation will prioritize organizations that demonstrate:

• Deep connections to the communities served
• Track record of partnering with other community organizations and stakeholders to achieve positive change
• Utilization of data to inform planning and the capacity to collect, analyze, and share data, results, and learnings
• Track record and innovative vision in one of the following areas of work: 
  • Affordable Housing and Access, such as efforts to promote housing affordability; home ownership; and resident support services to help people more easily access employment, education, health, and childcare.
  • Economic Development, including the provision of technical assistance to small businesses; commercial corridor revitalization efforts; and green economy strategies that promote job creation.
  • Financial Health, such as efforts in delivering financial coaching; integrated financial capability services; and savings and asset building strategies.
  • Workforce Readiness, including organizations preparing young people and/or adults for careers and entrepreneurship.

In-N-Out Burger created the Slave 2 Nothing Foundation to help those who are enslaved by any person or substance, by empowering them to live free!

The Slave 2 Nothing Foundation’s mission is to free people from being enslaved to any person or substance. We fulfill our mission by providing financial support to organizations in our communities that:

• Create, educate and assist in solutions to eliminate human trafficking
• Assist individuals and their families to gain freedom and healing from substance abuse

Requirements

The Slave 2 Nothing Foundation supports two types of nonprofit organizations:

• Substance Abuse organizations that assist individuals and their families to gain freedom and healing in the following ways:
  • Detox, inpatient (residential) treatment, outpatient treatment, transitional /sober living facility, support services, and prevention
• Anti-Human Trafficking organizations that create, educate and assist with solutions to eliminate human trafficking in the following ways:
  • Drop-in center, emergency safe home, Long-term residential programs, support services, and prevention

Funding Availability

The Slave 2 Nothing Foundation is able to fund only a limited number of the total requests we receive. If a particular request meets funding criteria but does not receive support, one should not interpret this as an indication of the Slave 2 Nothing Foundation’s lack of appreciation for the merit and worthiness of either the request or the organization seeking support. We welcome the opportunity to discuss possible future funding by invitation. While there is no guarantee of ongoing support, there is no limitation on how many times an organization can apply. Each request is reviewed on its individual merit, and decisions are not based on prior year submittals. Therefore, an organization can reapply each year.

On occasion, an organization that receives a grant asks to recognize Slave 2 Nothing and/or In-N-Out Burger for such contributions. While we are always honored by the request, we do not encourage or recommend any such recognition. Part of our company’s mission statement is to “assist all communities in our marketplace”, and so we are pleased to support your efforts.