The Foundation makes grants that strive for excellence, improve service for clients, strengthen organizations, and assist underserved, low-income individuals within the Kansas City community.

Areas of Focus

In recognition of Marion and Henry Bloch’s lifelong commitment to their community, the Foundation focuses its support on organizations that serve Greater Kansas City (Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties in Missouri, and Wyandotte and Johnson counties in Kansas).Education for Poor, Disadvantaged, and Underserved Youth The Foundation promotes access to quality pre-K, K to 12, and post-secondary education, focusing on closing achievement gaps and building human capital in the urban core.Healthcare The Foundation supports centers of excellence, education, and access to quality healthcare.Jewish Community Organizations The Foundation supports organizations that advance social and economic justice issues in the Jewish community.Post-Secondary Business and Entrepreneurship EducationThe Foundation supports select post-secondary business and entrepreneurship education programs that are centers of excellence.Social Services The Foundation expands access and opportunities for vulnerable, disadvantaged and low-income individuals and families by meeting basic human needs and supporting the creation of pathways out of poverty.Visual and Performing ArtsThe Foundation supports excellence in and access to the arts, emphasizing programs that enhance quality, strengthen management, and increase audience participation. Education for Poor, Disadvantaged and Underserved Youth The Foundation promotes access to quality birth-to-12th grade and post-secondary education, focusing on closing achievement gaps and building human capital in the urban core. Legacy OrganizationsIn recognition of Marion and Henry’s lifetime commitments to the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and St. Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, the Foundation places a priority on programs and operations of these organizations.The Foundation does not have a minimum or maximum award limit, though most grants fall in the range of $50,000 to $250,000.

Hearst Foundations' Mission

The Hearst Foundations identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and inspiring lives.

Hearst Foundations' Goals

The Foundations seek to achieve their mission by funding approaches that result in:

• Improved health and quality of life
• Access to high quality educational options to promote increased academic achievement
• Arts and sciences serving as a cornerstone of society
• Sustainable employment and productive career paths for adults
• Stabilizing and supporting families

Funding Priorities

The Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of interests – culture, education, health and social service – and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.

Culture

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those which enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent.

Types of Support: Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Education

The Hearst Foundations fund educational institutions demonstrating uncommon success in preparing students to thrive in a global society. The Foundations’ focus is largely on higher education, but they also fund innovative models of early childhood and K-12 education, as well as professional development.

Types of Support: Program, scholarship, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Health

The Hearst Foundations assist leading regional hospitals, medical centers and specialized medical institutions providing access to high-quality healthcare for low-income populations. In response to the shortage of healthcare professionals necessary to meet the country’s evolving needs, the Foundations also fund programs designed to enhance skills and increase the number of practitioners and educators across roles in healthcare. Because the Foundations seek to use their funds to create a broad and enduring impact on the nation’s health, support for medical research and the development of young investigators is also considered.

Types of Support: Program, capital and, on a limited basis, endowment support

Social Service

The Hearst Foundations fund direct-service organizations that tackle the roots of chronic poverty by applying effective solutions to the most challenging social and economic problems. The Foundations prioritize supporting programs that have proven successful in facilitating economic independence and in strengthening families. Preference is also given to programs with the potential to scale productive practices in order to reach more people in need.

Types of Support: Program, capital and general support

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

Local Community Grants

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

Areas of Funding

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

The Shumaker Family Foundation supports endeavors in education, social justice, and environmental justice, and through these aims to create a more compassionate world where each person has opportunity to fully reach his or her potential.

Environmental Justice Program

Environmental grants go to organizations that promote conservation, sustainability, and animal welfare, or those that educate human beings to work toward these purposes.

Environmental grants go to organizations that promote conservation, sustainability, and animal welfare, or those that educate human beings to work toward these purposes. We also support efforts to assist with conservation, sustainability, and animal welfare in those communities locally whose environments have been disproportionately affected due to systemic reasons.

NOTE:

Application forms must be requested each year online prior to submitting an application. When you submit an LOI, a member of the foundation staff will be contacting you within the next five business days regarding the status of your request.

Full applications are due at the "full proposal" deadline above. 

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

The Foundation considers applications for grants in the following areas:

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

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

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

Community Grants - American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation Grant Program

The American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, Inc builds on our long-standing commitment and support of communities we serve by offering unrestricted, general operating grants to eligible non-profit 501(c)(3) partners.

Our approach to grantmaking is evolving. We are committed to using trust-based values to create meaningful, impactful relationships and reduce the inherent power imbalances of the traditional funding model. Like many of our community partners, we are also committed to learning, listening, and changing through collaboration and trust.

The Dreams Foundation grant funding priorities are Academic Achievement and Education, Healthy Youth Development, Economic Opportunity, and Community Resiliency (formerly Basic Needs). These priorities align with our organizational efforts to invest in and improve the communities where we live and serve.

Grant Priorities

Academic Achievement and Education

Programs and services that advance educational equity in learning and academic achievement through access to high quality education. Our grant making focus includes wrap-around educational programming from birth through college with an emphasis on the following:

• Early Childhood Education
• Academic Support and achievement
• STEAM
• Reading and literacy

Healthy Youth Development

Programs and services that support the ongoing needs of young people from birth through 25 including:

• Social-emotional learning
• Mental and behavioral health
• Reducing mental health stigma and discrimination

Economic Opportunity

Programs and services that increase employment access and opportunity, including:

• Job training
• Financial literacy
• Workforce and career readiness
• Reading and literacy

Additionally, within this grant priority, we also have an emphasis on organizations and programming that offer educational or workforce opportunities for incarcerated or previously incarcerated individuals.

Community Resiliency

Formerly our Basic Needs giving priority, these are programs and services that remove barriers to short and/or long-term needs of individuals and families. Specific areas of grantmaking include:

• Food Security through foodbanks and pantries, community gardens, and sustainable food sources
• Housing via emergency shelter, and transitional/long term stable housing
• Transportation and Daycare to pursue education and/or maintain employment

Communities of Focus

Within our grant priorities, the Foundation places an emphasis on supporting organizations that work with individuals and communities that include:

• Economically disadvantaged
• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
• Youth (birth through 25) and young families

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural and performing arts programs; schools and hospitals; educational, skills-training and other programs for youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and programs.

NOTE: The Foundation will not accept applications for new Social Justice or Education grants in 2023.

About Us

The Foundation exists to promote Social Justice, Environmental Justice, and Education. It was started in 2003 by Dianne Shumaker and the late Paul Shumaker, one of the founding engineers at Garmin International.

We take an active interest in the work of all our grantees. We also try to serve as a resource for our grantee organizations and their staffs by introducing them to other grantees with related projects and/or others in the community with the same or similar goals. All of our grantees are invited to utilize us in this way.

We like to support solutions that are upstream and can have longterm impact, systemically or through a cultural shift. Our goal is to make the biggest impact we can with the limited funds we have available to grant each year.

Social Justice

We emphasize domestic violence and child abuse prevention and treatment, as well as leadership development programs for Black, Latino, and women leaders. We prefer to invest in efforts that lead to an equitable distribution of wealth, privilege, and opportunities.

Education 

We favor projects that strengthen STEM, arts, and early childhood programs, and those that strengthen the education process, such as teacher leadership. We focus on children who might not otherwise receive exposure to such programs and on those grassroots organizations whose leadership reflects those communities they serve.

Grant Awards

We prefer innovative projects that have potential for long term systemic or cultural impact. We also fund organizational strengthening, including capacity-building or operating funds, when we are satisfied that the organization has prepared itself to attain the next level of effectiveness. 

Generally, our grants range in size from $10,000 to $40,000. An appropriate request depends on the size of your organization, the project or program for which you want support, and how well we know you. 

We fund Social Justice and Education projects in the Greater Kansas City Region, where site visits can be made in a day.

Ms. Foundation for Women

The mission of the Ms. Foundation for Women is to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all. We achieve our mission by investing in, and strengthening, the capacity of women-led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural and economic change in the lives of women. Ms. has six grantmaking initiatives, one of which is the Birth Justice Initiative.

Birth Justice Initiative

Our Birth Justice Initiative aims to:

• advance equitable birth outcomes and experiences;
• strengthen the capacity, organizational infrastructure, and financial stability of grassroots Black, Indigenous and women of color-led birth justice organizations; and
• expand the frame of birth justice to support intersectional movements and strategies that recognize the full spectrum of experiences and identities in birthing, parenting, and family building.

We believe that Black, Indigenous, and women of color (including trans women and non-binary people) are key experts and should be decision-makers in shaping policy and culture change around birth justice. By investing directly into organizations led by and for women and girls of color, we are ensuring that the movement to address racial based disparities in healthcare, including birth outcomes and experiences, is led by those who are impacted most. Strengthening the collective power of communities of color is critical to addressing the root causes of these disparities and advancing birth justice for all.

The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates of all developed nations and Black women die at three to four times the rate of white women in birth – one of the widest racial disparities in women’s health. Systemic racism, implicit bias, and anti-Blackness all contribute to the significant disparities in birth outcomes among Black, Indigenous and birthing people of color. Moreover, the spectrum of intersectional issues that comprise birth justice and the ability to have children and parent with dignity, are not only limited to the birth process.

As such, the Ms. Foundation’s Birth Justice Initiative invests in organizations who represent the full spectrum of birth experiences including–but not limited to–preconception health, mental health and wellness, infertility, abortion access and abortion care, comprehensive sex and sexuality education, non-racist culturally affirming and gender expansive healthcare, access to birth workers of color, access to lactation support and services, postpartum health and wellness, grief and loss care and support, and sexual assault prevention and survivor support services. Organizations supported collectively utilize a range of movement building strategies to advance birth justice—such as narrative change, policy and systems change, advocacy, leadership development, direct service among others. And finally, they work at the intersection of birth justice and other movements, such as disability justice, youth justice, LGBTQIA+ justice, environmental justice, economic justice, and criminal legal reform.

Funding

During this cycle, Ms. will provide one-time grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 to selected organizations not currently receiving funding from Ms.’ Birth Justice Initiative. The grant period will comprise two years.