Global Impact Cash Grants

Cisco welcomes applications for Global Impact Cash Grants from community partners around the world who share our vision and offer an innovative approach to a critical social challenge.

We identify, incubate, and develop innovative solutions with the most impact. Global Impact Cash Grants go to nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that address a significant social problem. We’re looking for programs that fit within our investment areas, serve the underserved, and leverage technology to improve the reach and efficiency of services. We accept applications year-round from eligible organizations. An initial information form is used to determine whether your organization will be invited to complete a full application.

Social Investment Areas

At Cisco, we make social investments in three areas where we believe our technology and our people can make the biggest impact—education, economic empowerment, and crisis response, the last of which incorporates shelter, water, food, and disaster relief. Together, these investment areas help people overcome barriers of poverty and inequality, and make a lasting difference by fostering strong global communities.

Education Investments

Our strategy is to inclusively invest in technology-based solutions that increase equitable access to education while improving student performance, engagement, and career exploration. We support K-12 solutions that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as well as literacy. We also consider programs that teach environmental sustainability, eliminate barriers to accessing climate change education, and invite student engagement globally to positively affect the environment.

What we look for:

• Innovative early grade solutions using the internet and technology to bridge the barriers preventing access to education for underserved students globally.
• Solutions that positively affect student attendance, attitudes, and behavior while inspiring action by students to improve learning outcomes, whether they participate in person, online, or in blended learning environments. 
• Solutions with high potential to replicate and scale globally, thereby increasing the availability of evidence-based solutions that support student-centricity, teacher capacity in the classroom, and increased parental participation to help students learn and develop.

Note: Cisco does not provide direct funding to schools.

Economic Empowerment

Our strategy is to invest in early stage, tech-enabled solutions that provide equitable access to the knowledge, skills, and resources that people need to support themselves and their families toward resilience, independence, and economic security.

Our goal is to support solutions that benefit individuals and families, and that contribute to local community growth and economic development in a sustainable economy.

We target our support in three interconnected areas:

• Skills development to help job seekers secure dignified employment and long-term career pathways in technology or other sectors, including environmental sustainability/green jobs.
• Inclusive entrepreneurship with small businesses as engines of local growth as well as high growth potential start-ups as large-scale job creators nationally and internationally, in technology or other sectors, including environment sustainability/green businesses.
• Banking the unbanked through relevant and affordable financial products and capacity building services.

Cisco Crisis Response

We seek to help overcome the cycle of poverty and dependence and achieve a more sustainable future through strategic investments. We back organizations that successfully address critical needs of underserved communities, because those who have their basic needs met are better equipped to learn and thrive.

What we look for:

• Innovative solutions that increase the capacity of grantees to deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently
• Design and implementation of web-based tools that increase the availability of, or improve access to, products and services that are necessary for people to survive and thrive
• Programs that increase access to clean water, food, shelter, or disaster relief and promote a more sustainable future for all
  • By policy, relief campaigns respond to significant natural disaster and humanitarian crises as opposed to those caused by human conflict. Also by policy, our investments in this area do not include healthcare solutions.

Note: If you have thoroughly reviewed the Foundation’s priorities and grantmaking activity on the website and you believe your organization is a good match for our mission, you can email our staff (lnffstaff at lairdnorton dot org) with a brief description of your work. Please be aware that we rarely make grants to organizations that we first learn about through these types of email inquiries, and have limited staff capacity to respond to every message. Our team will be in touch if there is an interest in learning more about your work, or if there are other resources we can connect you with for your work.

Laird Norton Family Foundation

The Laird Norton Family Foundation (LNFF) is a private family foundation in Seattle, Washington, with a mission to honor and reflect the family’s shared values through giving and engage the family in philanthropy as a platform for strengthening family connections. 

Programs

Arts in Education

The goal of the Arts in Education program is to increase arts education and to improve pre-K through grade 12 student learning through the arts. Funding will be directed toward programs that seek to enhance students’ educational outcomes rather than to simply increase participation in, or appreciation for, the arts.

The Arts in Education program will consider funding programs that:

• Encourage the adoption and/or growth of arts integration within a public school or school district. We will prioritize programs that integrate the arts as a tool within greater, diverse curriculum content areas over arts enrichment or direct arts instruction programs.
• Advocate systemic change within schools, districts, or at the state level to encourage arts in education, and
• Utilize the arts as a tool to reduce the educational achievement gap.

Climate Change

Climate change poses a significant global threat, one which we are addressing by striving to ensure an equitable, resilient, habitable, and enjoyable world for current and future generations. While our work is focused on climate change, we believe in the value of ecosystems services and in the stability and resiliency of healthy natural systems. We also believe it is essential that the cost of externalities be incorporated into lifestyle, policy, and business considerations.

 We are focused on investing in regenerative biological systems that influence the carbon cycle (“biocarbon”) and reducing dependency on fossil fuels. We have chosen to focus our grantmaking on efforts to hasten the demise of coal and other fossil fuels and on work that increases the abilities of the forests, agricultural lands, and estuaries of the Pacific Northwest to sequester carbon.

Human Services

The goal of the Human Services program is to support, empower, uplift, and create opportunities for long-term success and a brighter future for unaccompanied youth and young adults (age 12-24) who are in crisis, have experienced trauma, or are aging out of the foster care system. We want to support these youth and young adults in their journey from surviving to thriving.

We will consider funding organizations or programs that provide support for youth/young adults suffering from trauma, mental illness, or addiction, with priority given to homeless youth and those impacted by the foster care system. While the full spectrum of services for youth in crisis is essential, we expect to do the bulk of our grantmaking in two areas:

• Prevention and early intervention work to keep young people from sleeping in unsafe situations — or at a minimum make that a very brief and one-time occurrence, and
• Support for long-term stability support services.

Watershed Stewardship

Watersheds have social, ecological, and economic significance. The goal of the Watershed Stewardship program is to create enabling conditions for long-term social and ecological health and resilience in places of importance to the Laird Norton Family. Currently, we prioritize work in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as a few key watersheds in the Western United States, consistent with the Laird Norton family's priorities.

Walmart’s more than 2 million associates are residents, neighbors, friends and family in thousands of communities around the globe. Walmart works to strengthen these communities through both retail business and community giving, and we support and invest in communities through local giving. The following programs have open application processes with specific deadlines for eligibility and consideration.

Local Community Grants

Each year, our U.S. stores and clubs award local cash grants ranging from $250 to $5,000. These local grants are designed to address the unique needs of the communities where we operate. They include a variety of organizations, such as animal shelters, elder services and community clean-up projects.

Areas of Funding

• There are eight (8) areas of funding for which an organization can apply. Please review the areas listed below to ensure your organization’s goals fall within one of these areas.
• Community and Economic Development: Improving local communities for the benefit of low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering the building of relationships and understanding among diverse groups in the local service area
• Education: Providing afterschool enrichment, tutoring or vocational training for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Environmental Sustainability: Preventing waste, increasing recycling, or supporting other programs that work to improve the environment in the local service area
• Health and Human Service: Providing medical screening, treatment, social services, or shelters for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Hunger Relief and Healthy Eating: Providing Federal or charitable meals/snacks for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Public Safety: Supporting public safety programs through training programs or equipment in the local service area
• Quality of Life: Improving access to recreation, arts or cultural experiences for low-income individuals and families in the local service area

Versacare Foundation

We are an independent foundation which has been serving Seventh-day Adventist ministries and a select few other humanitarian efforts with financial grants since 1990. We are a self-funded lay organization, and our board is comprised of both lay Adventists and present and former Adventist church employees, all committed to furthering the Kingdom of God and to restoring the “image of God” in those in need. 

Versafund Grant Program: Catalyst Grant

The Versafund Grant Program offers three levels of potential funding.

• Catalyst Grant: $2,500 to $10,000

The Catalyst Grant is Versacare Foundation’s smallest grant. It is designed to give programs and projects a financial boost as needed. It is also for applicants not accustomed to applying for grants who may find the information required by the typical grant application process daunting.

Project Priorities: Versacare Foundation funds projects that address the following needs:

• Church community engagement
• Disadvantaged or underserved communities
• General education and science education
• Health and wellness
• Humanitarian efforts
• Social justice
• Women and children’s efforts
• Youth and young adults

NOTE: Submissions are due to ACR no later than 11:59 PM local time of the organization’s legal/main location on the deadlines above. 

JAMS Foundation/ACR Initiative for Students and Youth

The JAMS Foundation/ACR Initiative for Students and Youth provides grant funding for conflict prevention and dispute resolution programs for K-12 students and for adults working with youth populations in ways that directly transfer CRE skills from adults to youth.

Each year, the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) and the JAMS Foundation identify specific subject areas seeking to address otherwise unresolved issues and unmet needs of both general and target youth populations, based on current research and feedback from leaders and stakeholders in the dispute resolution and education fields.

Funding contexts for selected subject areas will vary, and may include community-based organizations, alternative education settings (online education, charter schools), after-school programs, court- or juvenile justice-connected programs, as well as programs operating in traditional K-12 school districts.

Current Areas of Concentration

The 2023 Funding Track will focus on efforts to use Conflict Resolution Education and Training to increase resiliency and coping skills in children aged 5-11.

Overview

Through our EDge fund, we invest in solutions beyond any single investment area, with a focus on innovations that empower students with learning differences as well as innovations to help schools recover and rebuild from the pandemic. In 2023, we will invest $5 million across these priorities.

EDge funding allows us to respond to emerging needs in the sector and quickly deploy resources to organizations working to address those needs. By investing in new areas, we can learn more about entrepreneurial activity, funder interest, management assistance needs and inform our future strategy. Both our Diverse Leaders and Racial Equity investment areas started as EDge-funded initiatives.

This year, we are interested in learning about and funding innovations focused on better serving students with learning differences, emergent technologies that support teaching and learning, college and career readiness, educator and student mental health and reimagining the role of teachers.

Empowering Students with Learning Differences

Learning differences are a critical facet of students’ identities and should be understood as assets that can create new opportunities for all students to learn and grow together. Nationwide, 1 in 5 students have a learning difference. Some students have a formal disability diagnosis, providing schools with a roadmap for how to best meet their needs. Other students do not have a formal diagnosis but can be better served when educators are trained to recognize, value, and support these students appropriately.

At NewSchools, our goal is to build a diverse portfolio of leaders developing early-stage, equity-centered solutions for the benefit of students with learning differences, especially those impacted by racism and poverty. That’s why from 2022 through 2023 we’re investing more than $4 million in innovations that empower students with learning differences with generous support from Oak Foundation. We seek to fund a broad range of ideas because we heard from community members that innovation is needed at all levels of the education system.

Organizations applying for funding should demonstrate a commitment to three design principles:

• Committed to asset-based approaches
• Center culturally responsive and inclusive practices
• Grounded in research-based, equity-centered instruction

Investment decisions are informed by a community review process to help ensure decisions are made with — and not for — young people and their families. We actively engage students with learning differences through a fellowship, as well as Advisory Board members who identify as caregivers, researchers, teachers, and education leaders who are personally and professionally invested in this work. Learn about our ventures supporting students with learning differences here.

Emerging technologies

As the use of artificial intelligence spreads rapidly to every sector, we see its potential for good in education when integrated in responsible and meaningful ways. We seek to fund emerging technologies that empower educators and support student learning. These ideas will range from making learning more personalized and engaging to making it easier for educators to do their jobs. These technologies should address and bridge inequities, creating better learning opportunities for students, no matter their background.

College and career readiness

Today’s students are growing up in a fast changing world. In order to equip them with the skills necessary for the jobs of the future and to be the leaders our world needs, K-12 schools need to better prepare young people for college and career. We seek to fund ideas that help middle school and high school students access better routes to opportunity, including approaches, models, and strategies that support students discover their talents, explore their career interests, develop post-secondary goals, and engage in high-quality experiences that prepare them for lifelong learning and economic opportunity.

Mental health support

Schools are a lifeline for students and educators with mental health needs, connecting them to counseling services and other critical support. But with demand for these services outpacing available resources and staff, schools are having trouble meeting these needs. We are interested in solutions that improve access to quality mental health care in schools so that students and educators can thrive. We are particularly interested in approaches that increase the number of licensed mental health professionals in schools, as well as provide direct counseling services and wraparound support.

Redesigning the role of teachers

Most schools are experiencing a shortage of teachers, especially in special education, math, and bilingual education. Finding and keeping effective teachers in these positions has become more difficult as the role of a teacher has expanded, especially during the pandemic. It’s time to rethink the educator role and develop new human capital designs for the future. We seek ideas that extend the reach and impact of great teachers, identify new roles that adults can play to support student learning and make the profession more sustainable.  

NOTE: The cycle for U.S. applications is closed. Organizations outside of the U.S. may still submit applications.

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.

Global STEM Education Grant

The Akamai Foundation is pleased to launch the Global 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

About the Imagine Learning Foundation

Imagine a world where the well-being of learners is a priority.

At the Imagine Learning Foundation (ILF), our mission is to foster the well-being of learners and the people who support them at home and in their communities.

Imagine Learning, our primary sponsor, ignites learning breakthroughs with innovative and accessible digital-first K-12 products and services. The Imagine Learning Foundation embraces and extends this mission by focusing on the powerful connection between the well-being of students and the people who support them to bolster academic success.

Schools are better able to develop healthy and supportive learning environments when social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are extended from classrooms into homes and communities. At the Imagine Learning Foundation, we aim to bridge connections between classroom learning and positive learning environments outside the classroom by promoting and expanding access to SEL at home and in the community.

At the Imagine Learning Foundation, we aim to tap into this meaningful connection between SEL in the classroom and SEL outside the classroom by facilitating access to social emotional learning at home and in the community. By bringing SEL into life beyond the classroom, we activate a learner’s full community and support system to ignite more breakthroughs in every learning environment.

As we expand SEL into life beyond the classroom, we ignite more learning breakthroughs by engaging a learners’ broader family and community support system -making every space a positive learning environment.

What We Do & How We Work

Social and emotional learning has the power to create positive environments and more engaged communities. We work to introduce SEL knowledge and skills to families and community leaders to better equip them to deal with the emotional and social challenges facing our youth. Our efforts are geared to drive family and community support for the well-being of learners and the people who support them so that these students thrive both in and out of the classroom.

SEL is the process of learning and applying the knowledge and skills to care for emotions, social relationships, and each individual’s sense of self which has the potential to foster healthy learning environments and address longstanding disparities in student opportunities and outcomes. Learner well-being fuels learning success. SEL skills and knowledge help improve learner well-being. These tools become more powerful when they extend into the home.

In addition, community support —be it from family, allies or educators —has a meaningful positive impact on students’ social and emotional health. Students will be in a better position to succeed personally and academically if their learning environments and experiences at school and beyond include social and emotional learning. We engage students and connect families and communities to SEL outside the classroom to help students apply these foundational life skills and strategies in all aspects of their lives and relationships.

Imagine Signature Grant Program

Part of our funding and resources will be directed toward the Imagine Signature Grant Program, which seeks to amplify national non-profit organizations’ efforts aligned with the ILF’s mission. The Imagine Signature Grant Program has established two funding priorities to advance our mission: (1) supporting social, physical, mental, and emotional well-being programs, activities or services that foster the learning well-being of youth, families and educators within the home and community environments; and (2) studying the current impacts that social, physical, mental, and emotional well-being has on accelerating student achievement across diverse communities. The foundation will release a national competitive grant application for eligible participants and ultimately fund national organizations whose activities align with our mission and can make the greatest impact.

ILF will fund and partner with a variety of national or regional organizations that align to our mission and whose activities can make the greatest impact. To be eligible for a grant as part of the Imagine Signature Grant program, organizations must meet one or more of the funding priorities identified, and meet the current grant guidelines established under the Imagine Signature Grants Program.

The Imagine Signature Grants Program anticipates awarding up to $300,000 or more in total grant awards to new and/or existing grantees with anticipated grant awards in the range of $50,000 to $100,000.

Application Background

Many reports, including those from the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine, have connected STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education to continued economic growth in the United States. However, employers across many STEM-related industries have observed and reported to research entities such as The Brookings Institute™ that many applicants do not possess the skills needed to succeed.

To address this, the Committee on K-12 Science Education Standards recommends implementing standards-based education as an important step to preparing students. Just as common standards have been adopted for math and English/Language Arts (ELA), science education also needs the same but it’s important to start programming early. Research shows that by the time students reach fourth grade, one third have lost an interest in science. By eighth grade, almost 50% have lost interest or deemed it irrelevant to their education or future plans.

Lastly, a study funded by the Carnegie Corporation showed that race, culture, ethnicity, language, and economic status continue to be linked to an on-going achievement gap. Out-of-school time (OST) programs help address this by providing learning and enrichment opportunities that are not limited by the school day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) not only do they support academic achievement, OST programs also provide youths with safety, supervision, and may play a role in reducing health disparities.

Program Goals

By broadening the learning environment to include time in and out of the classroom, the Cigna Foundation will help K-8 students excel in language, literacy, and STEM subjects. Proficiency in these subjects will help students succeed, position themselves well for their future educational and job plans, and ultimately contribute to the overall economy.

The Cigna Foundation seeks to fund in-class programs that:

• Adopt language, literacy, and STEM-related standards and assessments
• Utilize data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform how to improve instruction

In addition, OST programs that:

• Are scheduled before and/or after school, over the weekend, and/or during the summer months or other OST, and are primarily focused on language, literacy, and STEM subjects
• Employ certified teachers to provide academic instruction
• Follow these or similar schedules:
  • School Year
    • Three (3) to five (5) days per week for about three (3) hours per day; and
  • Provide 45 to 90 minutes of academic instruction in addition to recreational and enrichment activities with snacks provided, as well as meals when appropriate (i.e., breakfast)
• Summer or other OST equivalent (i.e., trimester schedule)
  • Four (4) to five (5) days per week for four (4) to six (6) weeks
  • Either half-day or full-day programming
  • 60 to 120 minutes per subject