Grants for BIPOC

Grassroots Grants

Our Grassroots Grants program supports underfunded organizations and communities addressing a myriad of environmental and social justice issues, with a focus on fights over water privatization and plastic pollution.

Why We Give

The Story of Stuff Project established the Grassroots Grants Program in 2017 to support small organizations and groups organizing against water privatization and plastic pollution in the United States. Since we launched, we have supported over 20 grassroots groups with nearly $80,000 in funding.

We aim to offer these partners both financial resources, media infrastructure, and strategic planning and coalition building know-how needed to build winning campaigns. The Grassroots Grants Program is committed to equity and inclusion and prioritizes the funding of people of color, low-income, rural and women-led organizations.

We support projects that value local community involvement and organizing, creative interventions, strategic thinking, and both defensive “fight-back” and offensive solutions-focused projects.

NOTE: Proposals can be submitted at any time but must be submitted by that month's review deadline date to be considered.

Phone interviews: Must be completed by 5pm CT (Central Time Zone) of date listed. Please reach out at least one week before the deadline you are applying for to set up your call.

About Third Wave Fund

​​Third Wave Fund is the only national fund that supports youth-led Gender Justice activism to advance the political power, well-being, and self determination of communities of color and low-income communities in the United States.

We hold the following beliefs:

• People directly impacted by an issue are best positioned to design and lead solutions.
• The leadership of young women of color, trans, intersex, queer and gender non-conforming youth brings critical analysis and power to all social justice movements.
• We will only achieve deep and lasting change if we address the root cause of an issue.

Mobilize Power Fund

​Grants for youth-led and intergenerational groups, nonprofits, & coalitions in the USA - regardless of 501c3 status or fiscal sponsorship

What is the Mobilize Power Fund?

The Mobilize Power Fund is a rapid response fund that resources gender justice organizations to adapt or pivot their work when met with unanticipated, time-sensitive opportunities or threats to their movement building work and organizing conditions.

​​The Mobilize Power Fund prioritizes organizations that are led by young women of color (transgender and cisgender), and trans, queer, gender non conforming and intersex young people of color under 35, led by and for communities directly impacted by the issues they focus on, have an intersectional gender justice lens, and have a total organizational budget under $500k​.

Why was it created?

To support bold activism in real time.

We launched this fund because powerful movements need the ability to respond to and heal from immediate threats and opportunities with flexible and responsive funding opportunities.

How does it work?

Proposals are accepted all year and reviewed on a monthly basis

Grants can be made for up to $10,000 USD. Larger grants may be made on a case-by-case basis. Partnership or coalitions of two or more groups can request up to $20,000 USD.

Groups may not be granted more than once within a 6 month period. Groups applying more than once within the year will be considered upon discretion. Grantees who have not completed their follow-up reporting are ineligible for funding until completion. 

This Fund May Support:

​Through the Mobilize Power Fund, we resource time-sensitive projects including community organizing and mobilization, healing justice work, conflict resolution, community accountability, transformative and restorative justice work, direct action, and more.

About the Fund

The Environmental Justice Data Fund (EJDF or “the Fund”) is an $9 million fund, created and seeded by Google.org, that aims to help frontline communities that have been historically underserved and disproportionately impacted by climate change and environmental injustice. The Fund will enable frontline communities in the United States to use data to unlock resources, increase their access to Justice40 benefits and federal infrastructure funding, and advocate for new policies that empower communities to address past environmental harm and pave the way to a more sustainable, climate-resilient future.

The Fund will consider a broad range of approaches to using data to advocate for environmental justice at the local and regional level. It will provide organizations with flexible project funding to increase their organizational capacity to incorporate quality data work into their environmental and climate justice programming.

Environmental Justice

The US Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.

Data

The Fund defines data work as efforts ranging from building organizational capacity for data work to implementing research and data-related projects. This includes research planning, scenario planning, data collection, data analysis, and data visualization, among other efforts. Funded projects can be at any stage from nascent to advanced work.

The Fund is fiscally sponsored by the Windward Fund (Windward), a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates and hosts initiatives that pursue bold solutions to environmental challenges from a range of angles. Windward, with support from its lead consultant, Arabella Advisors, will lead the implementation of the Fund, including overseeing day-to-day operations, facilitating and managing the Fund’s administrative committee and advisory board, and administering the grant application process.

Since 1986, The Trust for the Meditation Process has encouraged the practice of inner, silent awareness, whether it's called meditation, mindfulness or contemplative prayer. Our financial grants to non-profit organizations renew contemplative Christianity, promote health and wholeness, and bring silence and stillness to a hectic world.  

Contemplative Christianity Grants

Many people think of meditation as an exclusively Eastern religious practice. But Western religion, too, has a long tradition of silent, non-discursive prayer, often called contemplation, which is rooted in a rich mystical literature. Contemporary thinkers are unearthing this tradition. Their fresh encounter with the Gospels and mystics emphasizes that God is a living presence in us – to be known in silence and love and manifested in our acts of compassion.

• Grants made in the Contemplative Christianity Program have these objectives:  
• Introduce or expand the teaching and practice of Christian contemplative practices, such as Christian Meditation or Centering Prayer.
• Focus on silent, non discursive meditation rather than another aspect or method of prayer or spiritual formation.
• Connect with a Christian audience or have a Christian context.
• Identify and support emerging scholars and leaders in Contemplative Christianity and Christian mysticism.
• Raise the profile of Contemplative Christianity, with language and programs that speak to all Christian denominations and that reconnect people to Christian contemplative traditions.
• Reach underserved populations, such as children, teens, and young adults, people of color, people who are LGBTQ, people with low incomes and people facing addictions, illness, trauma or loss.
• Encourage dialogue among contemplative traditions in all religions.

Mindfulness Grants

Thirty years ago, Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts medical school adapted classic forms of meditation found in most religions for a modern, secular audience. A simple practice of paying silent attention to the present moment formed the core of their efforts to help people improve physical and emotional health. 

Since then, a large and rigorous body of research has shown that a regular practice of mindfulness meditation can change us in many significant ways: improving immune function, reducing stress, reducing pain and symptoms of chronic disease, improving sleep, improving attention, fostering self- care and compassion, and the list continues to grow. Today, an ever widening interest in the benefits of mindfulness practice has led to its introduction in many fields and professions.  

Grants made in the Mindfulness Program have both of these objectives:

Mindfulness Program grants are highly competitive and we generally receive more applications than we can award. 

Grant Guidelines

Our focus is short-term projects where a small grant can make a credible impact and result in clearly identifiable outcomes. We make 20 to 40 grants annually. Initial awards are typically small – $3,000 to $5,000.

The type of projects we fund includes:

• Meditation courses, workshops, lectures or retreats.
• Trainings, sabbaticals, retreats and other development for meditation teachers.
• Meditation curriculum development.
• Books, supplies and equipment for meditation programs.
• Efforts to expand and build the capacity of meditation programs and address barriers to practice. 
• Meditation research, especially the development of simple, effective, accessible evaluation tools.
• Publications that effectively spread critical perspectives on meditation and meet an important gap in the current literature.
• East/West meditation dialogue.

Mission & Vision

Access Fund is a nonprofit advocacy organization that leads and inspires the climbing community toward sustainable access and conservation of the climbing environment. Join the movement today.

It’s Our Fight Together

Every climber finds something different on the rock: pure joy, limitless challenge, wild freedom, like-minded community. Whatever you seek, all climbers should have the opportunity to revel in it and be inspired to care for the special places where they find it. That’s where Access Fund comes in.

Access Fund was founded in 1991 to fight for legal and physical access to the places we love to climb—and we've largely won that battle. Now, we face a new set of challenges as a result of the sport’s explosive growth. Land managers are no longer asking themselves whether or not we should be allowed to climb, but whether we can do so sustainably without destroying the places we love. With over 30 years of advocacy victories under our belts, Access Fund is uniquely positioned to meet the new challenges head-on to fight for sustainable access, protect and conserve the land, and build a nationwide community of inspired advocates.

To ensure a sustainable future for climbing, we must scale up our efforts to keep pace with the exponential growth in climbing. Become a member of the largest and fastest-growing community of advocates working to protect America’s climbing.

JEDI Grant Program

Access Fund is now accepting applications for its new Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Grant Program. This pilot grant program is designed to bolster the efforts of advocates who are working to promote diversity, inclusion, and equitable access within climbing.

The goal of this new grant program is to inspire and empower climbing organizations to work toward a future in which all climbers can enjoy sustainable access to climbing and feel welcomed into the advocacy community. We’re thrilled to add a JEDI-focused dimension to our support for the conservation and advocacy efforts of local climbers and climbing organizations.

Access Fund is looking to fund projects that address social and cultural barriers to climbing participation—especially those that incorporate elements of education and advocacy around conservation and stewardship. The grants are open to local climbing organizations (LCOs), land managers, affinity groups, and other organizations that are working to protect and create access to climbing and climbing areas and are committed to integrating JEDI principles into that work.

During the pilot year, $10,000 in funds is available, with the average grant expected to fall in the $2,500-$5,000 range. Between two and four grants are expected to be awarded.

About the Foundation

The Sozosei Foundation was established in 2019 as a philanthropic arm of Otsuka. Our mission is to be a catalyst for ideas that nurture creative solutions for healthier communities. The name Sozosei means “creativity” in Japanese. Our Japanese heritage is manifest in the Foundation’s fundamental values and day-to-day operations. We are guided by a spirit of “Jissho,” or “proof through execution,” as we employ our unique assets and skills to contribute to the well-being of people and communities.

The Foundation’s primary focus is to eliminate the use of jails and prisons for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. We also engage in disaster relief in places where Otsuka has a presence globally and support efforts to build resilient, healthy, and vibrant communities in six cities within a 50-mile radius of Otsuka's offices in the United States.

Decriminalize Mental Illness Grant

Mental illness is not a crime. Yet far too many individuals receive their first diagnosis of mental illness in jail or prison — a result of stigma, discrimination, racism, as well as the persistent and systemic failure of the United States healthcare system to provide affordable, accessible, community-based mental health care.

Despite this complex web of factors, the Foundation believes an opportunity exists to make measurable progress to decriminalize mental illness by increasing access to mental health care in communities. 

Through our Annual Sozosei Summit to Decriminalize Mental Illness and our grantmaking, the Foundation is eager to engage in dialogue and work collaboratively to move the needle to decriminalize mental illness in the United States. Mental illness is not a crime. 

Guidelines

The Foundation recognizes the complex ecosystem within which efforts to decriminalize mental illness exists. Within that ecosystem we focus on upstream approaches to increase access to mental health care in communities across four strategic pillars: 

Access to Care 

Envisioning and building a United States where people with mental illness can access quality mental health care in communities—before, during, and after emergencies – through advocacy, litigation, enforcement of the Mental Health Parity Act, increasing the number of psychiatrists and effective implementation of 988.

Arts & Communications

Centering artists and art to increase access to mental health care, and building awareness and compassion by supporting work that gives a voice to lived experience through podcasts, journalism, documentaries, music, visual arts, and more.

Research

Building, sharing, and promoting data collection to drive best practices and spark new ideas and course correction. 

Scaling What Works

Supporting innovative community-based programs that have the potential to become national models.

About Borealis Philanthropy

Borealis Philanthropy works as a partner to philanthropy, helping grantmakers expand their reach and impact. Our primary work includes managing donor collaboratives where numerous funders come together to pool resources that support a variety of issues, communities, and movements. Borealis currently has 10 donor collaboratives, including the Disability Inclusion Fund.

Disability Inclusion Fund

We’re excited to share the Disability Inclusion Fund is accepting applications from organizations working for disability inclusion, rights, and justice.

Please check FAQ for additional informations.

Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) invites your organization to partner with us to drive equitable change in our community. Change is sparked when people come together - in partnership, collaboration and generosity. Our role is to align the right players. Then coordinate their efforts and contributions in a way that creates the most impact. GCF invests in the expertise of trusted partners to build a more equitable region. One of the many ways we support our partners is by offering competitive grants that align with our donors' interest areas. Funding in these areas is made available through our Request for Proposal (RFP) process. 

This year GCF plans to distribute $2 million across our RFP's. For the Vibrant Arts & Culture Cycle, GCF has approximately $250,000 available and grants will be awarded up to the $25,000 level.

Proposals should explicitly address the following purpose:

• To support and enhance the vibrancy of this region by increasing the availability and accessibility of arts and cultural programming that is inclusive of historically marginalized groups in our region.

GCF offers a centralized inquiry portal to help organizations determine their alignment to our funding sources. This simple form is intended to provide nonprofits an outlet for clear and comprehensive guidance from GCF staff on potential support -- monetary and non-monetary -- within GCF and beyond. Proposals will be accepted by any organization that meets the criteria below as well as aligns strongly with the details of this RFP.

Wellness for All,

Well-being for All, a Power of She Fund grant, supports women of color entrepreneurs and women of color-led organizations committed to making wellness and fitness more accessible, and to making well-being resources more inclusive to female BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities. In 2022, 15-time GRAMMY Award winner Alicia Keys will join Well-being for All (formerly Wellness for All) as an advisor and mentor.

An advocate for women’s empowerment, Alicia will help select grant recipients and provide the community with mentoring resources and learnings from her own well-being journey over her career.

The Power of She Fund was established by Athleta in partnership with the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements to apply:

• Women of color entrepreneurs, actively creating or building businesses and/or programs that aim to make well-being and fitness practices more inclusive to female BIPOC communities
• Women of color-led non-profit organizations or for-profit businesses whose purpose is to make well-being and fitness more inclusive to female BIPOC communities

Applicants who fail to meet these requirements will be deemed ineligible.

Funds

Funds can be used for, but are not limited to, the items listed below.

• Purchase of new software, hardware, website, and email tools to implement their project vision
• Leasing of physical space for events, program operations, community gatherings
• Marketing, communications, PR, operational, and business expenses