Search Through Grants for Nonprofit Child Care Centers in California in the U.S.

Making community possible

At U.S. Bank, we are dedicated to supporting our communities through responsive and humbled actions focused on addressing racial and economic inequities and creating lasting change in our communities. Through our Community Possible Grant Program, we are partnering with organizations that focus on economic and workforce advancement, safe and affordable housing and communities connected through arts and culture.

The U.S. Bank Foundation is committed to making Community Possible through Work, Home and Play. We advance this work through collaborative grant making to bring equitable and lasting change through our focus on sustainable, high-impact funding with 501c3 nonprofit partners.

How we partner with nonprofits

We focus on collaborative grantmaking and sustainable, high-impact funding with 501(c)(3) nonprofit partners. We partner with organizations that support:

• Economic and workforce advancement
• Safe and affordable housing
• Community arts and culture

Our strategy

Our community affairs and foundation team work closely with U.S. Bank regional leadership, business resource groups and our National Community Advisory Committee to ensure that prevailing needs are addressed in all the communities we serve.

To make the most meaningful impact, we prioritize organizations that:

• Focus on economic development issues related to work, home and play
• Address more than one of the grant pillars (work, home and play)
• Are based in and serve designated U.S. Bank communities
• Advance diversity, equity and inclusion

Charitable Contributions

Costco Wholesale’s primary charitable efforts specifically focus on programs supporting children, education, and health and human services in the communities where we do business. Throughout the year we receive a large number of requests from nonprofit organizations striving to make a positive impact, and we are thankful to be able to provide support to a variety of organizations and causes. While we would like to respond favorably to all requests, understandably, the needs are far greater than our allocated resources and we are unable to accommodate them all.

Warehouse Donations:

Warehouse donations are handled at the warehouse level - please consult your local warehouse for up-to-date information regarding their donations contacts and review process.

Grant Applications

If the request is under consideration, you may be contacted by staff for any additional information needed. Applications are reviewed within 4-6 weeks, and decisions are made based on several factors, including: type of program; identified community need not otherwise available; indication that evidenced based data will establish measurable results of intended outcomes; community collaboration; broad base of financial support; project budget and operating expenses.

Who We Are

The Creag Foundation is a private grant making foundation established in 2009 in Woodinville, Washington.

The founders of the Creag Foundation believe that meaningful change can only be achieved through hard work, creativity and passion. They also understand the practical mechanisms that allow charitable organizations to succeed and grow. As a group, Creag Foundation principals are dedicated to helping today’s most innovative programs improve the human condition in a wide variety of ways.

Our Focus

The broad purpose of the Foundation is to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations who are innovators in the field of human services. Our particular focus is on smaller organizations that are starting out or established organizations that are looking for funding to take their organization in a new direction.

What We Fund

/ What We Fund

The Creag Foundation is focused on innovation in the industry. We will consider proposals from 501(c)(3) organizations that are finding new ways to address societal issues facing the nonprofit community. Applicants must have held 501(c)(3) status for one year before submitting. If your organization has held 501(c)(3) status for over a year, and your believe that your organization has a new approach to an existing social problem or is addressing a previously unaddressed social issue, you are welcome to contact us and request that we consider your organization for a funding opportunity.

Mission

The DanPaul Foundation will use its resources to help train teachers and parents in early childhood development, protect children from abuse and neglect, stimulate children's personal social responsibilities, and offer them opportunities for enrichment and growth.

The Foundation will also encourage children to be concerned and informed about the environment and the underprivileged, particularly with regard to clean air and water, and adequate housing and nutrition for all.

Beliefs

The DanPaul Foundation believes that children should have ample opportunities for enrichment in their lives, and thus strives to provide many different ways to enrich and expand children's minds through direct programs and monetary support to organizations doing similar work.

We have provided or currently provide grants related to the following program areas:

• Workshops, Conferences, + Seminars: We strive to offer educational workshops, conferences, and seminars for parents and teachers on topics related to early childhood development.
• Student Scholarships: We aim to help students attending post-secondary education institutions by providing need-based and academic scholarships.
• Scientific Endeavors: We desire to advance scientific endeavors which seek to improve the quality of life for everyone in the world.
• Clean Air + Water: We hope to pass on knowledge and practical life skills to youth regarding their personal responsibility to the environment, teaching them about issues surrounding clean air and water.
• Child Advocacy: We believe in protecting children from abuse and neglect and particularly love to support programs that provide education and assistance to children as well as organizations advocating or caring for vulnerable children.
• Homelessness: We want to encourage young people to take a personal interest in seeing that adequate housing and proper nutrition, especially for the underprivileged and homeless, are available.
• Poverty + Neglect: We seek to help those in poverty as well as educate youth about their responsibility to consider the underprivileged and take care of those most in need of life's basic essentials like adequate housing and proper nutrition.
• Refugee Enrichment: We wish to help refugee youth by supporting programs that provide them enrichment and help them transition to life in a new country.

The DanPaul Foundation provides grants to 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organizations as defined by the IRS. The Foundation is interested in providing funding to programs that directly serve the health, education, development, and welfare of the world's youth.

Grants range from a few hundred dollars up to $15,000 per calendar year.

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.

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.

Climate Impact

Our strategy is to invest US$100 million in Cisco Foundation funds over the next decade to help reverse the impact of climate change, working toward a sustainable and regenerative future for all.

The commitment includes both grant and impact investment funding for early-stage climate innovation. Both categories of support will be focused on bold climate solutions, and the grants side will also concentrate on community education and activation. Grants will go to exceptionally aligned nonprofit organizations, while impact investments will go to highly promising for-profit solutions through the private sector and climate impact funds.

Funding comes from the Cisco Foundation and will focus on:

• Identifying bold and innovative solutions that:
  • Draw down the carbon already in the atmosphere
  • Regenerate depleted ecosystems and broadly support the transition to a regenerative future
• Developing curricular initiatives to spur community engagement that can lead to measurable behavioral change and collective action

We will prioritize organizations that can achieve, measure, and report outcomes such as:

• Reduction, capture, and/or sequestering of greenhouse gas and carbon emissions
• Increased energy efficiency and improved mapping and management of natural resources, such as ecosystem restoration, forest treatments, reforestation, and afforestation that also will help repair our water cycles
• Transition to inclusive, just, coliberatory, and regenerative operating models, ways of being, and ways of organizing economies
• Creation of, and increase in, access to green jobs and job training
• Changes in community and individual behavior that lead to carbon footprint reduction, community climate resilience, and localized roadmaps to a sustainable shared climate future for all

Community Grants

State Farm is committed to helping build safer, stronger and better-educated communities.

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We are committed to auto and home safety programs and activities that help people manage the risks of everyday life.
• We invest in education, economic empowerment and community development projects, programs and services that help people realize their dreams.
• We help maintain the vibrancy of our communities by assisting nonprofits that support community revitalization.

Good Neighbor Citizenship company grants focus on safety, community development and education.

Focus Areas

Safety Grants

We strive to keep our customers and communities safe. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Auto safety — improving driver, passenger, vehicle or roadway safety
• Home safety — shielding homes from fires, crime or natural disasters
• Disaster preparedness and mitigation
• Disaster recovery

Community Development

We support nonprofits that invest and develop stronger neighborhoods. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Affordable housing — home construction and repair
• Commercial/small business development
• Job training
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Financial literacy
• Sustainable housing and transportation
• Food insecurity

Education

Our education funding is directed toward initiatives that support the following programs:

• Higher education
• K-12 academic performance
• K-12 STEM
• Pathways for college and career success

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation strives to support and facilitate the work of the region's best nonprofit organizations, recognizing that many of those in need today will go on to shape the future of Southern California, to define it, redefine it, and help it set and achieve new goals.

Los Angeles County is one of the most exciting, dynamic, quickly evolving and challenging environments in the United States. In our diversity — racial, ethnic, cultural and economic — Greater Los Angeles presents extraordinary challenges and opportunities for the nonprofit community.

We are a responsive grantmaker.

Program Areas:

As a responsive grantmaker, we invite organizations serving Los Angeles County to come to us for what they need to do their best work. More than half of our grantmaking is for general support; organizations also come to us for funds to renovate or purchase buildings and equipment, specific programs, and staff positions. Funding is prioritized across four program areas:

Civic & Cultural

Grantmaking in this area values enriching cultural experiences and active civic engagement as essential ingredients for a healthy society. We support organizations and institutions that contribute to Los Angeles’ cultural and civic vibrancy, including performing arts organizations, museums, botanical gardens, arts education programs, and those that promote civic engagement and leadership.

Education

Our Education grantmaking underscores the importance of access to quality learning opportunities for all, with a special focus on underserved populations. Our grantees reflect the full continuum of learning from “cradle to career,” and include organizations that support early care and education, K-12 education, charter schools, academic enrichment, college access and persistence, higher education, and vocational training.

Health

The Foundation’s work in this area is rooted in our belief that all the residents of Los Angeles County need access to essential health services that offer a greater quality of life. We invest in organizations that promote health and well-being among vulnerable populations, placing an emphasis on community clinics, mental health providers, prevention services, emergency and trauma centers, and improvements to health care facilities.

Human Services

Our work in Human Services reflects our commitment to improving the lives of Los Angeles’ most vulnerable community members, including low-income children, families, foster youth, seniors, the working poor, and homeless populations. We fund a broad range of services and programs, including child welfare, youth development, supportive services, and basic needs.

Philanthropy is our commitment to communities in which we operate and broader society. We focus our resources on a limited number of key projects that can deliver valuable benefits from our contributions and those of our partners. We give priority to innovative, high-quality projects that meet the following criteria:

• promote sustainable development
• offer an opportunity for Roche to use its expertise and logistics capabilities
• involve Roche actively at an early stage with local authorities and established partners
• engage Roche employees in cultural (focus on contemporary arts), educational and social activities
• managed by an accredited charity

Our four focus areas

Humanitarian and Social

We direct the majority of our philanthropic donations to humanitarian and social development projects.

Science and education

We are dedicated to programmes that promote scientific interest and provide educational opportunities for young people around the world.

Community and Environment

We are committed to building stronger communities and responding to natural disasters sustainably.

Arts and Culture

We support groundbreaking contemporary art, cultural projects and activities that explore the parallels between innovation in art and in science. 

We have strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the country that are working to advance economic mobility and social progress in low- and moderate-income communities. Our focus areas include basic needs like food and housing, workforce development and education, and community development. In addition to our philanthropic investments, we also encourage our employees to make a difference by offering robust employee giving and volunteering programs, including the opportunity to direct funds to organizations they support through volunteer efforts, and a matching gifts program that doubles their individual giving to causes they care about. Last year, we invested $350 million in the communities we serve, and employees contributed more than 1 million volunteer hours and directed $65 million through individual giving and matching gifts to support nonprofits.Through our regional U.S. sponsorships, we support the economic, social and cultural life of the places we live and work. We provide an extensive program of arts and sports sponsorships to help maintain vibrant, healthy communities.Sponsorships supporting communitiesBank of America welcomes your sponsorship proposal for opportunities that make our communities a better place to live and work. We are particularly interested in providing support to address needs vital to the health of our communities through a focus on:

• preserving neighborhoods;
• educating the workforce for 21st century jobs;
• addressing critical needs such as hunger and emergency shelter;
• arts and culture;
• the environment; and
• diversity and inclusion programs.

Grants are made at the Foundation’s discretion based on our current funding strategies focused on housing, jobs and hunger. 

Larger funding requests

For requests that exceed $25,000, applications should be aligned with our funding priorities. We fund programs, operations and capital projects. 

Grant Funding Priorities

Family

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

Current grant funding examples

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

Education

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

Current grant funding examples

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

Community

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

Current grant funding examples

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

Applying for a capital project?

We offer support for large capital projects (usually up to $250,000) aligned with our impact areas. Capital grants can fund up to one-third of a project’s total budget. Successful applications include significant community support in the form of local or regional dollars. Fifty percent of the budget should be raised before applying. This process can take three to six months.

Capital projects aligned with our impact area are limited to the following:

• Community centers and gathering spaces
• Social services centers (when direct youth programming is provided)
• Libraries
• Children’s museums or children’s exhibitions
• Small business incubators
• Fire halls
• Rural health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers)
• Art and cultural centers

In addition, we support capital projects aligned with our Family and Education impact areas.

What we support

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

Grant Funding Priorities

Family

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

Current grant funding examples

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

Education

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

Current grant funding examples

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

Community

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

Current grant funding examples

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

Technical Assistance grants

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

Grant amount: Up to $5,000

Grant examples

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

Our Mission

The Tony Robbins Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of people often forgotten.

We’re dedicated to creating positive changes in the lives of youth, seniors, the hungry, homeless and the imprisoned population, all who need a boost envisioning a happier and deeply satisfying way of life. Our passionate staff, generous donors and caring group of international volunteers provide the vision, inspiration, and resources needed to empower these important members of our society.

Grants

Dedicated to meeting challenges within the global community, creating solutions and taking action, The Tony Robbins Foundation provides monetary donations to various organizations around the world. Funding requests are evaluated on an ongoing basis. We look for organizations that align with our mission to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of those often forgotten.

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.

Background

The Santa Barbara Foundation believes that every child deserves safe and quality child care and education. The quality of child care is important as it directly impacts a child’s development, including the ability to learn and to build healthy relationships.

The demand for child care services exceeds the supply of available spots. This has led to an increased need for child care providers. However, if providers are unable to staff their centers adequately, they must limit the number of children they can care for, to assure compliance and quality, resulting in higher prices for the available spots. The limited supply of child care services can drive up costs for parents, who can find themselves spending over a third of their household income.

To increase organizational capacity amongst nonprofit child care providers and meet the critical needs of our communities’ youngest members, the Santa Barbara Foundation is offering a grants program in support of quality early care and education programs and the services that support and enable their success. This year’s grant cycle will support the Foundation’s Build Up Santa Barbara County Child Care Initiative by focusing funds on child care sector resiliency efforts that strengthen the childcare system in the County of Santa Barbara.

Child Care

The Santa Barbara Foundation offers Child Care grants of up to $15,000 to increase capacity among nonprofit child care providers in Santa Barbara County to meet the critical needs of young children and set the stage for lifelong learning success. This year’s grant will also focus on supporting providers in leadership and professional development, family engagement, and strategies that promote equitable access to quality child care. Grants will be awarded to nonprofit child care providers serving children 0-5 years of age.

Focus

The Santa Barbara Foundation’s intent in offering this funding is to support and strengthen child care providers (for children between birth and five years of age) and the integral direct service providers that support them. The proposal must address one or more of the following areas:

Childcare Workforce Pathway and Skill Development

• Increase the number of qualified infant and toddler workforce professionals in the County. Strategies may include:
  • developing or participating in coaching and mentoring programs to enhance skills;
  • increasing the number of staff seeking infant/toddler qualifications who enroll in Early Childhood Education units;
  • collaborating with other service providers or child care organizations (i.e., SBCEO Child Care Planning Council, Children’s Resource and Referral of SBC, etc.);

Supportive Organizational Business Model

• Building a supporting organizational climate may include:
  • through leadership professional development, facilitate the creation of new, licensed infant and toddler childcare spaces in Santa Barbara County.
  • increasing the ability to interpret data for goal setting for future program direction;
  • participating in technical assistance program that will support with facility grant applications, help in seuring lease or purchase agreements for operators, provide facility design recommendations, and help in navigating the planning and development system. participating in a sustainable technical assistance model that integrates business sustainability best practices;
  • assuring the successful day to day operation of a center; and
  • advocating for teachers.

Family Engagement

• Strategies should be cognizant of incorporating a family’s composition, language, and culture into their approach of collaborating with them. Applicants should clearly indentify a proven family engagement strategy to build relationships between themselves and families to maximize a child’s success. Strategies may include:
  • promoting partnerships with families;
  • fostering family leadership; and
  • building support and opportunities for families to foster their engagement in their child’s development and education.

Building Content Specific Areas of Leadership

• Strategies may include the following:
  • promoting fair and equitable access to child care opportunities;
  • systems thinking;
  • effective strategies for working with English language learners (ELL’s); and
  • working with special populations including special needs, homeless and foster children, or addressing other evident emerging needs.

Priorities

Priority will be given to organizations that:

• Increase Child Care Workforce Pathway and Skill Development; support career paths for early care and education professionals, foster leadership and ongoing professional development opportunities, and other strategies that will attract and retain high-quality educators;
• Foster an organizational business model to retain and support Child Care Workforce;
• Support child health, nutrition, and social-emotional well-being in a language-rich learning environment that respects diversity;
• Demonstrate adoption of, or progress toward the use of, best practices for parent engagement, such as Standard 7: Families in NAEYC Program Standards and/or the Protective Factors Framework;
• Demonstrate participation in, or a plan toward participating in, the Santa Barbara County’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) and/or the NAEYC Accreditation process; and
• Demonstrate engagement and or alignment with community-wide child development goals, i.e. CAPC, Child Care Planning Council, etc.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

About the Foundation

Jesse W. Couch lived a life of zeal, honor, and dedication to the betterment of his community. The Couch family now humbly stewards the foundation he created to carry on his legacy of service for future generations. We believe that impact is best accomplished through partnerships with local organizations that know the people and communities they serve. We invest in and support efforts to protect the environment, further conservation and preservation initiatives, and save historical architecture that preserves community heritage. We also support initiatives that promote wellness and mental health and organizations seeking to provide and further education for all communities.

Annual Grant Focus

Each year, we seek to partner with and support non-profit organizations making an impact in the focus areas listed here.  The focus areas for 2025 are:

• Animal Wellbeing: We are dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations that nurture compassion and respect for all living animals. We must have animal-focused organizations that advocate for animal rights and provide humane treatment across all spectrums.
• Early Childhood Education: We are looking for schools that are providing young children with a creative and balanced approach to education. Things we love in early childhood curriculums:
  • Life Skills
  • Collaboration With Their Peers and Teachers   
  • Having Fun   
  • Montessori Teachings   
  • Project Based Teachings   
  • Diversity   
  • More Time Outside   
  • Less Screen Time
• Teachers: Teachers are essential to providing children with the best possible education. We must invest in their future and are always looking for teams that help them succeed in educating future generations.
• Get Outside: Being outside can improve memory, fight depression, lower blood pressure, and more! We support organizations that facilitate and encourage more outdoor activities that help create healthier communities. 

The purpose of this grant type is to create green schoolyards to protect the health, well-being, and educational opportunity of children most vulnerable to increasing temperatures and extreme heat across California. Projects shall be centered around improving the outdoor environmental conditions and experiences for children attending public or nonprofit child care facilities with the highest levels of co-benefits. Projects will invest in nature-based climate solutions that deliver multiple benefits such as helping to alleviate extreme heat, improving the immediate environment for students as well as supporting outdoor learning and environmental literacy, while also reducing GHG emissions, improving functionality of urban forests, arresting the decline of urban forest resources, increasing climate change resilience, improving the quality of the environment in urban areas, and optimizing co-benefits to school children and surrounding urban residents.

Such projects shall include the planting of trees and may include converting pavement to green spaces on child care facility campuses with a focus on child-accessible areas of campus. Projects may also include strategies such as the installment of natural features for learning and recess such as pocket forests, rain gardens, botanical gardens, natural playgrounds, food producing gardens and landscaping, outdoor classrooms as well as maintenance of planted vegetation.

This supplemental solicitation targets nonprofit child care facilities receiving government funding to support planning and implementation of Green Schoolyards Project. The Grant can include all aspects of planning and implementation of the project.

Funding

Budget limitations are Between $200,000 and $6,000,000 awarded per application including no more than $1,000,000 per child care facility (CAL FIRE funded). Funds are paid on reimbursement basis. Advance payment options are available to nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged communities.

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

Corporate Contributions

Community involvement and corporate citizenship are an example of Insperity’s mission in action. We are committed to helping the communities where we live and work because together, we know we can make great things happen.

Grants

Philanthropic grants are a strong part of our community outreach and aid institutions needing financial support to meet important service goals.

Event Sponsorship

Fundraising events are an important part of nonprofit support. Insperity provides event sponsorships to approved charities to assist them in meeting their financial and community goals.

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation Vision

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation, "A Foundation for All", was established in 2002. It was begun in order to give a clear voice for those who wish to be a part of the many, worthy, forces for change in our world.

We are a foundation whose purpose is to look ahead towards the future, giving the past its due by remembering where we came from, and how much we can all accomplish together. We aim to make the critical difference on our planet by recognizing and having respect for our ever changing world. We respect all Life, the Environment, and all People, no matter who they are.

Georgia-Pacific Foundation

Established in 1958, the Georgia-Pacific Foundation sets aside resources to improve life in the communities where we operate. We’ve worked with thousands of outstanding community-based programs, service projects and disaster relief efforts, focusing our investment in four areas we believe make the most impact:

• education,
• environment,
• enrichment and
• entrepreneurship.

Investment Priorities

• Aligns with GP’s mission and values
• Aligns with GP’s Four Focus Areas of giving: Education, Environment, Enrichment of Community and Entrepreneurship
• Serves communities where GP has manufacturing facilities
• Creates value by contributing to and positively impacting long term well-being and sustainability of GP communities

The Lawrence Foundation is a private family foundation focused on making grants to support environmental, human services and other causes.

The Lawrence Foundation was established in mid-2000. We make both program and operating grants and do not have any geographical restrictions on our grants. Nonprofit organizations that qualify for public charity status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or other similar organizations are eligible for grants from The Lawrence Foundation.  

Grant Amount and Types

Grants typically range between $5,000 - $10,000. In some limited cases we may make larger grants, but that is typically after we have gotten to know your organization over a period of time. We also generally don’t make multi-year grants, although we may fund the same organization on a year by year basis over a period of years.

General operating or program/project grant requests within our areas of interests are accepted. In general, regardless of whether a grant request is for general operating or program/project expenses, all of our grants will be issued as unrestricted grants.

Ameriprise Financial Grantmaking

At Ameriprise Financial, giving back is deeply rooted in our culture. We’ve initiated positive change in the communities where we live and work for more than 120 years. We believe our community involvement enables us to actively live our values. Through grant making, volunteerism and employee and financial advisor gift matching programs, we support a diverse group of over 6,000 nonprofits across the country.

Focus Areas

Awarding grant dollars to nonprofits is one way we strengthen our communities and help individuals on a path to financial independence. To ensure we're meeting the needs of our communities and making an even greater collective impact, we focus on three key giving areas when awarding grants.

Volunteer engagement is a priority across all focus areas:

The engagement of Ameriprise employees and financial advisors is a critical component of our philanthropy. Whether it’s serving on a nonprofit board, engaging friends, clients and community members in volunteering or providing skills-based support, our relationships with nonprofits go deep. For this reason, we give priority across all focus areas to applications where there is active volunteer engagement of Ameriprise advisors and employees. 

Meeting Basic Needs

At Ameriprise Financial, we help clients achieve financial security and peace of mind. That’s satisfying, meaningful work. We also help the people in our neighborhoods who struggle to meet basic needs such as where their next meal comes from, where they’ll sleep tonight or how they’ll find a higher wage job. We’re here to help them through the three platforms of our Meeting Basic Needs focus area.

Consideration is given to applications addressing the following: 

• Hunger
• Food banks, food shelves and food pantries, daily meal programs or meal services for the homebound
• Hunger-relief programs targeted to meet the special needs of children, ethnic populations or veterans
• Food programs run by nonprofits where hunger is not their sole focus, for example a youth meal program at the YWCA or a backpack program run by a Boys & Girls Club
• Shelter
• Emergency shelter, including youth homelessness
• Transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and efforts to end chronic homelessness
• Housing-first models (programs quickly providing housing and then addressing needed services)
• Achieving and maintaining home ownership, repair and maintenance efforts helping keep seniors, veterans and other populations in their homes 
• Adult Self-Sufficiency: Programs serving adults age 21 and older that help address the following areas:
• Basic hard and soft skills that help adults achieve economic and family stability
• Basic financial and budgeting skills
• Increase employability and wages, including work readiness and job transitions
• Employment of disabled adults

Supporting Community Vitality

We believe communities should be strong, healthy and resilient. We want livable places for all, where neighbors look out for one another, cultural events are well-attended and people pull together in times of crisis and joy. We work to create economic vitality and cultural enrichment through the following areas of focus.

Consideration is given to applications addressing the following: 

• Community Development
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Economic development
• Strengthening and supporting small businesses and nonprofits through technical expertise
• Cultural Enrichment
• Arts education
• Access for underserved populations
• Diverse artists and performances that spark topical community conversations 

Volunteer Driven Causes: Ameriprise employees and financial advisors are outstanding volunteers who serve in teams and also as individuals bringing personal skill-sets to nonprofits. Volunteering is part of the culture at Ameriprise and we are proud to support communities through contributions of both service and financial resources. 

Funding for Volunteer-Driven Causes is determined by current Ameriprise volunteerism. In general, funding is in proportion to the size of the Ameriprise volunteer team supporting a nonprofit. A team may include employees, financial advisors and/or staff or a combination of any Ameriprise volunteers. 

The Foundation is dedicated to providing financial assistance to organizations committed to improving our world. Solutions to the problems of today's world still lie in the values of innovation, practicality, hard work, and compassion.

The Foundation considers applications for grants in the following areas:

• Education
• Social Service
• Health care
• Civic and cultural
• Environmental

The categories above are not intended to limit the interest of the Foundation from considering other worthwhile projects. In general, the Foundation guidelines are broad to give us flexibility in providing grants.

The majority of our grants are made in the U.S. However, like Dr. Scholl, we recognize the need for a global outlook. Non-U.S. grants are given to organizations where directors have knowledge of the grantee.

The William & Lottie Daniel Fund Child Care Scholarship (Daniel Fund) is administered under the Foundation’s Child Care focus area for licensed nonprofit child care facilities that align with both the donor’s intent, and other community initiatives for child development.

Access to quality child care continues to be a critical need in our community. The high cost of care is prohibitive for many working families who earn just above the income eligibility threshold. In Santa Barbara County, the median household income varies significantly by region. If a family has an annual median income of $84,356 and has an infant and a preschooler in center-based care, they may need to spend up to 40% of their income on child care. In an effort to address this disparity, California updated the eligibility criteria to qualify for subsidized programs from 70% of the State Median Income (SMI) to 85% of the SMI. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges around the expense of care for parents and providers and the need for subsidized care far outweighs the availability

The Santa Barbara Foundation believes that every individual deserves an equal opportunity to achieve their potential and for working families to thrive in Santa Barbara County. To make this possible many working families need access to affordable and accessible quality child care. As part of the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, the Santa Barbara Foundation has prioritized increasing affordable and accessible quality child care in Santa Barbara County. This grant program also emphasizes program quality, which has a big impact on children’s ability to thrive and be successful in school and in life, thus quality improvement efforts have been a longstanding priority for the Foundation.

Focus

Quality child care programs provide children with healthy and safe environments, caring relationships, social-emotional stimulation, and age-appropriate activities that enrich learning. Research shows that children get their best start in life when they have environments that foster their development through stable, nurturing and stimulating environments.[2] These kinds of high-quality early learning opportunities lead to improved academic and life success. Child care scholarships are intended for year-round child care facilities that can demonstrate an alignment with the priorities below. Scholarships will be awarded to licensed nonprofit child care centers serving children 0-5 years of age and school-age children (grades TK-6). Priority will be given to organizations serving 0-5 years of age.

The Daniel Fund guidelines specify that families selected to receive funds must –

• be Santa Barbara County residents;
• be working parent(s)/guardian;
• contribute some portion of the tuition costs; and
• have a child enrolled in the program on a full-time basis.

Funding Amounts and Duration

Funding amounts vary by the age of the child served. The maximum award for Daniel is $50,000. The grant period is up to one year from the award date. A final report using the SmartSimple platform is required and is due within 13 months of the grant award, preferably no later than 30 days following program completion.

Community Ties Giving Program

As part of the Community Ties Giving Program, Local Grants help us achieve our mission by providing small and medium-sized grants within our priority cause areas to local organizations spread widely across Union Pacific's footprint.

Funding Priorities & Objectives

Throughout its existence, the success of Union Pacific's business has been inextricably linked to the economic and community wellbeing of cities and towns across the nation. We take pride in the role we have played in helping communities thrive and believe the impact we can have on local communities is greatest when it is authentic to our history and reflective of the diverse company we are today.

As such, we have carefully aligned our Local Grants cause areas to our company's unique heritage, strengths, and assets. Specifically, we prioritize funding for direct services and efforts that build the capacity of organizations focused on the following causes within our local operating communities. Within each focus area, we aim to support programs and organizations working to advance the diversity, equity and inclusion of underrepresented populations within the local context and issue areas addressed. Find more information about our commitment to DEI in our FAQs.

Safety

In order for communities to thrive, all residents must feel safe. Just as the safety of our employees and community members is paramount to how we operate, Union Pacific is committed to helping communities prevent and prepare for incidents and emergencies, and helping residents get home safely at the end of each day. As such, we prioritize funding for projects and programs that seek to: 

• Encourage safe behaviors and prevent incidents through education and awareness, particularly projects which focus on rail, driver, bike, and pedestrian safety, and ensure outreach efforts reach underserved populations.
• Eliminate risks and improve safe and equitable access to community spaces through infrastructure improvements, such as signage, proper lighting, and public trail improvements.
• Prepare and equip residents and emergency responders* to effectively respond to incidents and emergencies if or when they occur.
  • *Union Pacific supports publicly funded emergency responders through a variety of corporate programs; only independent nonprofit, 501(c)(3) emergency response organizations, such as volunteer departments, are eligible for funding through this grant program
• Prevent crime and violent incidents and support survivors of domestic violence through efforts that address the root causes of these issues and seek to mitigate their occurrence.
• Build the capacity of safety-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience. 

Workforce Development

For more than 160 years, Union Pacific has helped stimulate economic growth in cities and towns throughout the nation by training and providing employment to millions of workers. More than ever, we are committed to helping underrepresented residents in our communities achieve family-supporting careers like those offered by Union Pacific. As such, we prioritize funding for programs that seek to:

• Put youth on the right track by creating awareness of and pathways toward employment opportunities; building foundational skills, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); establishing necessary technical skills and life skills; and providing mentorship and positive role models for the future.
• Raise awareness of, educate and prepare young adults for middle skills jobs like those Union Pacific offers, for instance through community colleges, vocational and career training programs, workforce readiness initiatives, and programs that assist with job placement and/or on-the-job experience.
  • Programs that develop proficiency in areas relevant to Union Pacific operations such as welding, electrical work, machine operations, and civil and electrical engineering are given priority.
• "Up-skill" the existing workforce by providing training and resources that enable them to reach the next level of their career.
  • Programs that develop proficiency in areas of relevance to Union Pacific operations are given priority.
• Resolve barriers to employment such as transportation, childcare, acquiring necessary equipment for work, and second chance employment programs.
• Build the capacity of workforce development-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience. 

Community Vitality

Union Pacific Railroad is committed to establishing vibrant, healthy and inclusive communities for employees, customers and residents to work, visit and call home. Just as the railroad opened avenues for economic development and opportunity more than 160 years ago, we maintain this tradition by cultivating unique cultural and recreational experiences and equipping community members with opportunities to live healthy, vital lives. As such, we prioritize funding for projects and programs that seek to:

• Create, sustain or expand artistic and cultural experiences offered to a broad and diverse audience (e.g., museums, theaters, zoos, cultural and local heritage, visual and performing arts, etc.)
• Provide recreational opportunities that foster wellbeing, enrichment and/or an appreciation for our natural environment (e.g., parks, libraries, senior centers, recreation centers, learning centers, etc.).
• Revive neighborhoods and main street areas, especially in historically underinvested neighborhoods, to improve livability, promote commerce and attract more residents, businesses and visitors to town.
• Ensure residents’ basic needs are met and barriers are overcome (e.g., safe shelter and homelessness prevention, hunger relief, mental health and community health needs, etc.).
• Offer youth development and educational opportunities to ensure young people can thrive into healthy and productive community members (e.g., mentoring, leadership development, tutoring, services for youth in foster care, etc.).
• Build the capacity of community vitality-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience. 

Environmental Sustainability

The future of our business, communities and planet depends on bold, collective action to reduce and slow the impacts of climate change while building a more sustainable economy for the next generation. Union Pacific is taking deliberate steps to reduce our environmental impact and helping our partners improve their own. Extending this commitment to our community investments, we seek to support leading environmental nonprofits and community-based organizations to advance the health of our environment. As such, we prioritize funding for projects and programs that seek to:

• Preserve and restore nature, including programs focused on natural habitats, ecosystems, and biodiversity.
• Protect and enhance water, soil and air quality through innovative and proactive solutions such as water conservation, carbon sequestration and emission reduction programs.
• Reduce waste through initiatives focused on promoting recycling and circularity throughout the community, including recycling and composting programs and other efforts that reduce waste.
• Develop environmental stewards through youth programs focused on fostering environmental appreciation, responsibility, and leadership.
• Advance a sustainable economy by helping communities accelerate their transition to environmental jobs and renewable energy, as well as helping nonprofits and small businesses build their own capacity to operate more sustainably.
• Promote environmental justice through initiatives that ensure access to clean air, water, and land and protect underserved populations from disproportionate and adverse environmental effects.
• Build the capacity of sustainability-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience.

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.

Our Mission

The Hansen Family Foundation provides opportunities to domestic, international, secular, and non-secular organizations that support the American way of life, which is defined by the principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Causes

Children

The Hansen Family Foundation supports causes dedicated to helping children both home as well as abroad. Learn More

Education

The Hansen Family Foundation believes that a decent education should be made available to everyone, young or old, the world over. Learn More

Animals

The Hansen Family Foundation believes in helping those who cannot speak on their own behalf. Learn More

Environmental

The Hansen Family Foundation is dedicated to preserving the world we all share. Learn More

Humanitarian

The Hansen Family Foundation views the plight of our fellow man as an opportunity to actively engage and effect change. Learn More

Arts & Culture

The Hansen Family Foundation supports all forms of artistic and cultural endeavors. Learn More