Search Through Grants for the Arts in New Jersey in the U.S.

About Us

The Achelis and Bodman Foundation was formally established on November 25, 2015, from the merger of The Achelis Foundation (established in 1940) and The Bodman Foundation (established in 1945).

Program Areas

In keeping with the broad purposes in its charter documents, the Foundation has chosen to spread its grants over six program areas. Most grants are made in New York City, reflecting its dynamic not-for-profit sector, large and persistent needs, and the staff's and Trustees' "local knowledge." The Foundation also makes grants in northern New Jersey in recognition of the Bodman family's ties to that state, with an emphasis on Newark and Monmouth County. Over 90% of grants fall into one of the following categories:

Arts and Culture

Cultural institutions are among New York City’s most valued resources. They attract visitors from around the world and are one reason why so many people choose to live here. They are also major employers and vital to the City’s economy. The arts were important to Miss Achelis and Mr. and Mrs. Bodman, and so the Foundation has continued to support this area, generally through operating grants to the City’s prominent cultural institutions. The Foundation is most likely to support organizations that promote and sustain traditional concepts of artistic excellence. 

Education

The failure of inner-city public education is a national tragedy with enormous consequences for the children in these schools and for society as a whole. The Foundation has long believed that accountability and competition can contribute to the improvement of urban public schools. Therefore, the Foundation has funded charter schools, voucher programs, scholarships to parochial schools, and research that examines the impact of competition and other factors on K-12 educational performance. The Foundation also has an interest in helping young people and adults to realize their dreams of a college education. Finally, the Foundation seeks to promote intellectual excellence and balance at American colleges and universities.

Employment

Chronic unemployment or underemployment is a harsh and demoralizing burden. The welfare reforms of the mid-1990s increased the need for effective job training and placement programs. Such programs are especially critical for ex-offenders, chronic substance abusers, those with low educational attainments, and those suffering from mental or physical disabilities. The Foundation is particularly interested in supporting programs that emphasize the private sector and entrepreneurship.

Health

It is difficult for small grantmakers to make a significant impact in a field as large and complex as healthcare. Therefore, the focus of the Foundation's grants has been on the health needs of poor children, the disabled, and other disadvantaged populations, as well as on basic biomedical research, where a small grant at a pivotal time in a scientist's research can have a disproportionate impact. The Foundation has also supported the work of policy experts evaluating reforms that would improve the healthcare system and make it more accessible and efficient.

Public Policy

Funding in this category covers a broad range of issues including: K-12 education (listed under ), healthcare, families and marriage, crime prevention, prisoner reentry, philanthropy, the environment, welfare reform, and faith and religion. In all areas, the Foundation's grantmaking is guided by a belief in the merits of economic and political liberty, free enterprise, and personal responsibility.

Youth and Families

The disparate needs of New York City's disadvantaged youth and families are served by hundreds, even thousands, of charitable institutions, ranging from established settlement houses to small neighborhood organizations to local houses of worship. The Foundation supports programs that boost academic achievement, provide positive recreational and educational activities for disadvantaged young people, promote good character and values, preserve families, and encourage responsible parenting. In addition, the Foundation has a special interest in programs that prevent criminal behavior, discourage pre-marital sexual activity among teens, and assist vulnerable populations, such as disconnected youth, children who have been in foster care or suffered abuse, the disabled, and the homebound elderly. The Foundation is particularly interested in funding smaller, neighborhood-based organizations that choose to rely on private support rather than government grants or contracts.

Connelly Foundation Grant

Inspired by our Catholic heritage, the mission of the Connelly Foundation is to create access for those in need and opportunity for those with vision.

Since its founding in 1955, the Connelly Foundation has been a responsive and proactive grantmaking organization awarding grants to nonprofits in the Philadelphia area that demonstrate outstanding performance in meeting community needs.

Focus Areas

To achieve its mission to create access for those in need and opportunity for those with vision, the Connelly Foundation provides grants toward costs associated with programs, direct services, general operations, and capital projects to nonprofit organizations and institutions working in the following fields:

Education: Promoting Access to and Excellence in PreK-12 Catholic Education 

The Connelly Foundation is committed to helping Philadelphia-area Catholic schools thrive. The Foundation’s grantmaking and signature education initiatives prioritize: 

• Programs that support or improve the academic quality of local Catholic schools 
• Investments in talent that attract, develop, and retain high-quality teachers and leaders in schools and systems 
• Efforts for strategic improvement around enrollment growth and financial sustainability 
• Strategies to increase access to a high-quality Catholic education.

Human Services: Essential Needs and a Path to Stability

The Connelly Foundation’s Human Services grantmaking reflects the compassion of our Founders, John and Josephine Connelly, and their respect for human dignity. Inspired by our Catholic heritage, we seek to alleviate urgent, basic needs through access to food, emergency shelter, clothing, and critical home repair. We strive to create pathways to stability and independence through investments in youth and workforce development.

• Our Human Services Funding Priorities:
  • Basic Needs: Alleviating urgent needs through access to food, emergency shelter, clothing, and critical home repair
  • Investing in Youth: Supporting evidence-based or outcome-focused youth out-of-school time programs
  • Workforce development: Creating pathways to sustainable employment and stability through foundational skill building, entrepreneurship, and workforce development programs

Culture & Civic Life: Rewarding Destinations that Inspire 

In a region where civic and cultural opportunities abound, the primary focus of our "investment" in the arts is to support access and the development and delivery of educational programs.

Grants are awarded to organizations that strive to engage a broad audience and bridge cultural boundaries.  

The Foundation seeks to identify and support sites and projects that provide a deep appreciation of Philadelphia's rich heritage. 

Criteria 

• The degree to which the proposal directly addresses and furthers the Connelly Foundation’s objectives and goals .
• The significance of the problem or need addressed by the proposed program .
• The overall quality of the proposal and whether the organization has made a convincing case that funding to the organization will facilitate more effective and efficient service delivery to constituents
• The history and stability of the organization with regard to board, management, and financial support
• The organization’s track record, prior accomplishments and unique role in providing service to its specific constituencies
• The reasonableness of the prepared budget

About the Foundation

The Fidelity Foundation is a private, nonoperating foundation committed to building capacity in nonprofit organizations. Foundation grants are designed to encourage the highest standards of management and long-term self-reliance in nonprofit organizations. Taking an investment approach to grantmaking, we fund organizations where we feel we can add lasting, measurable value. We seek to support major initiatives that nonprofits undertake to reach new levels of achievement, and the Foundation’s founding operating principles still guide our decisions and grantmaking today.

Grantmaking Guidelines

As a private, independent, nonprofit entity, the Foundation awards grants only under the direction of its Trustees on the basis of our guidelines, project merits and availability of funds. We use a comprehensive approach to determine whether our collaboration and investment can add value and will measurably improve the applicant’s impact. Our selection criteria focus on the overall organization, the project being proposed and the project’s likelihood of success. Outlined below are the organizational requirements, sector priorities, and geographical boundaries that govern our funding.

Sector Focus

The Foundation supports non-profit organizations making high impact in the following sectors:

• Arts & Culture
• Conservation
• Education
• Health
• Social & Economic Mobility

Types of Projects

The Foundation seeks to work with organizations on strategic, transformative projects that have the potential to substantially increase the grantee's impact, efficiency, or long-term sustainability. These capacity-building projects fall into three areas:

Capital Investments

These are large-scale projects central to the overall health and sustainability of the applicant, such as new construction, renovations, expansions, and other initiatives that support the organization's strategic vision.

Planning Initiatives

This includes funding for project consultants to develop strategic, business, feasibility, technology, and other types of plans.

Technology Projects

These are high-impact technology initiatives that can substantially increase an organization's efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability.

Projects may include the development of front and back-end office systems; performance measurement systems; online functionality; and financial accounting, inventory management, point-of-sale, and other business systems.

Gadomski Foundation Grant

As family members live in the Lehigh Valley (located in Eastern Pennsylvania), San Francisco Bay area, Atlantic City (New Jersey) and Chicago area grants are typically limited to organizations serving these communities. The Gadomski Foundation intends to continue its financial contributions to organizations supporting education, under-served children, physical/mental health, the arts, and the local community.

The Foundation was formed in 2007 and is a private foundation. Due to aggressive grant making in recent years, the Foundation is well ahead of distributing its target of 5.5% in annual grants. In 2023 almost all assets of the foundation were transferred to the LVCF. The Foundation, through its donor-advised fund at the LVCF, will remain committed to ongoing support of charitable organizations through several multi-year grants; this currently limits new gifts to organizations not previously a grantee. Therefore, at this time, we are only providing grants to new organizations where The Gadomski Foundation, through its donor-advised fund at the LVCF, can make a notable impact.

The family's philanthropic interests are broad. We are especially open to grants where our grant is matched by others. Many grants are made confidentially and anonymously.

Our Interests

Over the years these organizations have received grants from The Foundation or our family:

• Religious organizations:
• Catholic Charities, Bishop's Appeal, Jewish Federation, Jewish Family Service, IJCU of Muhlenberg College, churches and temples 
• United Way Agencies:
• United Way of Lehigh Valley, Second Harvest Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley, Family Connection of Easton, Boys and Girls Club, Leukemia and Lymphoma of Eastern PA, Red Cross Of The Greater Lehigh Valley 
• Arts and Culture:
• Repertory Dance Theatre Foundation, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown Symphony, WDIY-public radio Lehigh Valley, WLTV-39 public TV, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Orchestra, Black Rock Arts Foundation, Historic Bethlehem Partnership
• Education:
• Purdue University, Lehigh University, Penn State-Lehigh Valley 
• Community wide agencies:
• Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, United Way
• Child Well Being:
• Make-A-Wish of Greater PA and West Virginia and Illinois, Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital, Community Services for Children, Embrace Your Dreams, Fund to Benefit Children & Youth, Minsi Trails Council, BSA

About the Karma Foundation

Established in 1996 to provide grants in support of organizations engaged in activities and programs in the areas of Arts & Culture, Autism, Education & Literacy, Health & Human Services and Development & Enrichment of Jewish Life.

Grant Categories

The Foundation makes grants in the following categories:

• Capacity Building
• Capital needs
• Disaster relief
• Equipment and materials
• Operating expenses
• Special projects and programs
• Start-ups

KearnyBank Foundation

Supporting our community by supporting the important work done by you.

The KearnyBank Foundation is dedicated to delivering meaningful support to the organizations that make our communities better.

Through financial grants and the hands-on efforts of our own employees, together we improve the lives of our friends and neighbors throughout the communities we serve.

We sincerely believe it is our duty and responsibility as a corporate citizen to help build a brighter future for us all. Through the KearnyBank Foundation we support the important work done by so many organizations and groups helping the disadvantaged, the young, sick, elderly and more. We help with financial grants but also through the hands-on efforts of many of our employees who are committed to improving lives throughout the areas we serve.

Grant Focus

The Foundation focuses on organizations who are:

• Education — Providing literacy, financial literacy, higher education, and youth outreach.
• Housing — Addressing the urgent need for affordable housing, positive neighborhood development and emergency housing.
• Community Betterment (Arts, Culture, Stewardship) — Enhancing our lives through the arts, social programs, local improvements and the understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship.
• Quality of Life — Helping senior citizens, veterans, the disabled or seriously ill including hospice care and end of life family support.

Mission

The Joseph Robert Foundation is a small Pennsylvania private foundation whose primary purposes are to provide financial support for the arts, animal welfare, and the environment. Our main geographic focus is the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., but in special cases we may provide support to organizations located outside this area.

We are interested in awarding grants to non-profit organizations addressing significant issues of interest to our Board. We are especially interested in supporting smaller, local organizations that have fewer resources and more limited objectives, although we may also help fund regional or national organizations having specific program or project objectives. Both general operating and project/program support is available.

We welcome first-time grant seekers, support applications from prior grant recipients, and reach out to find eligible organizations that share our goals and interests.

What We Fund

Arts

We believe strongly in the power of the arts to transform both individuals and communities and are committed to reinforcing the importance of the arts as a vital component of our culture. In challenging political times such as these, the role of the arts is too often overlooked, or even denigrated. We want to play our part in asserting the value of the arts by encouraging artists to take risks, explore new possibilities, and reach out to both new and familiar audiences. By nurturing creativity and innovative thinking, we can help artists make an impact on the world around them.

While we are supportive of all forms of creative expression, the interests of the Foundation are primarily in the visual arts. We will also look favorably upon interdisciplinary projects/programs with a visual arts component, or an arts program/project that would further the goals of either of the other of the Foundation’s areas of interest.

Animal Welfare

The plight and circumstances of animals, whether domestic, farm or wild, are areas of deep concern to the Foundation. We are interested in rescuing, protecting, rehabilitating, and providing homes and sanctuaries for the non-human inhabitants of this planet. We are especially interested in helping organizations that identify and provide resources for animal populations in underserved communities. We are also interested in helping with programs that train and educate wildlife rehabilitators and other animal rescue workers.

Environment and Sustainable Resources Management

With ever increasing attacks on the environment and environmental protection, it is critically important to protect and preserve our natural resources, open lands, forests, oceans, waterways, watersheds, and green spaces. The Joseph Robert Foundation is primarily interested in supporting smaller, local organizations that can have a direct impact on their communities, whether through education or through sustainability projects. We may also be interested in contributing to larger organizations that provide essential services to protect and safeguard the environment from threats of all natures.

Grant Period

The normal grant period will be one year, starting from the date the award has been granted. When appropriate, grantees may reapply for Joseph Robert Foundation funding upon the submission of a final report at the end of the funding period.

Grant Amount

Most grant awards to organizations will be under $10,000. First-time grant awards will be limited to $5,000 or less, unless there are compelling circumstances. Determination of the grant amount will be made based on organizational and/or program/project budgets, scope of proposal, organizational qualifications, and overall application quality. Grants to individuals will be limited to $2,000 or less, with sources of matching and in-kind funds considered.  

Grant Type

Organizations may apply for general operating (GO) and/or program/project funds, but larger organizations are limited to applying for program/project funding.

Individual applicants may only apply for project funds.

Investors Foundation Grant

Invigorating Our Communities

We created the Investors Foundation to help make a sustained, positive difference where our customers and employees live and work—reflecting our mission to do right by our customers and neighbors. Together with the Bank, the Foundation builds and leverages purposeful relationships with not-for-profit organizations, local businesses, public servants and other pillars of the community to foster welcome change.

Key Characteristics

• Civic-Minded Initiatives: Foundation efforts focus on the arts, education, health and human services, youth programs, affordable housing and more. Since inception in 2005, the Investors Foundation has given more than $40 million to thousands of worthy community organizations in New Jersey, New York City and Long Island.
• Aligning with the UN SDGs: The Foundation is aligning its efforts closely with those of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular: no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; climate; quality education; and, economic growth.

Mission

Investors Foundation is dedicated to supporting creative initiatives to diverse community organizations that support Arts, Education, Health and Human Services, Youth, and Affordable Housing in communities the former Investors Bank served. 

TAAFF Grant Program

The Astle-Alpaugh Family Foundation (TAAFF)*, is a private grant-making organization with a mission to improve the lives of individuals and families.

Our priorities are derived from involvement in the local community of Central New Jersey.

We believe that the strength of a society can be measured by how it cares for its most vulnerable citizens – we seek to provide stability and hope for the elderly and for at-risk children and youth, as well as persons suffering from illness, hunger, poverty, abuse, and chemical dependency. 

We strive to foster community involvement in education – we fund diverse educational programs. 

We place a strong priority on the improvement of our local community – we support  museums, community centers, and historic preservation.

Our Mission

The Columbia Bank Foundation is committed to serving the needs of its local communities. The Foundation actively seeks and focuses on innovative programs that provide a measurable impact in the communities that it serves.

Who We Serve

CBF resources are allocated with priority given to requests that benefit low-and-moderate income individuals and communities within Columbia Bank’s footprint. The primary goals and objectives of the Foundation are to identify community based non-profits, civic, business and charitable organizations that meet the necessary Foundation criteria, and to provide support funding for their service initiatives.

Community Grant Program

Our Community Grant Program is a testament to our commitment to uplift individuals and communities within our footprint. We identify community-based non-profits, civic organizations, businesses, and charities, to provide funding that fuels their impactful service initiatives. Applications for the Community Grant Program will be accepted for $5,000 - $15,000.

Charitable contributions from the Foundation will be focused on supporting the following major areas:

Community investment and economic development

We aim to strengthen our communities, by addressing the economic needs of individuals and families; enhancing the community’s financial health through economic development and investment and community sponsored events; improving neighborhood revitalization and promoting small business expansion. 

Financial literacy and education

Education is critical to us and for that reason we support programs that enrich a child’s educational opportunities, early childhood development and special education programs, with preferences given to those programs targeting low-and- moderate income individuals. Educational programs designed to meet the housing needs of low and moderate income population, local housing coalitions, housing crisis programs, homeownership counseling and other financial services education.

Health and human services

It is important to be healthy and well. The foundation supports programs that revitalize or stabilize low-and-moderate income areas and/or community services and initiatives that provide access to quality healthcare programs. 

Food insecurity

We aim to provide low-and-moderate income people access to healthy food and meals to improve one’s quality of life.

Environmental sustainability

We believe that it is important to support programs that will help create environmentally conscious communities and assist in the conservation of our natural resources and protection of our global ecosystems. 

The Arts

We believe that association with arts and cultural institutions sustain the vitality of communities while providing opportunities to expand economic growth. The arts also create vivacious and exciting opportunities for our youth. 

Leo Niessen lived in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In 1993, his foundation was funded from a testamentary bequest. He was a charitable man who also made substantial philanthropic gifts to Holy Redeemer Hospital during his lifetime. He had a special affinity for Red Cloud Indian School of Pine Ridge, South Dakota. To this day, the Co-Trustees of his foundation continue to support this school, as well as the Holy Redeemer Hospital and The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. All grants are made in memory of Leo Niessen and his family.MissionTo provide grants to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations supporting charitable, religious, scientific, literary, or educational purposes.Program areas

• Arts, culture and humanities
• Education
• Environment/animals
• Health 
• Human services 
• Public/society benefit 
• Religion

Our Funding Focus

The Turrell Fund supports:

• Increasingly strong focus on early childhood, prenatal-3.
• Within prenatal-3, we have increased our funding to policy and advocacy initiatives.
• Additional focus areas include:
  • Arts and music education
  • K-12 education
  • Direct social services for children and families

Early Childhood (0-3)

Early investments open up a lifetime of potential and opportunity

Healthy development for children ages 0-3 provides the building blocks for strong communities, lifelong health, and educational and career success. This period represents a time of incredible growth and potential for young children and families. Early relationships with caregivers can promote healthy development and encourage early literacy for infants and toddlers.

In addition, early experiences, positive and negative, impact the developing brain and make it vital that we address issues societal and racial disparities, support the whole family, and treat caregivers and early educators as equal partners in widespread social change.

K-12 Education

A solid, high-quality K-12 education is essential for long-term college and career success, as well as for general well-being and personal growth.

We know that students succeed when teachers have real-time support; schools are well-resourced; and schools take a compassionate, strengths-based approach to engaging kids. We want all students to gain entry to college or career training programs, and to be treated with dignity and respect throughout their entire educational experience. To create upward mobility for children, we need to improve and align the institutions that serve them.

Music & Arts

At the Turrell Fund, we believe that music and the arts change lives

Learning an instrument, developing artistic skills, and being part of a community of practice instills self-esteem and new pathways for connecting with others. We believe the potent benefits of arts education extend past the early years for children and families across the age range. All children, regardless of socioeconomic background or zip code, deserve access to high-quality arts education opportunities.

Social Services

Direct services are essential to providing support to children and families who need them.

From shelters, to food banks, to mental health services, these programs improve the well-being of individuals in their communities and respond to all types of need.

Every family is entitled to nutritious food, high-quality early care, compassionate healthcare, diapers, and every resource necessary to give their children a strong start. Ultimately, these services promote equity and opportunity in communities, providing a safe space for individuals to garner expert support and overcome hardship.

Systems Change

Systemic racism, entrenched poverty, and flawed policy decisions punish BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) families, stifle social mobility, and hold our communities back.

We fight alongside our partners to ensure access to high-quality, affordable child care, enhanced pediatric care, and trauma-informed service delivery. We also work to ensure equity and compassion in the child welfare system.

About The Memorial Trust

In 1975, two years after his death, The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust was established in New York. The four original trustees were a member of the Snow family, a lawyer, a publishing associate and a corporate trustee, the Irving Trust Company, now BNY Mellow N.A.. The current Trustees continue this legacy being well aware of the donor and his beliefs, values and ideals. The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust strategically focuses funding within specific geographic regions of the United States across a range of program areas. They meet once a year, usually in June.

The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust

The Memorial Trust strategically focuses funding within specific geographic regions of the United States across a range of program areas (prioritized below and visually depicted here) while responding to the ever-changing needs of various segments of the population, especially to the needs of youth and people who are disadvantaged economically, emotionally, or physically.

Dating back to the inception of the Trust in 1973, the primary and overarching grant making priority has been and continues to be programs that focus on education.

• Education: Targets funds to organizations that provide educational opportunities or academic assistance to individuals who demonstrate an intellectual aptitude and a financial need. Examples include scholarships, fellowships, academic tutoring or counseling, literacy, and journalism.

Secondarily, the Trust considers proposals within the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Initiatives, and Youth Programs. The Board’s objective is to extend the primary educational focus by providing funding support within these additional program areas.

• Community Initiatives: Provides funding for programs or services that directly improve the quality of life within the geographic focus areas that we serve. Examples include support for libraries, food pantries and shelters, and neighborhood revitalization. Generally, the Trust does not seek proposals for health care initiatives or animal welfare programs.
• Arts and Culture: Offers grants that promote arts education and appreciation, particularly for young adults, via the development of educational curriculum and professional instruction including visiting artists and performance support for targeted populations.
• Youth Initiatives: Offers grants that provide character education or enrichment opportunities via mentoring or after-school programming

As a third priority, the Trust does consider proposals in the areas of Disabilities and Universal Access, Environmental, and Historic Preservation. As these are not core focus areas, funding is often limited. Priority will be given to proposals with an educational focus.

• Disabilities and Universal Access: Offers grants to organizations in complying with ADA requirements within their facilities (e.g. elevator, handrails, automatic doors, and ramps) or offering services targeted for individuals with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
• Environmental: Provides funds for organizations that strive to protect strategic parcels of land and bodies of water as well as programs that educate the general public on key environmental issues such as conservation and water management.
• Historic Preservation: Provides funding for organizations that preserve historical artifacts (e.g. sites, structures, objects) and accounts (e.g. events), and educate the greater community on their significance. Examples include museums, historical societies and educational programming.

Odessa and Henry Kahrs Trust Grant

The Odessa F. Kahrs and Henry D. Kahrs Trust for Charitable Purposes awards grants to organizations supporting charitable, religious, scientific, literary, or educational purposes within the state of New Jersey, specifically southern New Jersey and Atlantic County.

Henry D. Kahrs resided in Margate City, Atlantic County, New Jersey. The Odessa F. Kahrs and Henry D. Kahrs Trust for Charitable Purposes was created in 1970 under Mr. Kahrs' Last Will and Testament to support various charitable causes in the southern portion of New Jersey.

Mission

To provide grants to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations supporting charitable, religious, scientific, literary, or educational purposes within the state of New Jersey, specifically southern New Jersey and Atlantic County.

Program Areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities
• Education
• Environment/animals
• Health
• Human services
• Public/society benefit
• Religion

Our Mission

The Scherman Foundation invests in the economic, political, and cultural transformation necessary for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to reclaim and build power.

Our Strategic Framework

We believe that investing in cultural, political, and economic transformation together advances justice to realize our vision. We support organizations working at the intersections of these transformation areas inside our strategic framework. This framework is the foundation of our more specific and evolving program priorities.

• Economic Transformation
  • Our focus on economic transformation acknowledges that the root causes of economic inequity are linked to white supremacy and racial injustice and that the economic well being of BIPOC individuals and communities is critical for liberation.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Strategies and models that provide BIPOC communities with greater access to capital, assets, and opportunities
    • Economic stability and security for BIPOC individuals and families
    • Advocating for more equitable economic systems through policy reform, institutional changes, and increased transparency
• Political Transformation
  • We believe that those who have been excluded must lead the way in dismantling current political structures and creating new, inclusive, and reflective democratic processes.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Work and priorities that are driven by BIPOC communities
    • Forging multi-racial coalitions working toward racial justice
    • Reforming political structures and processes to make the political system more accessible and accountable to BIPOC communities
    • Increasing the participation of BIPOC communities in democratic processes and decision-making at all levels
• Cultural Transformation
  • Recognizing the crucial role of culture in advancing justice, we support organizations that harness storytelling, expression, and artistic activism to drive systemic change.
  • Our focus is on collaborative narrative change strategies, innovative storytelling frameworks, and equitable media accessibility.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Public Narrative Change: Combating misinformation and harmful stereotypes through investments in journalism, local news outlets, and nonfiction narratives
    • Artistic Expression: Supporting the creativity and work of BIPOC artists and communities without imposing agendas or conditions and transforming the field to do the same
    • Artivism: Using art as a tool for organizing grassroots movements and collective action, including funding on-the-ground storytelling and public art projects

General Criteria

We consider the following general criteria in our grantmaking process.

• Organizations that are accountable to or directed by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
  • While we prioritize BIPOC leadership, our main focus is on organizations where BIPOC communities have clear influence and decision-making power over the organization's strategy, direction, programmatic work, and finances.
• Organizations that are intersectional in their work and practices.
  • Intersectionality recognizes that individuals hold multiple identities, shaping their experiences with power. 
  • We look for organizations that demonstrate a deep understanding of intersectionality in their mission, programs, and practices; center the voices and experiences of those most affected by multiple forms of oppression; and address the interconnectedness of racial justice with economic status, gender, LGBTQ+, and/or disability justice as well.
• Organizations that work with others to build movements toward racial justice.
  • Movement-building is the long-term process of organizing and empowering individuals and organizations to collectively work towards systemic change and a shared vision.
  • We look for organizations and coalitions that reflect key characteristics of movement building including an authentic mass base; grassroots leadership; a shared ideology or narrative; broad coalition-building; and strategy to create and sustain structural change beyond specific organizations or campaigns.
  • The Foundation supports organizations focused on organizing and advocacy, while our Arts funding includes a wider range of approaches.

Democracy Program

The Democracy program is driven by the belief that a vibrant democracy requires consistent and meaningful political and civic participation by the vast majority of the population, particularly Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities that have long been excluded from power. To this end, we must protect and expand access to the right to vote, build strong inclusive civic engagement infrastructure and practices, strengthen democratic institutions, and reform democratic processes and systems to make them fairer, more accessible, and more accountable to a broader constituency, including BIPOC communities. A core tenet of our grantmaking will be to support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities in their efforts to reclaim and build political power. 

State-level work is a key lever for building that power, and the Foundation will provide support to locally-based BIPOC and multi-racial groups that are rooted in their communities, are trusted sources of information, encourage year-round civic engagement in local, municipal, state, and federal elections, and build the power of BIPOC communities to achieve a reflective and responsive multi-racial democracy at the state level. Building state-level power and statewide civic engagement infrastructure will allow BIPOC communities to achieve more racially just democratic, economic, climate, cultural, and reproductive policies, create a pipeline for BIPOC leadership, and make state and federal institutions more accountable. 

Our Mission

The Scherman Foundation invests in the economic, political, and cultural transformation necessary for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to reclaim and build power. 

Our Strategic Framework

We believe that investing in cultural, political, and economic transformation together advances justice to realize our vision. We support organizations working at the intersections of these transformation areas inside our strategic framework. This framework is the foundation of our more specific and evolving program priorities.

• Economic Transformation
  • Our focus on economic transformation acknowledges that the root causes of economic inequity are linked to white supremacy and racial injustice and that the economic well being of BIPOC individuals and communities is critical for liberation.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Strategies and models that provide BIPOC communities with greater access to capital, assets, and opportunities
    • Economic stability and security for BIPOC individuals and families
    • Advocating for more equitable economic systems through policy reform, institutional changes, and increased transparency
• Political Transformation
  • We believe that those who have been excluded must lead the way in dismantling current political structures and creating new, inclusive, and reflective democratic processes.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Work and priorities that are driven by BIPOC communities
    • Forging multi-racial coalitions working toward racial justice
    • Reforming political structures and processes to make the political system more accessible and accountable to BIPOC communities
    • Increasing the participation of BIPOC communities in democratic processes and decision-making at all levels
• Cultural Transformation
  • Recognizing the crucial role of culture in advancing justice, we support organizations that harness storytelling, expression, and artistic activism to drive systemic change.
  • Our focus is on collaborative narrative change strategies, innovative storytelling frameworks, and equitable media accessibility.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Public Narrative Change: Combating misinformation and harmful stereotypes through investments in journalism, local news outlets, and nonfiction narratives
    • Artistic Expression: Supporting the creativity and work of BIPOC artists and communities without imposing agendas or conditions and transforming the field to do the same
    • Artivism: Using art as a tool for organizing grassroots movements and collective action, including funding on-the-ground storytelling and public art projects

General Criteria

We consider the following general criteria in our grantmaking process.

• Organizations that are accountable to or directed by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
  • While we prioritize BIPOC leadership, our main focus is on organizations where BIPOC communities have clear influence and decision-making power over the organization's strategy, direction, programmatic work, and finances.
• Organizations that are intersectional in their work and practices.
  • Intersectionality recognizes that individuals hold multiple identities, shaping their experiences with power.
  • We look for organizations that demonstrate a deep understanding of intersectionality in their mission, programs, and practices; center the voices and experiences of those most affected by multiple forms of oppression; and address the interconnectedness of racial justice with economic status, gender, LGBTQ+, and/or disability justice as well.
• Organizations that work with others to build movements toward racial justice.
  • Movement-building is the long-term process of organizing and empowering individuals and organizations to collectively work towards systemic change and a shared vision.
  • We look for organizations and coalitions that reflect key characteristics of movement building including an authentic mass base; grassroots leadership; a shared ideology or narrative; broad coalition-building; and strategy to create and sustain structural change beyond specific organizations or campaigns.
  • The Foundation supports organizations focused on organizing and advocacy, while our Arts funding includes a wider range of approaches

Environmental & Climate Justice Program

Over the next 20 years, and likely beyond, climate chaos will be a primary driver of economic, social, cultural, and political change in the U.S.  But while transformation is inevitable, a Just Transition one that replaces fossil fuel systems that drive racial and economic inequality with structures that are decentralized, equitably distributed, and democratically controlled—will only be achieved through grassroots climate organizing and movement-building that embodies racial justice.

Climate change disproportionally harms Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, whether it is adjacency to noxious fossil fuel facilities that drive sky-rocketing asthma rates, the poisoning of Indigenous peoples’ lands, or the ocean inundation of unprotected communities already suffering from climate-driven heat waves. In New York, these harms will be increasingly exacerbated by climate-driven immigration, pitting one historically oppressed group against another. This reality is central to the environmental and climate justice movement. It is also the movement’s strength because frontline communities of color are the natural leaders to build economic, cultural, and political power in the fight to shape climate transformation. Local and state based community organizations and mass-based coalitions embody the intersectionality, first-hand knowledge, and determination rooted in lived experience that informs and drives systemic change.  

Funding Priorities

New York Regional Focus

The Foundation will focus its support on New York City and State in order to seek synergies with grantees in its other programs, facilitate deep staff engagement and support of the field, and take advantage of the moment. The state and city are at dramatic climate policy tipping points, positioned to demonstrate that a transition to climate sustainability is inextricably interwoven with the fight for racial justice. Having won historic legal commitments to a Just Transition—the CLCPA, Local Law 97, etc.—our grantees are working to defend those wins and fight for aggressive implementation. 

In order to leverage regional synergies (and confront regional challenges), the Foundation will continue to fund a limited number of grassroots groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Local Frontline Organizations and Allies

The Foundation funds multi-issue, BIPOC, community-based organizations, or coalitions of such groups, with a primary focus on racial justice and climate sustainability, from democratically controlled renewable energy projects and local/state policy to local climate resiliency and green jobs. These groups approach climate through the lens of local needs and concerns of historically oppressed communities. They are not first and foremost focused on emissions reductions (the usual measure of climate strategies) but on intersectional approaches such as asthma and PEAK plant transition; community self-sufficiency and solidarity through renewable energy microgrids and resilient, community-controlled community infrastructure; and the creation of energy efficient housing and green jobs. This complex intersectionality requires the Foundation to vet groups on the viability of their goals and strategies and on the authenticity of their community roots, power building, and accountability.

The Foundation provides targeted support for mass transit work. The city and region are uniquely shaped by the benefits and inequities of mass transit. These systems intersect with issues of economic access, health inequities, affordable housing, and, of course, climate. While almost all of the ECJ program’s grantees work at least tangentially on transportation issues, the Foundation funds a core group of grassroots organizing, advocacy, and policy groups and campaigns working exclusively for equitable mass transit.

The Foundation also supports a limited number of policy, legal, and technical support organizations allied with, and accountable to, frontline groups and coalitions.

National Climate Justice Groups

The Foundation will support a limited number of national Climate Justice groups distinguished by the following characteristics:

• A strong grassroots base in New York BIPOC communities, primarily through affiliations
• The capacity to both support and amplify New York climate justice groups
• An intersectional approach addressing racial, political, and economic justice in addition to climate
• A cohesive racial justice narrative built with other organizations and community partners

Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program Grant

It is the intent of the 21st CCLC Program to provide opportunities for communities to establish or expand activities in community learning centers that:

• increase academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services to help students, particularly students who attend low-performing schools, to meet the challenging State academic standards
• offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities, such as youth development activities, service learning, nutrition and health education, drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs, arts, music, physical fitness and wellness programs, technology education programs, financial literacy programs, environmental literacy programs, mathematics, science, career and technical programs, internship or apprenticeship programs, and other ties to an in-demand industry sector or occupation for high school students that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; and
• offer families of students served by community learning centers opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children’s education, including opportunities for literacy and related educational development.

The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has established a five-year grant program. This competitive grant program is open to open to all New Jersey non-profit organizations, local education agencies (LEAs), which include charter schools, educational service commissions, jointure commissions, and special services school districts; nonpublic schools; community-based organizations; city or county government agencies; faith-based organizations; institutions of higher education; for-profit agencies; Indian tribes or tribal organizations; or consortiums of two or more such agencies, organizations, or entities. However, eligibility is limited to those entities that will serve students in grades three through 12 who primarily attend schools implementing comprehensive or targeted support and improvement activities under section ESSA 1111(d) or other schools determined by the LEA to be in need of intervention and support. Based on the availability of FY24 federal Title IV, Part B Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) funds, this first year of this five-year grant program will begin September 1, 2023 and will end on August 31, 2024. 

Montclair Fund for Women Grant

The Montclair Fund for Women supports programs that use innovative approaches to achieve educational success and social justice with a special emphasis on women and girls of color in Montclair and North Essex.

Priorities

The Montclair Fund for Women will prioritize grant applications that show a primary focus on the following populations, methods and thematic areas:Direct service work;

• Direct service work
• Women and girls
• Education and/or social justice
• Change through community

While maintaining our focus on support for organizations providing direct service to women and girls, with a special emphasis on women and girls of color, in the education and/or social justice arenas, MFW will prioritize grants that focus on the building of community as a methodology for change.

Montclair Fund for Women funds social justice projects created to:

• Expose and challenge systemic racism through teaching tolerance; combat racist/bigoted laws, policies and private business practices.
• Expose and challenge economic inequality through research, community organizing, public education campaigns, community forums, publications to expose private, non-profit and government sector policies, laws and practices that result in economic inequality for specific/arbitrarily targeted segments of the population, for the private profit of another.
• Challenge political policies, laws, court rulings and practices through community education designed to expose, illuminate, educate and inform individuals and groups regarding those policies and laws.

Montclair Fund for Women supports programs that enrich learning and maximize opportunities for economically disadvantaged students to access high quality education. We fund programs that:

• Make education a two-way street between parent(s) and child that strengthens family ties and the love of learning, which is the foundation for success.
• Utilize research-based curriculum to prepare children for social and academic development that maximizes their chance for achieving their life goals through integrated technology, cooperative learning modules and differentiated instruction, creative use of “toys”, media, etc.
• Engage children and teens in programs that include technology, public speaking, the arts, literature, math and science and civic responsibility/leadership skills.
• Document/demonstrate an increase students’ ability to embrace, enjoy and succeed at lifelong learning both in and out of school.
• Engage elementary to college-aged youths in well-planned, rigorous and enjoyable activities designed to enrich/enhance their personal social development, civic engagement, academic achievement and pursuit of career and other life goals.

Community

The Montclair Fund for Women’s Board of Trustees have been exploring ways to increase the impact of the Fund’s support. It was clear that any change in the Fund’s direction needed to be grounded in the mission of the historic Montclair/North Essex YWCA, as well as the experience of the women who participated in its life; for about 75 years, the YWCA was “a place to become” one’s self through a welcoming community. This legacy gave rise to the idea of individual change and growth through a supportive, welcoming community, as well as the strengthening of that community through individual change and growth. 

Community can be geographic, social, biological, and thematic. When people come together around common interests and joint action, cohesion and both group and individual identities develop. Social ties form, and there is the possibility for change to be created both on behalf of the community, and for individuals within the community. These communities can be long-, medium- or short-term in duration.

• Change in and through communities comes from the following actions/characteristics:
• Collective wisdom: a sharing of ideas that can be greater than the sum of the parts.
• Pushing individual limits: high-performing athletes train with one another to push each other, and themselves, to do the best they can. In communities, pushing limits can be cognitive and emotional as well as physical.
• Support and belief: People who don’t feel a sense of self-efficacy can gain confidence and develop skills through feedback from others.
• New ideas: This is both exposure to new ideas and the ability, as in ‘collective wisdom’, to come up with original approaches to problems.
• Borrowed motivation: When energy flags or a setback happens, having people to pick up the slack or to bring new energy can provide the needed thrust to keep going.
• Accountability: For a community to be successful, people must be accountable to one another. They have to do what they say they are going to do, or the goals will not be accomplished.
• A sense of place and belonging: Access to a safe space, whether geographic or social/intellectual/emotional, can allow for people to let down their guard enough to engage in activities that are outside of their comfort zone.

In 2025, Montclair Fund for Women will consider multi-year grant applications. Successful applicants can expect a three-year commitment from Montclair Fund for Women.

About the Foundation

The John A. and Margaret Post Foundation supports charitable organizations that benefit the quality of life for families and society in general, with a primary focus on organizations in northwest New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania.

Program areas

• Arts, culture and humanities 
• Education
• Environment, animals
• Health
• Human services
• Public/society benefit

States served 

• Pennsylvania 
• New Jersey

Types of support 

Grants for capital needs and specific programs

The Robert A. Mills Foundation was established under the Will of Robert A. Mills as a perpetual trust, the income of which is distributed for charitable purposes. Mr. Mills lived in the city of Paterson, New Jersey, and was affiliated with an industrial supplies and equipment business known as H.W. Mills & Company.

The Robert A. Mills Foundation makes grants to organizations supporting charitable, religious, scientific, literary, humanitarian, scholarship, or educational purposes. Specificity regarding the need, practicability, and usefulness of each proposed grant is encouraged.

Mission

To provide grants to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations supporting charitable, religious, scientific, literary, humanitarian, scholarship, or educational purposes.

Program areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities
• Education
• Environment, animals
• Health
• Human services
• Public/society benefit
• Religion

The Gladys Brooks Foundation was created under the will of Gladys Brooks Thayer of New York. 

Its purpose is to provide for the intellectual, moral and physical welfare of the people of this country by establishing and  supporting non-profit libraries, educational institutions, hospitals and clinics.

Scope of Grants Considered

The Foundation will consider major grant applications for innovative projects in the fields of libraries, education, hospitals and clinics.

Grants for Libraries 

Grant applications will be considered generally for resource Endowments (print, film, electronic database, speakers/workshops) capital construction and innovative equipment. Projects fostering broader public access to global information sources utilizing collaborative efforts, pioneering technologies and equipment are encouraged.

Grants for Educational Institutions

Grant applications from universities, colleges and secondary schools will be considered generally for:

• educational endowments to fund scholarships based solely on educational achievements, leadership and academic ability of the student; 
• endowments to support fellowships and teaching chairs for educators who confine their activities primarily to classroom instruction in the liberal arts, mathematics and the sciences during the academic year;
• erection or endowment of buildings, wings or additions thereto of buildings, and equipment for educational purposes;
• capital equipment for educational purposes.

Grants for Hospitals & Clinics

Grant proposals from hospitals and clinics where the proposal addresses a new health need, an improvement in the quality of health care or reduced health costs with better patient outcomes will be considered generally for:

• endowments for programs;
• erection or endowment of buildings, wings of or additions to buildings;
• capital equipment.

About the Foundation

Marlee-Jo Jacobson was a successful businesswoman who held a seat on the commodities exchange. She believed that people from all walks of life should have the opportunity for academic education, as well as cultural education.

Marlee-Jo loved kids and especially wanted to help disadvantaged children find the right opportunities. She believed that these children have unique value that can provide society with enormous benefits. It was her wish that literature, music, arts and crafts, gardening and other positive aspects of daily living be taught in addition to academics.

Conscious Kids Grant

Conscious Kids awards grants to organizations to provide support services to children and families struggling in underserved communities, including but not limited to those experiencing homeless, living in or aging out of foster care, needing access to tuition assistance, tutoring and internships, or other basic services to improve their daily lives. Their goal is that the individuals who benefit from these grants will recognize these benefits and will be inspired to serve their community or society at large.

Mission

To support at-risk children and young adults, with a primary goal of providing educational support and a secondary goal of providing general support and life enhancement.

Funding

• Average grant size: $10,000 to $20,000
• Average number of grants per year: 5
• Average total giving per year: $100,000

Art Works

Founded in 2021 by Forman Arts Initiative and Philadelphia Foundation, Art Works is a joint $3 million grant program designed to support Philadelphia arts and cultural organizations and artists working in partnership with BIPOC and other underserved communities.

Art Works accepts applications from local cultural nonprofit (or fiscally sponsored) organizations with annual operating budgets between $250,000 and $5 million as well as individual artists with a commitment to incorporating community perspectives into their work.

• Four Philadelphia-based artists will be selected annually to receive two-year grants of $25,000 per year. Grants can be used freely by artists. Some artists may wish to use the grant to support the development of new work while others may use it to pay for living or studio expenses. Artists will be chosen based on how closely their work aligns with Art Works’ programmatic goals.
• Four community-based organizations will be selected annually to receive two-year, unrestricted grants ranging from $75,000-$150,000.  Organizations will be chosen based on how closely their work aligns with Art Works‘ programmatic goals.

In addition to the awarded funds, all grantees will have access to experiential professional development workshops and pro bono professional consulting services designed to provide strategic and tactical support on a range of topics including legal, marketing, communications, budgeting and finance, among others.

Art Works also provides grantees the opportunity to host co-operative education students from Drexel University to support programs and operations.

These placements, administered by Drexel’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships, are designed to provide students with meaningful work experience in the arts and culture sector. 

About the Foundation

The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation was created in 1983 pursuant to the wishes expressed by their only daughter, Charlotte V. Bergen (1898 – 1982) of Bernardsville, New Jersey. During her lifetime, Charlotte Bergen had the distinction of sharing the works of the masters by presenting and conducting over fifty concerts of fine, traditional music in Carnegie Hall, to which the music-loving public was invited free of charge. In 1981, Ms. Bergen donated her rare 1701 Servais Stradivarius Cello to the Smithsonian Institution, where it is maintained in the Hall of Musical Instruments. The foundation perpetuates Miss Bergen’s love of classical music and support of musical education by providing grants for musical performing arts and musical education.

Mission

To perpetuate Miss Bergen’s love of classical music and support of musical education by providing grants for musical performing arts and musical education.

Program areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities
• Arts Education

Program limitations

• Music education
• Orchestral Performances/Concerts

The Gertrude L. Hirsch Charitable Trust was established under the Last Will and Testament of Gertrude Hirsch, who was born in 1898 and died in 1987. Ms. Hirsch determined the parameters of the trust while living in the Ho-Ho-Kus Borough of Bergen County, New Jersey.

Mission

To distribute funds exclusively for charitable and educational purposes to 501(c)(3) organizations that will fulfill those purposes.

Program Areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities
• Education
• Environment, animals
• Health
• Human services
• Public/society benefit

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 $1,500 in funding. 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.

ABOUT ROOTED IN JUSTICE

“Rooted in Justice” is a funding program designed to help amplify youth voices and actions in the environmental and food justice movements.  Rooted in Justice supports community-based organizations and groups that manage established, youth-led, urban greening programs within a justice framework as a core part of their work, with two-year grants of $25,000/year.  

Rooted in Justice recognizes the importance and undeniable right of every young person to have the ability to develop their own relationship with the environment, be it through growing food, spending time with nature, creating community green spaces, or becoming environmental stewards. Rooted in Justice also honors the power and possibilities that arise when young people collectively work to be change-makers in their communities.

Rooted in Justice supports organizations, groups, collectives, and programs that work with young people between the ages of 12 to 20 in youth-led programming for communities or cultures which have historically or currently experience:

• A lack of access to land or nature;
• Agricultural oppression and/or neglect;
• Food apartheid; and/or
• Other forms of injustice based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics and disability.

Rooted in Justice awards a small number of grants each year with applications due in the fall and decisions made the following spring. Final grant decisions are recommended to the Cedar Tree board via a participatory grantmaking process with outside reviewers who have experience in youth-led urban greening, as well as food or climate justice programming. So far the program has awarded multi-year grants to 21 organizations and one-time grants to 10 additional organizations since 2021. 

Definitions

Rooted in Justice grants support organizations or programs that include all four of the elements described below: social justice, youth-led, urban greening, and cohort-based youth work. We articulate our understanding of those terms below in an effort to provide a guide for prospective organizations to use in determining whether their program is a good fit. However as we continue our work towards questioning and dismantling some of our preconceived notions, we recognize that these are not finite definitions and encourage prospective applicants who still feel their work may be a good fit to describe in their proposals why this is the case.  

Social Justice-Based Programs

Programs dedicated to creating equitable outcomes for communities directly affected by different aspects of injustice by:

• Sharing and redistributing power and resources;
• Amplifying voices and leadership;
• Tackling root problems through ongoing engagement and collaboration to find solutions, organize against oppression of all kinds and create mechanisms for change; and
• Developing a critical analysis with youth and community members.

Youth-Led

The development of youth leadership skills is a core part of programs funded by Rooted in Justice. Young people have the opportunity to play a role in the planning and decision-making for their program and may help shape the internal workings of the organization. Examples of youth-led programs include programs where participants: 

• Managing a portion of their programming budget;
• Co-facilitating program activities, meetings and gatherings;
• Shape their own programming and/or organizational strategic planning;
• Have regular and end-of-program opportunities to provide program feedback and evaluation; and
• Have opportunities for personal and/or professional growth within the program and organization.

Urban Greening

For the purpose of this grant we define “urban greening” as any activity that creates a mutually beneficial relationship between city dwellers and their environments. Programs that are a strong fit for Rooted in Justice will have many opportunities for youth to be outdoors.  Project settings can include, but are not limited to: 

• Urban and aquaponic farms
• Greenhouses and rooftop gardens
• Community gardens, green spaces, and rain gardens
• Composting sites
• Land conservation efforts
• Urban forests
• River or other water restoration  

Cohort-Based Youth Works

Rooted in Justice looks to fund organizations that build community with cohorts of youth through intentional, recurring programming. This grant is intended to support programs that offer youth significant learning and leadership opportunities as a group and as individuals. Priority will be given to organizations that have program infrastructure that supports a cohort of youth over time.  Drop-in programming, one-time conferences, or individual internships are not a good fit for Rooted in Justice.  

Youth Budgeting

As part of grant proposal, all Rooted in Justice grantees must share a plan to allocate a portion of the grant funds for youth participants to manage. What do we mean by this? We ask applicants to specifically set aside some amount of grant funds for youth to allocate to priorities of their choosing.  For example, youth participants can use their allocated funding to:

• Fund an entrepreneurial endeavor;
• Design the brand or swag for their group;
• Hire a speaker or outside expert to teach a new skill;
• Purchase supplies for a community-based art project;
• Host a celebration for their families, friends and neighbors;
• Pay for transportation to programming, special events, or conferences; and/or
• Any other youth-led activity the group may find beneficial.

Use of Funds

Rooted in Justice funding must be used for project support of existing youth led, urban greening, social justice work and associated general operating expenses. Operating expenses can include anything from program costs like staff salaries and youth stipends to organizational sustainability needs like major equipment purchases and leadership/staff training. If your organization’s entire mission is youth led, urban greening, social justice work, the Rooted in Justice grant can be general support. 

Funding

Two Year Grant

• Rooted in Justice Grant awards are two-year grants of $25,000 per year.
• After the initial two year grant, grantees may be eligible for a third year of funding at the same or lower level through a simple renewal process.
• In the 2025-2026 grant cycle, the Cedar Tree Foundation expects to support 4 organizations with multi-year grant awards.

Funding for Professional Development

• Each Rooted in Justice grantee organization also has access to an additional $6,000 to support professional development opportunities identified by each organization.  Half of these funds must be used to directly support the professional development of youth. 
• Rooted in Justice grantees can request reimbursement from this professional development fund to attend conferences, hire consultants, purchase equipment or software that increases organizational capacity, or participate in any activities that strengthen youth programming or justice practice of program providers in support of their youth development programming. The funds set aside for youth professional development can be used for youth exchanges or youth participation in conferences and other professional development opportunities directly for youth.  

Community Professional Development Calls

• Cedar Tree works with grantee partners to assess their professional development interests and facilitates on-line gatherings of staff or youth for skill shares, trainings, and networking opportunities.
• These network calls will likely happen 2-3 times per year.