Search Through Grants for International Development in the U.S.

Centene Charitable Foundation

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

Mission

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

Areas of Focus

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

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

The George and Sarah Buchanan Foundation was born from the shared vision of its founders, George and Sarah Buchanan, who believed in giving back to the community as a testament to their life’s blessings. Focusing on special needs, military, at-risk youth, education, and faith-based initiatives, the foundation aims to create a ripple effect of positive change across communities. The George and Sarah Buchanan Foundation is dedicated to fulfilling our mission of providing help and support to those in need across all five of our focus areas. By providing grants and partnering with 501 c3 charitable organizations, we hope to improve the lives of all recipients.

Our Grants

The Foundation makes Grants to a wide variety of charitable organizations. Programs vary in grant size and funding priorities. Supporting nonprofit and 501c charitable organizations, we award grants to enhance impactful programs and initiatives, foster innovation, and bolster the capabilities of existing systems and organizations. Nonprofits are invited to apply for grants for these programs. The foundation concentrates its giving on several key areas:

• Military

Partnering with charities that provide essential support to military personnel, veterans, and their families during and after service. Charities supporting the Military community focus on aiding active-duty service members, veterans, and their families. These organizations offer a range of support services to address the unique challenges faced by military personnel, including transition programs for those re-entering civilian life, mental health support, and assistance for wounded soldiers. They also provide housing assistance for veterans and gold-star families. Additionally, they provide financial aid, scholarships for education, and family support initiatives to ensure the well-being of military families, honoring their sacrifice and service to the country.

• Special Needs

Charitable organizations within the Special Needs sector are dedicated to serving individuals with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities. These nonprofits work tirelessly to provide a spectrum of services that enhance the quality of life, promote independence, and ensure equal opportunities in all aspects of life. From early intervention programs, therapeutic services, and inclusive education to vocational training and supportive housing, these charities aim to meet the comprehensive needs of those with special needs, advocating for their rights and well-being in society.

• At-Risk Youth

Organizations working with At-Risk Youth are committed to guiding young people who face various challenges, such as poverty, homelessness, family instability, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. These charities offer programs that include mentorship, education and literacy support, after-school and enrichment activities, and career readiness training. Their goal is to provide at-risk youth with the tools and resources they need to overcome obstacles, realize their potential, and build a positive future.

• Education

Charitable organizations in the Education sector strive to ensure equitable access to quality education for children and adults alike. These nonprofits work in diverse settings, from urban to rural communities, providing programs such as early childhood education, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) initiatives, scholarship funds, and teacher training. They aim to close the education gap, foster lifelong learning, and prepare individuals for success in an increasingly complex world through vocational training opportunities.

• Faith-Based Organizations

Faith-based charitable organizations operate on the foundation of Christian values and beliefs, serving communities through a wide array of social, educational, and humanitarian efforts. These charities provide services such as food banks, homeless shelters, disaster relief, and international development projects. Beyond physical aid, they also offer spiritual support and community building activities, aiming to uplift individuals and families.

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. 

Global Impact Cash Grants

Identifying and incubating innovative early-stage solutions. We identify, incubate, and develop innovative early-stage solutions with the highest potential for impact. Global Impact Cash Grants go to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that address a significant social problem. We're looking for programs that fit within our investment sectors, focus on the underserved, and use technology to improve the reach and efficiency of services.

We accept applications year-round from eligible organizations. A brief Letter of Inquiry (LOI) is used to determine whether your organization will be invited to complete a full application. Please expand and carefully review each of the three sections below to learn more

Our priority social impact sectors

We focus on investing in innovative, tech-enabled solutions to the challenges and opportunities that matter most to communities in need, prioritizing four social impact sectors:

Cisco Crisis Response

Mobilizing to provide essentials to communities in need and those in crisis, including food, housing, secure connectivity, and disaster relief

By leveraging Cisco’s people, technology, financial resources, and strategic partnerships, we help strengthen community resilience and drive long-term recovery from crises.

Education

Supporting students, teachers, and schools by increasing engagement, building skills, promoting subject mastery, and expanding their capacity to thrive

Cisco is committed to inclusive access to digital skills training and supporting those who use technology to educate. Through programs like Cisco Networking Academy and social investments in education, we create new opportunities for individuals to thrive.

Economic Empowerment

Transforming communities through skill development, long-term career opportunities, entrepreneurship, and access to financial products and services

Strategic grants that unlock economic prosperity and growth for individuals and communities.

Climate Regeneration

Building an inclusive, regenerative, and resilient climate future through education, regenerative agriculture, conservation, protection, and clean energy solutions

Our efforts began in 2021, when the Cisco Foundation committed US$100 million over 10 years to fund nonprofit grants and impact investing in climate solutions. 

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.

Values and Strategy

Our funding and partnering approach focuses on meeting short-term critical needs and addressing underlying system-wide challenges. In both cases The Marcus Foundation seeks partners and grantees – organizations and foundations – that are looking for opportunities to explore new ventures, and bringing creative thinking to their work. Specifically, we work with organizations committed to developing innovative approaches to sustainability and community food resources. Our values include:

• Change and Support: We value efforts that further systemic change and those that provide immediate responses to critical needs in our communities
• Communication and Collaboration: We believe in the effective and timely exchange of information and the usefulness of collaboration that is both efficient and creative
• Listening and Partnership: We value the sharing of ideas, resources and initiatives, and we seek partnerships that leverage the assets and skills of all participants

Our focus on hunger stems from the fundamental reality that hungry people aren’t able to focus on anything else until this basic human need is satisfied. Unmet, this need undermines our communities and deprives our children of the ability to learn while at school. It forces our older citizens to choose between heat, medicine and food. This was clearly articulated in the 19th century by Ballington Booth, the founder of Volunteers of America in his statement: “You cannot talk to a man about God (or we believe, anything else) when he is hungry..." In 1943 Abraham Maslow captured this truth as part of the “Hierarchy of Needs” asserting that the basic needs of food and shelter must be met before humans can move towards the higher goals of education, family, employment and “self-actualization."

Our emphasis on sustainability is rooted in the awareness that we are all stewards of a world that will soon be passed on to the next generation, as a prior generation passed on to us our world. While the definition of sustainability has evolved over the decades since being introduced in 1987, by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development in the Bruntland Report, at its core it remains a principle of intergenerational equity. Sustainability is the imperative that we consider long-term consequences of our actions and behavior. Distilled to its essence, sustainability requires us to “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Strategically, we believe immediate and critical needs must be addressed, while also working to change the fundamental incentives and dynamics that cause these problems. Whether in business practices, environmental advocacy, or agricultural methods, sustainability is a prism that can generate new perspectives. It can be and must be the driving force that challenges us to live responsibly.

Partnerships

The Marcus Foundation funds primarily in two areas:

• Assisting organizations that work to increase awareness of hunger as a critical problem and/or deliver food resources to meet critical short-term needs; and
• Supporting efforts to change underlying structural obstacles and incentives that hinder efforts to bring sustainable practices into the mainstream.

Strategically, the Foundation now serves not only as a financial supporter of organizations, but also as a partner in order to enhance impact and reduce fundraising and operating expenses.

• We collaborate with other funding organizations to multiply the resources available to grantees.
• The Foundation serves as a broker between organizations and qualified vendors when this can advance the mission of grantees.
• We offer the experience of Foundation officers on short-term assignments to tackle specific problems or seize timely opportunities when a grantee needs immediate help and we have the internal capacity to respond.

About Amgen

Amgen is one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies. Amgen is a values-based company, deeply rooted in science and innovation to transform new ideas and discoveries into medicines for patients with serious illnesses.

Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.

Our belief—and the core of our strategy—is that innovative, highly differentiated medicines that provide large clinical benefits in addressing serious diseases are medicines that will not only help patients, but also will help reduce the social and economic burden of disease in society today.

Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology innovator since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.

Non-Healthcare Donations and Sponsorships

Amgen Charitable Donations and Sponsorships are focused on humanitarian, social, education and community programs.

Thomas Jefferson observed that "the ground of liberty is won by inches." The Norman Foundation seeks to help win some of those precious inches.  We support efforts that strengthen the ability of communities to determine their own economic, environmental and social well-being, and that help people control those forces that affect their lives.  These efforts may:     

• Promote economic justice and development through community organizing, coalition building and policy reform efforts.
• Work to prevent the disposal of toxics in communities, and to link environmental issues with economic and social justice.    
• Link community-based economic and environmental justice organizing to national and international reform efforts.

We will consider the following in evaluating grant proposals:

• Does the project arise from the hopes and efforts of those whose survival, well-being and liberation are directly at stake?
• Does it further ethnic, gender and other forms of equity?
• Is it rooted in organized, practical undertakings?
• Is it likely to achieve systemic change?

In pursuing systemic change, we would hope that:

• The proposed action may serve as a model.
• The spread of the model may create institutions that can survive on their own.
• Their establishment and success may generate beneficial adaptations by other political, social and economic institutions and structures.

The Foundation provides grants for general support, projects, and collaborative efforts. We also welcome innovative proposals designed to build the capacity of social change organizations working in our areas of interest.

Resources Legacy Fund Grantmaking Opportunity

Resources Legacy Fund works to secure a just and resilient world for people and nature by building alliances that mobilize influence, knowledge, and expertise. Connecting philanthropic funding with organizations advancing environmental outcomes, equity, and justice is the keystone of our work.

RLF’s grantmaking seeks to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by directing funds to those who have been marginalized and to build long-term capacity within their communities. We believe that the most effective alliances represent diverse experience and perspectives, and that the most meaningful and lasting outcomes are often co-created with those typically underrepresented in decision-making. With our funding partners, we seek to change how environmental solutions are understood, developed, and implemented. Learn more about our grantmaking approach.

Program Areas

• Climate & Energy
• Healthy & Resilient Communities
• International Conservation
• Ocean, Coast & Fisheries
• Public Funding & Policy
• Social Justice & Equity
• Western Land Conservation & Restoration

Mission

The Richard Davoud Donchian Foundation provides funds to nonprofit organizations whose programs result in the strengthening of the human spirit and the enhancement of personal integrity. The Foundation channels most of its financial resources toward charitable organizations whose attention is concentrated on character development through leadership training, literacy, primary education, business integrity, spiritual enrichment and ethics.

It is the expressed belief of the Donchian Foundation that every individual can become physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually stronger, resulting in the culmination of a more confident and scrupulous lifestyle. The primary objective of the Donchian Foundation's grant making activities is to ensure that its ultimate recipients become empowered to strengthen and build up their families and communities -- passing onto others that which was given to them.

Guiding Principles

The Donchian Foundation's goal is to help effective organizations advance their mission and meet their charitable objectives. Through its endorsement, the Foundation's secondary objective is to create a ripple effect that leverages new partners and greater visibility. Leveraging is a principle that the foundation believes in, and one that is applied to its efforts toward strategic philanthropy. Whether it's leveraging matching funds through challenge grants, or motivating like-minded organizations to participate in a foundation-initiated project, the ultimate intention is to foster the best possible results.

Qualities sought by the Donchian Foundation in its partner organizations are:

• effective and dynamic personnel;
• passionate leadership;
• a bias against bureaucracy;
• prudent management & governance practices; and
• commitment to results and to the documented assessment of program impact.

The Foundation focuses its grant making in three key areas: Literacy & Education; Humanitarian Efforts and Ethics & Personal Development.

Literacy & Education

– With an interest in rethinking and reconfiguring curriculum, pedagogy, and the other academic resources in schools and communities, the Foundation focuses on programs that work toward long-term improvement in all aspects of education, but with an emphasis on literacy.

Humanitarian Efforts

– To improve the lives and spirits of individuals and communities facing pressing circumstances, etc., including efforts to address Children’s Health.

Ethics & Personal Development

– To enhance the moral, ethical, spiritual and physical well-being and progress of mankind. The Foundation's grantmaking activities are centered around the concept of social purpose enterprise that seeks to raise the standards of ethical excellence in society, moral character in the community, faith in the family, integrity in business and grassroots leadership in needy communities.

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.

The Russell Foundation

The Russell Foundation supports programs for children and youth that promote their development into confident, competent, and caring adults who will make positive contributions to society.

Our Purpose

To make a positive difference in the lives of children, youth and young adults (thru age 23) so that they can achieve their highest potential.

Our Business

Supporting qualified charitable organizations, projects and research that seek solutions to detrimental issues – individual and systemic – which achieve enduring positive effects on the physical, intellectual and emotional development of children and youth of all ages and socio-economic status.

Our Values

Self-Image, Self-Respect, Personal Responsibility, Confidence, Education, Competence, Healthy Lifestyle, Caring and Respect for Others.

Focus Areas

Award grants focus on six areas supporting children and youth. The distribution of grants awarded each year reflects the Foundation’s current emphasis toward each area. The Foundation’s future emphasis may change, but it will consider grant applications addressing any of these focus areas.

• Education: Advancing the learning skills and academic achievements of children from kindergarten to high school using tutoring, mentoring, and talent-coaching that supplement and complement formal educational systems.
• Development: Building the long-term life skills, awareness, and ambition to have the confidence and motivation necessary to pursue goals for the betterment of themselves and society. 
• Intervention: Providing the short-term framework and resources needed to protect children facing immediate difficulties in their living environments that undermine their long-term development.
• Character: Instilling morals and principles that foster ethical behavior, self-responsibility, respect for others, stewardship of the environment, and caring for those in need.
• Health: Fostering and maintaining the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of children that is essential for positive development.
• Medical: Providing services, resources, and other support for specific treatment / correction of birth defects, disease, and physical injury.

The Affirm Cares Employee Foundation

Our 501(c)(3) non-profit was established by Affirm in late 2019. We aim to make a significant and meaningful impact in the communities where we work and live.

Purpose

Affirm Cares gives grants to and partners with local organizations that make a meaningful impact in our pillar focus areas. We empower organizations working to provide financial literacy and inclusion, alleviate housing insecurity and homelessness, encourage civic engagement, promote community enrichment, and technology education. We support sustainable and scalable initiatives with a measurable impact in at least one of our three pillars: 

• Financial Literacy and Inclusion
• Vibrant Communities
• Technology Education and Training

Focus Areas

Affirm Cares volunteers share our time, funding, and energy to support:

• Financial literacy & inclusion: Provide fair and responsible credit for communities and businesses, credit education support, and nonprofit investments focused on equitable economic growth.
• Technology education & training: Support access to technology for K–12 coding academies and bootcamps, as well as providing workforce development and support for small urban and rural businesses.
• Vibrant communities: Partner with organizations focused on housing insecurity, homelessness, civic engagement, neighborhood preservation and revitalization, small business development, and community enrichment.

Funding

 Awards will typically range from a minimum of $1,000 to a maximum of $10,000 barring exceptional circumstances. 

Philanthropy

In 1906, when Leo Samuel founded the company that would become The Standard, he had two radical — at least for the time — ideas for business: it should provide local services for customers and it should contribute to the well-being of the community. Our company has grown considerably since those early days — we have customers and offices around the country. Our dual focus on exceptional customer service and supporting the places we live and work continues to guide The Standard today

Corporate Giving

At The Standard, our business purpose is to help people achieve financial well-being and peace of mind. This focus means that our company exists to help people. Our more than 3,000 employees are a huge part of that culture of caring. Not surprisingly, our corporate giving reflects that culture of caring. We work with employees to find ways to make a difference and support our communities through corporate giving and grants. The philosophy behind our charitable giving is shaped by the same attributes that help make us a leading provider of financial services: integrity, commitment and doing things differently. Through our corporate giving program, we support organizations that align with our four focus areas: Healthy Communities, Disability and Empowerment, Cultural Development, and Education and Advancement.

The Standard Charitable Foundation

In 2006 we celebrated our 100th anniversary, and to mark the occasion — and properly honor our rich legacy of philanthropy — we launched The Standard Charitable Foundation.

The mission of The Standard Charitable Foundation is to make a positive difference in the communities we serve by supporting community development, education and disability organizations. While the foundation has a broad goal of making a positive difference in our communities, we place special emphasis on helping individuals and families who have experienced a major disability or the loss of a loved one.

Organizations We Support

Healthy Communities

Strong, vibrant communities are a critical source of security for all residents. We fund organizations that provide support, training and rehabilitation to individuals and families facing significant challenges. We also fund programs that help individuals and families develop capabilities to increase self-sufficiency.

Disability and Empowerment

Our business is about helping people overcome hardships and empowering success. We support organizations that help people with disabilities thrive independently and overcome barriers to social and economic success. We also support programs that provide relief during transitions to independent living.

Cultural Development

Arts and cultural organizations play a major role in vibrant communities. We support organizations that offer multicultural art programs and provide enhanced access for the under-served. Specifically, we encourage programs that build audiences and promote the arts through education, interactive media and artistic excellence.

Education and Advancement

The future health and well-being of our communities is in the hands of children, who are the workers, innovators, leaders and artists of the future. We fund organizations that foster strategic learning initiatives to better prepare children for success. We emphasize programs that strengthen the quality of education, early childhood education and workforce development.

Funding Guidelines for The Standard's Corporate Giving Program

Types of Support

• General operating support
• Program support
• Capital support
• Event sponsorship
• Exhibitions
• Performance/Productions

Range of Support: $500 to $25,000. The average gift is $3,000.

Focus Areas 

• Healthy Communities
• Disability and Empowerment
• Cultural Development
• Education and Advancement

Funding Guidelines for The Standard Charitable Foundation

Types of Support 

• General operating support
• Program support
• Capital support

Range of Support: $500 to $25,000. The average gift is $10,000.

Focus Areas

• Healthy Communities
• Disability and Empowerment
• Education and Advancement

About Amgen

Amgen is one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies. Amgen is a values-based company, deeply rooted in science and innovation to transform new ideas and discoveries into medicines for patients with serious illnesses.

Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.

Our belief—and the core of our strategy—is that innovative, highly differentiated medicines that provide large clinical benefits in addressing serious diseases are medicines that will not only help patients, but also will help reduce the social and economic burden of disease in society today.

Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology innovator since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.

U.S. Healthcare Donations

Donations are a contribution, grant, or payment in cash or in kind, made by Amgen to a not-for-profit and/or tax exempt organization without expectation of something in return other than customary donor recognition of incidental value.

As part of Amgen's mission to serve patients, Amgen makes donations to qualified members of the U.S. healthcare community for the following purposes:

• The support of science, technology, medicine, healthcare or education; or
• Education of the public on disease states, medical conditions, science or technology; or
• In furtherance of other genuine philanthropic and charitable purposes that are consistent with Amgen's scientific and disease-state interests.

Types of donations that are supported by Amgen include, but are not limited to: 

• Endowed Professorships
• Fellowships
• Patient Education
• Awards/Scholarships
• Non-Accredited Medical or Scientific Meetings/Conferences

Areas of Interest to Amgen

• Biomedical Data Sciences
• Biosimilars Education
• Biostatistical Sciences
• Bone
• Cardiovascular
• Discovery Research
• Epidemiological/ Observational Research
• Hematology/ Oncology
• Inflammation
• Metabolic Diseases
• New modalities, cutting edge technologies
• Neuroscience
• Nephrology
• Pharmacy
• Process Development
• Translational Research Areas (for example: Toxicology, Biomarkers, Process Science)

What we do

Since its inception, LOF has donated almost $6 million to support social justice and humanitarian causes across the US and globally, providing vital funding for disaster relief aid, protection for children and families in war torn countries, food insecurity programs, racial justice, incarceration prevention, and self-defense workshops for marginalized communities. 

With an average donation of $25 per campaign, we are able to send funds to organizations making a difference on the ground worldwide.

Our Values

Community

We are fueled by the spirit of our fans and donors and reciprocate that energy back into communities around the world.

Tenacity

We believe it is our job as artists to generate awareness about issues and injustices in our world, and we are on a constant quest to grow our support base and create change.

Music

We are bound by our shared passion for music and it serves as a vehicle for the impact we aim to deliver.

Grants to Charities:

Grants to organizations are made to tax-exempt public charities under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Program interests include, but are not limited to: LGBTQIA2S+ support, disadvantaged youth, public health, women, the environment, the arts, the hungry and the unhoused. The Looking Out Foundation generally does not support: endowment programs, fund raising events, annual appeals of well-established organizations, scholarships, or grants to individuals. 

Please note that the Looking Out Foundation receives far more requests each grant cycle than it can support. The average grant allocation is between $5,000 and $25,000. Organizations who have already previously received grants from the Looking Out Foundation, are strongly encouraged to diversify their funding base and develop alternative sources of support. The need is ever changing, therefore so is our focus. 

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.

Our History

Andy has spent a lifetime developing and building sustainable communities. He has expertise in regulatory guidelines, leveraging money, and visionary leadership. His integrity and work ethic have produced communities that continue to thrive on their own beyond his personal or business involvement, both economically and aesthetically. His patience and appreciation for nature come from years of working with recreational athletic teams and hunting in remote areas.

Jan has spent a lifetime in community service with a focus on responsible, fiducially sound leadership practices. Her consensus-building leadership style has developed through involvement in educational cultural arts initiatives, public park and environmental endeavors, and church leadership. Her creative vision coupled with her ability to appreciate and empower volunteers has helped reshape the groups and organizations she has been a part of.

Together, Andy and Jan have raised three children in the Wake County Public School System, always conscious of building community through consistent involvement in Parent-Teacher Associations, church, youth sports leagues, the local business community, and civic organizations. They are North Carolina natives with a global perspective drawn from extensive travel, both nationally and internationally.

Jandy is based on the biblical foundation where two come together to make one. The name is a visual representation of how they have partnered their life for their children and how they would like to partner with groups in the future. They believe in hard work, personal responsibility, integrity to the project and process, avoiding missed opportunities, and doing their absolute best with the resources they’ve been given.

They’ve now created a family Foundation, blending their talents together, to build a Foundation that inspires emulation based on the best of Jandy – Andy’s vision to leave lasting community assets and Jan’s creativity in bringing volunteers together. They intend to provide resources for like-minded Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) public charities that will share in their mission and help further creative visionary volunteer groups with their capital projects.

Mission and Focus

Jan and Andy Ammons established The Jandy Ammons Foundation in November 2012. The foundation’s mission is to improve local communities through innovative, project-driven endeavors that will enhance wildlife habitats, park settings, educational surroundings, artistic installations, or Christian church mission projects.

Grant Focus

The foundation focuses on specific “shovel ready” standalone projects, including the following:

• Wildlife/conservation/hunting projects
• Educational projects
• Artistic installations
• Christian church mission endeavors
• Park settings/community areas
• Other organizations and projects uniquely within the scope of the Foundation’s mission

Background

The Robert F. Schumann Foundation was established by Mr. Schumann out of his beliefs that the environment is essential to sustain the future of the planet, that education is essential to solve many quality of life issues for society, and that arts and cultural programs offer society hope and the ability to dream.  Mr. Schumann was an avid environmentalist and fought for open spaces where birds and other animals could maintain habitats and where people could enjoy nature.  He supported efforts to improve the planet through environmental education, as well as artistic and cultural institutions that sought to raise the quality of life for local communities. Robert F. Schumann developed a love of birds early in his life.  From a young age, he continued to learn and understand the importance of protecting the environment from over-development and pollution.  He purchased acreage in upstate New York where he created a bird sanctuary known as Nuthatch Hollow.  There he began a partnership with the local university allowing students, faculty and staff to use the land for environmental studies.  Mr. Schumann served on the board of many environmental and educational institutions seeking to encourage the interests of students of all ages to understand and appreciate the importance of protecting and enjoying the environment. Robert F. Schumann died on December 8, 2011.  His legacy of support for the environment, education, arts and culture will continue through the work of his foundation for many years to come.

Mission

The Robert F. Schumann Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life of both humans and animals by supporting environmental, educational, arts and cultural organizations and agencies.

There are no program limitations; however, the foundation is interested in primarily supporting environmental sustainability, education, the arts and humanities.

Program areas

• Environment, animals

Our Mission

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

The Founder

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

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

Our Mission

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation is a non-profit corporation established by the late biotechnology pioneer and entrepreneur James LeVoy Sorenson and his wife, education philanthropist Beverley Taylor Sorenson, to promote charitable, artistic, religious, educational, literary, and scientific endeavors. The foundation is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is qualified under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation was created to improve the lives of others and the world in which we live. The foundation supports a wide range of endeavors, from community development and health care to scientific and artistic pursuits.

What We Fund

Education

As a teacher, Beverley believed the arts are essential to broadening our children’s minds starting in elementary. She helped promote legislation so Utahn children would be exposed to more of the arts. She saw the arts as equal in importance in the development and success of children as sciences and math. Education continues to be a focus area for the foundation because she was a champion for the cause.

The foundation continues to support seven major universities in the development of elementary arts studies. The goal of education funding will always be to improve the breadth and depth of the art education and experiences of young students. Whether that be by supporting elementary programs or teachers who develop the talents of students.

Health Care

Having never fulfilled his dream of becoming a doctor, James devoted much of his fortune to provide better medical assistance for saving lives and alleviating pain and suffering.

Grants are awarded to facilities that work toward improving these aims as well as medical research, medical technologies, and other innovations that provide safe health care and quick recoveries.

Innovation

James was always interested in how to improve products or processes and never settled for the status quo. His 60+ patents are proof of his desire to innovate areas to improve quality of life and equality of experience.

Grants are awarded to organizations that share the same passion for technological advances and care for humanity. Unlike the other areas funded, innovation grants are open to any category or sector where innovative ideas and technologies can change the lives of people for the better.

Community

Both James and Beverley Sorenson were committed to improving the lives of those in their communities. From a young age, James served others including through a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The foundation recognizes the ways to help our communities are vast. Grants are given to programs that focus on protecting and preserving the environment, assisting the disenfranchised of society, and promoting understanding and tolerance in our world.

Projects

Ideas include, but are not limited to, projects and programs which: 

Education

• promote the development of the arts, including art education in schools
• assist promising young artists
• support performing arts organizations
• promote education and job training

Innovation

• enhance the quality of life of all humankind
• promote the development of science, culture, and recreation
• protect and enhance the environment
• promote the development of parks and green spaces

Health Care

• promote medical research
• develop innovative medical technologies for saving lives
• alleviate pain and suffering

Community

• encourage and support the long-term preservation of families and children;
• assist the disenfranchised of society, such as abused spouses and children
• promote community development and security and adequate and affordable housing
• promote law and order generally
• provide youth with alternatives to gangs, crime, and socially nonproductive behavior
• promote world peace and unity through greater understanding and tolerance
• advance the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

About the Youth Foundation

The Finish Line Youth Foundation (FLYF) supports life's biggest possibilities as the philanthropic arm of Finish Line. FLYF is a national partner of Special Olympics and dedicated corporate citizen to the Far Eastside of Indianapolis. FLYF also provides financial support for diversity and inclusion initiatives, opportunities for those with special needs and resources for disadvantaged youth.

Louder Than Words Grant

Our Louder Than Words grants serve as part of Finish Line's Louder Than Words platform and our goal to support diverse and underserved communities. These grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations that make a difference in our corporate Indianapolis neighborhood as well as communities across the country.

Projects that Qualify for Funding

Cycle 1 Focus: Far East Side of Indianapolis

Cycle 2 Focus: Health & Wellness

• Programming or activities for participation in programs that place an importance on personal development, an active and healthy lifestyle or mental health
  • Scholarships that provide full or partial funding to participate in programs provided by organization

Cycle 3 Focus: Workforce Development

• Programming or activities for participation in programs that place an importance on higher education, vocational training, and/or career development
  • Scholarships that provide full or partial funding to participate in programs provided by organization

Cycle 4 Focus: Safe Communities

• Programming or activities for participation in programs that emphasize public safety, building trust between communities and police, and/or reforming the criminal justice system
• Improvements and/or renovations to existing buildings, grounds, and property or for new facilities and/or grounds
• Emergency needs that would somehow be keeping the organization from providing current services such as natural disasters or other unforeseen circumstances that require special funding to help

Available Funding

• Organizations can request up to $10,000.

The Akamai Foundation

The Akamai Foundation is dedicated to encouraging the next generation of technology innovators by supporting STEM education, with a focus on the pursuit of excellence in mathematics in grades K-12. Grants focus on equal access to quality STEM education with grants supporting programs designed to attract more diversity to the technology industry. In addition, the Akamai Foundation provides disaster resilience, relief and humanitarian aid globally; and enables volunteerism by connecting employees to the communities in which Akamai operates.

Vision and Mission

Excellence in mathematics and innovation has always been and continues to be at the heart of Akamai’s mission. The Akamai Foundation promotes mathematics education and excellence among the next generation of technology innovators.

Through the Foundation and the programs that we partner with, we believe we will be able to help teach kids that math can be magical and fun. We hope our efforts will inspire young people to embrace math — and prepare for success in college and in their professional lives.

The Akamai Foundation is fueled by our belief in the wonderful possibilities for the future and grounded in the knowledge that our resources will be put to careful and thoughtful use.

Early Learner STEM Education Grant

The Akamai Foundation is pleased to launch the 2025 Early Learner STEM Education grant program. In addition to our core focus on STEM learning, we aim to help global education programs navigate the pandemic's economic impact and address digital inclusion gaps for young learners (pre-college students ages 5-19).

All applicants are required to provide a comprehensive plan outlining their STEM education program goals. This should include a digital inclusion strategy to address and eliminate barriers to access and use of technology in learning, especially for the most disadvantaged. Digital inclusion strategy examples include but are not limited to:

• Internet-enabled Device Access
• Digital Safety, Security & Citizenship Training (Digital Literacy training)
• Quality Technical Support
• Partnership with digital inclusion practitioners and advocates
• Digital content designed to encourage independent learning, participation, and collaboration
• Mental health support for online learners
• Development and implementation of new digital equity and inclusion strategies

Program goal

To mitigate climate change, make communities more resilient to climate change, protect public health from the hazards of toxic chemicals and pollutants, and preserve biological diversity.

Grants are made to

Promote more environmentally sustainable, resilient, and just communities that mitigate climate change by:

• Promoting energy efficiency and alternative sources of energy for buildings.
• Shifting to electric or low-emission vehicles and greater use of mass transit.
• Promoting a smarter, more resilient grid and distributed (on-site) generation.
• Reducing emissions from existing fossil fuel-powered facilities and extraction activities.
• Establishing regional programs, performance standards, and regulations that help reduce emissions.

Make communities, especially the most disadvantaged, more resilient to a changing climate by:

• Creating infrastructure that reduces stormwater runoff and absorbs storm surges.
• Protecting shoreline communities by conserving or enhancing natural barriers.
• Encouraging more sustainable building design and land use through policy reforms.
• Better planning and preparation for weather-related emergencies, especially for low-income and other vulnerable residents.

Protect public health from the hazards of toxic pollutants by:

• Supporting targeted scientific research that can be used to develop policy.
• Promoting safer chemical and heavy metal policies and practices, especially for infants, children, and other vulnerable people.
• Eliminating toxic chemicals from products through market campaigns focused on retailers and manufacturers.
• Enhancing protections for low-income communities near polluting facilities.
• Minimizing the hazards of new and expanded fossil fuel extraction on nearby communities.

Preserve biological diversity through habitat conservation by:

• Establishing, enhancing, and monitoring wildlife migration corridors; and
• Supporting functional connectivity between fragmented habitat that enables species to move and live safely

We encourage initiatives that cut across these program areas, especially those focused on smart growth, sustainable agriculture and regional food systems, and sustainable production.

Centene Charitable Foundation

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

Vision

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

Areas of Focus

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

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

Youth Initiative

Program Goal

The goal of the Youth Initiative is to support direct service programs that promote resilience, stability, and pyscho-social health for youth ages 14-21 who have been traumatized by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

Program Requirements

In order to be considered, programs must meet all of the following requirements. Programs that do not meet requirements will not be considered for a grant.

• Directly serve youth who have been significantly traumatized by Adverse Childhood Experiences. At this time, the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation limits the definition of ACEs to the following:
• Emotional, physical or sexual abuse
• Emotional or physical neglect
• Mother treated violently
• Substance abuse in the household
• Mental illness in the household
• Separation or divorce
• Incarceration of a household member
• Be a new program for the organization, or a new therapeutic component to an existing program, currently in development or within its first year (from the date of application submission) of implementation.
• Offer age-appropriate therapeutic interventions, activities, or services that promote resilience, stability, and psycho-social health in traumatized youth.
• Provide services that go beyond crisis intervention and the establishment of initial safety. Short-term shelter-based or crisis-oriented programs will not be funded.
• Include a plan for evaluating program effectiveness, with metrics that demonstrate the impact of the program in helping participating youth and at least one significant adult, such as a parent, primary caregiver or other adult with whom the youth has a meaningful and ideally long-term relationship.
• Enhance the relationship between the youth and at least one significant adult, such as a parent, primary caregiver or other adult with whom the youth has a meaningful and ideally long-term relationship.
• Use trauma informed practices and policies, and demonstrate a commitment to ongoing trauma training for involved staff.

Multi-Year Funding

The Foundation intends to support new programs for up to three years. While the Foundation will not commit funds for the second or third year without an annual review, it is the Foundation's intent to continue funding successful programs. Because programs will not be funded for more than three years, you are encouraged to plan for the long-term sustainability of the program.

Organizations requesting second- or third-year funding for programs approved the previous year must continue to submit an abbreviated Stage 1 Application by March 1. Organizations seeking second- or third-year funding and have submitted a Stage 1 Application, will automatically be requested to submit a Stage 2 Application. Organizations seeking third-year funding must also have submitted a grant report for the first year of funding by the required due date stated in the Grant Agreement to be considered for funding.