Search Through Grants for the Arts in Kansas in the U.S.

We care about the communities in which we live and work. Amcor Cares (formerly the Bemis Company Foundation) was founded as our principal tool in the United States to serve our Amcor Flexibles communities. From volunteer work to monetary donations and community support, Amcor Cares donates several million per year to charitable organizations.

Community Support Grants

Encourage

• Fighting Hunger & Homelessness
• Supporting Disaster Relief

Empower

• Expanding STEM Education
• Building Life Skills
• Improving Health & Wellness

Elevate

• Promoting Arts & Culture
• Funding Amcor Scholarships

Types of support:

• Non-profit Organization Programs
• Non-profit Organization Operating Support
• Capital Campaigns
• STEM Programs

Background

The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation is focused on giving back to the people of greater Kansas City.

Through responsive and strategic philanthropy, the Foundation supports a variety of organizations working to improve the quality of life in local communities.

The Foundation is committed to assisting the city’s most vulnerable neighbors and striving to achieve lasting and meaningful change.

Learn more.

Grant Opportunities

The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation’s grantmaking strategy emphasizes creating excellence and transformational change.

The Foundation’s unique approach combines proactive support that strengthens area nonprofits and responsive community assistance to achieve greater results, with a focus on underserved populations.

Community Impact

The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation seeks to make strategic and responsive grants that help organizations achieve one or more of the following:

• Support nonprofit excellence and transformational change
• Meaningfully impact systemic issues
• Improve outcomes for low-income, underserved communities
• Expand organizational services

Since inception, the Foundation has invested over $175 million in greater Kansas City nonprofit organizations. Marion and Henry’s legacy of serving others continues to enhance our beloved city.What areas of focus (or cause areas) does the Foundation support? The Foundation’s areas of focus are:

• Education for Poor, Disadvantaged, and Underserved Youth
• Healthcare
• Jewish Community Organizations
• Post-Secondary Business and Entrepreneurship Education
• Social Services
• Visual and Performing Arts

What activities does the Foundation support?

The Foundation supports special programs, capacity building, and capital projects through strategic and responsive grants that help organizations achieve one or more of the following:

• support nonprofit excellence and transformational change;
• strengthen organizations;
• improve services for clients; and/or
• help underserved, low-income individuals.

What is the typical amount and duration of grant awards?

The Foundation does not have fixed minimum or maximum award limits, though grant awards typically fall in the range of $100,000 to $250,000. The Foundation makes both one-year and multi-year grant awards. 

Community Involvement Program Guidelines

We believe that the well-being of our communities has a direct bearing on the success of Hallmark and our employees.

The mission of our Community Involvement Program is simple. We want to help create communities where:

• All children have the chance to grow up as healthy, productive and caring persons;
• Vibrant arts and cultural experiences enrich the lives of all citizens;
• There is a strong infrastructure of basic institutions and services, especially for persons in need; and
• All citizens feel a responsibility to serve their community.

Organizations that serve the communities where we operate facilities and that share this same mission may apply for the following types of support from Hallmark:

• Cash contributions for specific programs, capital improvements and, in some cases, operating support.
• Volunteer assistance. Organizations may request assistance in recruiting Hallmark employees for board membership, program services and other meaningful volunteer experiences. We cannot guarantee that Hallmark employees will agree to volunteer; volunteering is an individual, personal decision made by each employee.
• Product donations.
• Fundraising event sponsorship for organizations based in Kansas City only.

Cash contributions are provided by both Hallmark Cards, Inc., and the Hallmark Corporate Foundation, an endowed foundation funded solely by Hallmark. Although there are some legal restrictions on how funds from the Hallmark Corporate Foundation may be used, the Foundation supports the same mission and employs the same online application process.

Funding Priorities

We focus our grantmaking in a way that honors our founders’ intent and operates in alignment with our mission, vision, and values – to center our work on ensuring all people experience what is possible.

We understand that improving life for all requires an interconnected approach. Therefore, through our grantmaking we seek to increase economic opportunities of all, with an intentional focus on communities of color, those not earning a livable wage, and families experiencing poverty. Kansas City’s community needs will guide us as we work together to create stronger partnerships with communities, nonprofit partners, and foundation colleagues, in order to increase opportunities for all to succeed.

We believe that as we expand our reach and increase our impact through new, strengthened, and reimagined partnerships within our three impact areas, we will help build a community where an improved quality of life is equitable and enjoyable by all.

What we fund and the impact we seek

To achieve our vision of enabling all people in our community to experience what is possible; to achieve their greatest potential, and to create a bigger impact, our grantmaking will focus on three interconnected impact areas:

KC Spirit: Elevating Kansas City

• To ensure that greater Kansas City’s regional assets, cultural organizations, and sense of community make it a thriving and inclusive place to live.
• Make Kansas City stronger by embracing all in our stories & vision for the city through investments in regional assets, arts & culture, and community wide initiatives.

Prospering Communities: Increasing equity for all

• To support families through organizations and initiatives that take a holistic approach to reducing poverty and increasing equity and well-being.
• Communities prosper when there are equitable opportunities to access education, housing, employment, and health care. We prioritize investments that take systemic and comprehensive approaches to increasing opportunities for all to thrive in their neighborhoods of choice.
• Grantmaking focuses on economic inclusion – livable neighborhoods – healthcare – emergency and safety net services.

Growing Minds: Creating strong educational foundation for life

• We prioritize investments that improve outcomes and access to quality programming for children and their families in education.
• Grantmaking focuses on Pre-K, K-12, post-secondary, and wrap-around support services, in addition to out-of-classroom initiatives that address barriers to education and provide additional academic support.

Earl J. and Leona K. Tranin Special Fund

The advisors of the Earl J. and Leona K. Tranin Special Fund meet two to three times per year to review grant applications.

Our Mission

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

Community and National Initiatives

Supporting equitable, inclusive engagement

What We Fund

We fund primarily in eight cities where the foundation has resident program officers, including Akron, where our founders started Knight Newspapers, and Miami, where their business was eventually headquartered. We invest through grantmaking directly from our endowment and from endowed donor-advised funds (DAF) at local community foundations in the Knight communities.

In the 18 cities where our foundation does not have a program director living in the community, we primarily work with community foundation leaders and local advisory committees to identify investment opportunities that support engaged, inclusive and equitable communities.

Communities Program

Our work in community focuses on attracting and nurturing talent, enhancing opportunity, and fostering civic engagement. Rather than a single approach, we seek to support efforts authentic to each community.

Learn more about our work in each of the communities where Knight has offices: 

• Akron, Ohio
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Detroit
• Macon, Georgia
• Miami
• Philadelphia
• San Jose, California
• St. Paul, Minnesota

In these cities, Knight program directors are your first point of contact.

Knight works in 18 small to mid-sized communities in partnership with local community foundations. Learn more about this program. 

• Aberdeen, South Dakota;
• Biloxi, Mississippi;
• Boulder, Colorado;
• Bradenton, Florida;
• Columbia, South Carolina;
• Columbus, Georgia;
• Duluth, Minnesota;
• Ft. Wayne, Indiana;
• Gary, Indiana;
• Grand Forks, North Dakota;
• Lexington, Kentucky;
• Long Beach, California;
• Milledgeville, Georgia;
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina;
• Palm Beach County, Florida;
• State College, Pennsylvania;
• Tallahassee, Florida;
• Wichita, Kansas

If you are interested in receiving Knight funding in these 18 communities, please read more about our individual community strategies and ask your local community foundation about the local Knight donor-advised fund.

National Initiatives

Our National Initiatives program seeks to accelerate and amplify the work we do in communities by identifying opportunities in common, and ideas that can be shared across communities. Current areas of focus include:

• Smart cities: Harnessing the growth of digital technology to improve how communities respond, connect to and engage with residents;
• Public Spaces: Investing in spaces such as parks, trails, libraries to engage and connect residents to each other and to the places where they live, such as through our multi-city initiative, Reimagining the Civic Commons.

In addition, our national program responds to opportunities that emerge from the 26 cities where we work.

Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation 

The Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation is a private foundation established by Muriel Irene Kauffman in 1987 with a vision toward communities in which the arts flourish.

The Foundation’s mission is to support organizations and programs that enhance the quality and accessibility of the arts in the greater Kansas City community.

The Foundation provides significant annual funding for the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Kansas City Ballet, and the Harriman-Jewell Series, which were appropriated by Mrs. Kauffman in 1994 when she established $1 million endowments for each organization. Other significant grantees include the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, UMKC Conservatory of Music, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, ArtsKC – Regional Arts Council and the Kansas City Art Institute. Examples of some of the smaller grantees to which annual funding is provided include The Coterie Theatre, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Kansas City Chorale, Charlotte Street Foundation, and Youth Symphony of Kansas City.

Bring touring artists to your state

The Regional Touring Program (RTP) provides support for projects by organizations showcasing the work of artists from elsewhere in the M-AAA region.

• Organizations that book an artist listed on a state touring roster may be awarded up to 50 percent of the artist’s fee.
• Organizations that book an artist that lives in the region, but is not listed on a touring roster, may be awarded up to 25 percent of the artist’s fee.
• Organizations located in rural communities may receive an additional 10 percent of the artist’s fee.

Funding

• This grant will disburse matching funds of up to $5,000.
• Organizations may submit a maximum of three (3) applications and receive awards for up to three (3) different projects in a single fiscal year (July 1–June 30). Each applicant is eligible for an aggregate amount of $15,000 in a single fiscal year; and
• Similarly, an artist, ensemble, or scholar/educator can be the recipient of an aggregate of $15,000 through successful RTP grant applications submitted to M-AAA in a single fiscal year.

Since its inception, the Foundation, which is still led by Lester T. Sunderland's descendants, has focused on supporting construction projects, awarding grants to nonprofits in the Kansas City region and other markets traditionally served by the Ash Grove Cement Company. 

 The Foundation prefers to make grants for construction and special interest projects rather than for annual operating expenses. 

Grants for planning, design, construction, renovation, repairs and restoration of facilities are considered. Areas of interest include higher education, youth serving agencies, health facilities, community buildings, museums, civic projects and energy efficient affordable housing projects sponsored by qualified tax-exempt organizations. 

Funding Areas

In recent grant cycles, the Board of Trustees has awarded the majority of grants in four broadly defined areas:

Higher Education

In 2022, the Foundation awarded $49 million to more than 35 educational organizations. Grantees included community colleges, private colleges, and public universities.

Human Services

The Foundation awarded $30 million to human service nonprofits in 2022, and many grants in this area went to groups that provide essential services to youth and families. Grantees included a range of youth-focused groups, including Reconciliation Services, the Nebraska Youth Justice Initiative in Omaha, Nebraska and the Sno-Valley Senior Center in Carnation, Washington. 

Arts and Culture

Arts and culture projects received $23 million in 2022, including grants to the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri, the Omaha Zoo and the Seattle Aquarium in Seattle, Washington. Health Care and Hospitals.

Health Care and Hospitals

This is a growing area of need in many communities the Foundation serves. In 2022, $65 million was awarded to hospitals and health-care groups to build and improve their facilities.

The Lattner Family Foundation, founded in 2006 is headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, and is a family foundation with a successful history of charitable giving. We encourage board members to be actively involved in their communities and in the work for the Foundation. We also encourage family unity and mutual respect, while serving to educate board members in philanthropy, service, and stewardship.

Mission

We wish to make a significant difference by supporting creative and innovative programs that encourage hope and personal responsibility in our chosen areas of giving. We will look for projects which advance solutions and inspire others to contribute.

Through our innovative and creative programs, we seek to encourage hope, inspire others to contribute, and support personal responsibility in our chosen areas of giving. Our primary geographical areas for grants are Palm Beach County, Florida; Kansas, Rhode Island, and Georgia. These areas relate to where the Trustees reside.

Areas of Giving:

• Arts & Humanities,
• Education,
• Environment,
• Health & Social Services,
• and Christian organizations that provide such services.

The Dane G. Hansen Foundation initiated a grant opportunity in March 2015 with Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation as an avenue to financially help support charitable activities in Northwest Kansas. With this funding, county-wide funds have been established throughout Northwest Kansas, allocating grant funds to each to be used for projects benefiting the counties and/or communities within.

Grantmaking Criteria

Grants can address:

• Education: Enhances the learning environment and expands opportunities for students. Provides increased self-reliance on personal life skills and workforce capability.
• Health Care: Ensures access to quality health care services and promotes healthy life practices.
• Community Social Services & Security: Enhance access to social services needed for individuals of special needs and supports systems to provide community disaster relief and general community emergencies.
• Conservation & Environment: Support efforts to improve and maintain high air and water quality, appreciation for our natural environment and enhances economic and social benefits of outdoor resources.
• Arts & Culture: Provide cultural and artistic opportunities to enhance the quality of life for local residents and to encourage tourism and the exchange of ideas.
• Community Beautification: Support efforts to improve and maintain public spaces to enhance community pride and encourage socialization among residents

Generally, there is no maximum or minimum on grant requests. Some community foundations have established a maximum request and should be noted on the grant description when you apply for the application online. It is the intent of the Hansen Foundation that the Grant Funds be used to award multiple grants in each county. Each county foundation, at its discretion may choose to establish maximum or minimum limitations for the respective county.

Our Community Grants support a wide range of local projects in the areas of arts and culture, children and youth, community development, education, health, housing and human services.

Community Grant Guidelines

The goal of the DCCF Community Grants program is to improve the lives of Douglas County, Kansas residents. We support a wide variety of activities in the following areas:

• Arts and Culture 
• Children and Youth
• Community Development
• Education
• Environment
• Health
• Housing
• Human Services

Favored activities are those that:

• Provide a substantial benefit 
• Produce meaningful, measurable results
• Include a plan to measure results
• Build self-sufficiency and help attract additional funds and resources for the participants or organization
• Assist with or promote collaboration among nonprofits to minimize duplication

In addition, the foundation is more likely to fund requests that:

• Are clearly and concisely described 
• Are based on complete and clear income and expense projections
• Do not require recurring DCCF funding for the same project or purpose
• Reasonably ensure continued support after foundation funding is no longer available
• Are proposed by organizations that demonstrate sound financial practices and strong staff and volunteer support

Leadership Transformation Grants

Grant Purpose and Outcomes

A nonprofit organization founded by the Kansas Health Foundation, the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) provides training to foster leadership for stronger, healthier and more prosperous Kansas communities. Through the Leadership Transformation Grant, KLC partners with organizations to help them create a culture of leadership that embraces change, tackles problems and seizes opportunities. We are looking for partners across the state to saturate their organization with our proven framework in order to make lasting progress on their biggest challenges.

Research findings on the impact of our courses

KLC’s own research center indicates that leadership development at all levels of an organization leads to a more engaged workforce in the non-profit sector, with employees more committed, more hopeful for the future, and more satisfied with their job. Among high-tech employees, it yields an adaptive mindset, collaborative problem-solving, and better listening and communication. And ORS Impact, funded by a third party, interviewed over 50 of KLC’s past grantees to learn the effect of leadership training on an organization. The research indicates a strong link between increasing leadership behaviors among employees, positive change to culture and greater progress on key challenges facing the organization.

Our Process

To deliver these outcomes, we’ve developed a simple yet powerful framework. It starts with the idea that leadership is an activity, not a position, and that anyone can lead, anytime, anywhere. We offer a three-step sequence of dynamic program experiences—The KLC Path—taught by an inspiring and diverse team of teachers and coaches. By speaking to the head, heart and gut, our training shifts perspectives and empowers participants to put what they’ve learned to use immediately. The results drive lasting behavior change, with the power to mobilize an entire organization to own its challenges and seize opportunities to make more progress on what matters the most.

Supporting Our Future

We believe every person is capable of achieving extraordinary things. The Koch Family Foundation (formerly the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation) is committed to supporting individuals as they discover, develop, and apply their innate gifts, enabling them to transform the lives of themselves and those in their communities. Since its founding, the Koch Family Foundation has contributed more than $60 million in support of arts and education-based initiatives, including thousands of scholarships. 

A Legacy of Learning

This foundation was created with a singular mission: to foster arts and education in Kansas. And like many cherished family traditions, that commitment to lifelong learning has passed on from generation to generation.

It all began with Fred and Mary Koch, who made Wichita their home in 1932. They not only valued the importance of education, they made a point of supporting the fine arts as well. Mary’s creativity and generous contributions to the arts, in particular, are still making a difference in our creative community. The Koch Family Foundation continues its tradition of providing generous resources to inspire individuals to grow and share their talents with Kansas and the rest of the world.

Today, Fred and Mary’s legacy empowers new generations to make their own lasting contributions to society. Their son, Charles, has long devoted his philanthropic work to breaking down barriers to opportunity, while his wife, Liz, has unleashed potential throughout the state of Kansas – and beyond – through her support of arts and education. 

Charles and Liz have two children, Chase and Elizabeth, who are already at work continuing this important legacy for people around the world.

Our Grants

Each of us has our own unique gifts and talents we bring to the world. Our goal is to unleash them. We support programs that create the opportunity for all people to develop their abilities, reach their full potential and make lasting contributions to society. Our grants build on a Koch family passion for creating a vibrant and inclusive community within their home state of Kansas.

The Helen S Boylan Foundation

The mission of the Helen S. Boylan Foundation is to enhance the quality of life in our communities of Carthage, Missouri, the Greater Kansas City Area, and Lindale, Texas. We actively distribute quarterly grants to local non-profit organizations serving arts & education, women & children, health & wellness and the beautification of our communities.

Grant Guidelines

The Helen S. Boylan Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1982 to continue the family tradition of commitment to enhancing the quality of life of the community through grants to qualified charitable organizations. In carrying out its mission, the Foundation considers a wide range of proposals within the following areas: arts, education, health, human services, environment, and public interest.

IMA Foundation

Shortly after the incorporation of IMA more than 40 years ago, the company’s founders showed true vision and commitment to the community by creating the IMA Foundation. With employee owners at the core of our business, the goal of the IMA Foundation is to represent the passions of our associates and make strategic contributions within the foundation focus areas.

IMA Foundation Vision

Empowering our communities to create opportunities which protect assets and make a difference.

IMA Foundation Mission

To provide philanthropic support in the communities where we work and live.

Advancing Youth (over-arching)

The IMA Foundation provides grants to organizations that have a primary focus on advancing youth, with five key areas identified:

• education,
• mental health,
• arts & culture,
• food insecurity and
• homelessness. 

We strive to empower our communities by creating opportunities where we work and live to protect assets and make a difference.

To support organizations and programs that encourage youth and help develop the necessary skills and mindset needed to achieve success in their future careers and make a difference in their communities.

Samples include but are not limited to:

• Mentoring or after-school programs
• K-12 public education
• Higher education
• Scholarship programs
• Workforce development

To support organizations and programs that provide access or direct programming of mental health services, promoting resiliency and mental well-being, specifically, depression, stress, anxiety, and death by suicide.

• Mental health education and/or training
• Training and education for staff
• Awareness and prevention programs

To foster cultural vitality in our communities, we support arts and cultural organizations or programs that encourage inclusive creative expression, creating a well-rounded and connected community.

• Cultural institutions with focused programming for underserved K-12 youth
• Arts in Education programs
• Arts programs delivered to public schools

To increase access to healthy and nutritious food for our communities. Our goal is to provide funding to organizations addressing the root causes of hunger, eliminating barriers related to food insecurity and promoting equitable access to quality food.

• Food banks
• Public school assistance programs
• Organizations or programs that address “food deserts”

To support youth experiencing homelessness, we endorse programs and organizations that focus on the coordination, operation, and administration of homeless assistance projects. Our goal is to better serve youth by providing them with a path to safe and stable housing.

• Homeless shelters or drop-in centers
• Support services for youth experiencing homelessness

STEM + Families Science Festival, sponsored by Bayer Fund

This program is for elementary schools. Forty (40) local PTAs will be selected, and each will be awarded $1,250 in funding. Two (2) district/council/region (DCR) or SEPTA/community PTAs will receive $5,000. Science Festivals empower PTAs with resources to host hands-on, fun STEM experiences that bring students and families together and help families experience and explore activities in STEM. To be considered, PTAs must hold their programs in-person. At-home programming will not be supported.

ArtsKC Grants

ArtsKC Grants are investments in people, programs and projects that make the arts more accessible, that sustain a vibrant and thriving arts community, and that support traditions of excellence as well as innovation and entrepreneurship in the arts. ArtsKC Grants support visual, dance, music, theater, poetry, and interdisciplinary art.

Mission Support Grants

Mission Support Grants support non-profit organizations with the arts as their primary purpose. Funding is unrestricted. Last year, we awarded 54 Mission Support Grants totaling $277,000. The average grant amount was $5,130. 81.8% of applicants in this category received a grant of any amount.

The committee will consider:

• Artistic and Programmatic Excellence
• Community Impact
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
• Financial Management and Need
• The application in comparison to all other applications in the competitive process.

Grant Amounts

All grants will be for $5,000. For multi-year funding, grantees will receive $5,000 this year and the second year grant amount will be contingent upon ArtsKC's fundraising (though we will aim for $5,000). Additional funding may be assigned to organizations determined to be diverse-led.

SEED Grants

Strategic Economic Expansion and Development

The purpose of SEED grants is to support the economic revitalization of Kansas communities under 5,000 population through investments in quality-of-life initiatives.

SEED grants are funded under the Technology-Enabled Fiduciary Financial Institutions Development and Expansion Act (KS Stat § 9-2324 [2021]), which was enacted in 2021 to promote and facilitate the development and growth of trust banks in Kansas; regulate fiduciary financial activities and custodial services and Kansas; and to locate trust bank office space in economic growth zones in rural Kansas.

The SEED grant program is administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce.

SEED Grant Awardees

Awardees are located in communities with a population of 5,000 or less, as required by (KS Stat 9-2324 [2021]). They are required to provide a minimum 10-percent match as well as complete the projects within 12 months. Projects must be focused on economic development and revitalization efforts through one of the following quality-of-life categories:

• Childcare and senior programming – projects that support or enhance these services, such as building improvements, educational materials, supplies, and equipment
• Community vibrancy – projects that refresh, re-energize, and unlock the attractiveness of rural communities, such as art installations, murals, and signage
• Food retail – projects that support access to food retail establishments, including development, renovation, and/or expansion
• Libraries – projects that support providing free and open access to a broad range of materials and services, including reading material, technology, furniture, and building improvements 

Funding

Max award amount – $25,000

Min award amount – $10,000

10% match requirement

Max of 3 projects per application

The Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Logan, KS, is partnering with the Community Foundation to facilitate grants to improve the quality of life for communities in North Central Kansas.

Grants will be awarded to projects or programs that address:

• Education: Enhances the learning environment and expands opportunities for students. Provides increased self-reliance on personal life skills and workforce capability.
• Health Care: Ensures access to quality health services and promotes healthy life practices.
• Community Social Services & Security: Enhance access to social services needed for individuals of special needs and supports systems to provide community disaster relief and general community emergencies.
• Conservation & Environment: Support efforts to improve and maintain high air and water quality, appreciation for our natural environment and enhances economic and social benefits of outdoor resources.
• Arts & Culture: Provide cultural and artistic opportunities to enhance the quality of life for local residents and to encourage tourism and the exchange of ideas.
• Community Beautification: Support efforts to improve and maintain public spaces to enhance community pride and encourage socialization among residents.

Deihl Community Grants

Grants are intended to support projects likely to have a major impact on community efforts in the arts, basic human needs and youth, located in or impacting a large segment of the population. Generally grants are awarded to proposals clearly focused on the support of the constituents of Manhattan and Riley County, Kansas. 

Our Mission

The Kerr Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit charitable and educational Oklahoma corporation, established to identify and support 501(c)3 organizations, programs and institutions that provide new or enhanced opportunities for those within the granting areas, particularly the young.

Program Categories

Education - Institutions of elementary, junior high, pre-collegiate, along with institutions of higher learning to include health science centers and medical research done by educational institutions

Arts and Culture - Organizations in the visual arts and performing arts areas, museums and libraries

Health - Institutions providing health care, doing medical research, or outreach organizations employing primarily professionals from the allied health area

Human Services - Organizations providing services in diverse areas to the public, and specifically to the disadvantaged, people with special needs and the elderly

Project Categories

Capital - Bricks and mortar projects, including equipment

Program - Programs having an objective and specified time span

Operating - Funds to be used to cover basic ongoing administrative and personnel expenses

Grants for Greater Manhattan

Grants are focused on the arts and humanities, basic human needs, children/youth, community development and leadership, conservation/preservation/beautification, education, the elderly, health care and mental health.

The Artistic Innovations Grant Program encourages the spirit of experimentation and exploration, exclusively engaging in-region artists and organizations in the creation of new, original works for audiences in the M-AAA six-state region of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.

This grant program offers up to $15,000 in support of expenses incurred in the art-making process and premiere of these endeavors. Through generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, M-AAA supports individual artists and arts-based nonprofit 501c3 organizations in our region for projects that meet the eligibility requirements listed below.

Mader Foundation Grant

The Edward G. and Kathryn E. Mader Foundation funds programs that support children in Greater Kansas City.

General Funds

Every year in the summer, the Community Foundation’s Grant Review Committee funds programs focusing on Basic Human Needs, Youth Activities, and Arts & Culture. Since 2004, the funds directly managed by the Community Foundation have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to many Southeast Kansas nonprofit projects. General funds grant applications are typically available during June.

The mission of CFSEK is to serve the SEK region by encouraging charitable giving benefiting the common good and the quality of life. We inspire leadership with programming that is responsive to the interests and needs of those we serve now and in the future.

In 2023, up to $160,000 will be available to fund projects as follows:

• Youth Activities: $90,000
• Basic Human Needs: $67,800
• Arts & Culture: $2,200 

In 2022, the Community Foundation awarded $150,000 to 41 nonprofit recipients out of 64 applications through its General Funds Grant cycle. Awards averaged $3,256 and ranged from $500 to $11,000. Projects in 15 counties serving SEK received funding as well as CFSEK affiliate community foundations.

Mission

The John W. Speas & Effie E. Speas Memorial Trust was established in 1943 to support and promote quality educational, cultural, human services and health care programming. The Speas Memorial Trust supports organizations that serve the residents of Greater Kansas City Metropolitan area.

Grant requests for general operating support and program support will be considered. 

Program type

Arts, Culture, & Humanities; Community Improvement & Capacity Building; Education; Health; Human Services