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

NOTE:

• Applications are accepted on a rolling deadline at any point during M-AAA’s fiscal year, which is July 1–June 30.
• Grants are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, until the allocation for each state is gone.
• Applications are due at least six (6) weeks before the first public-facing activity when possible.
  • Applications received less than six (6) weeks before the first public-facing activity, contact M-AAA to expedite your grant application review

Regional Touring Program

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

• Presenters that book an artist listed on a state touring roster may be awarded up to 50 percent of the artist’s fee.
• Presenters 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.
• Presenters located in rural communities may receive an additional 10 percent of the artist’s fee (or financial support of up 10 percent of the grant amount) will be awarded by M-AAA if the applicant organization is located in a rural community. Rural status is determined by the Department of Commerce’s Metropolitan Statistical Area Rating and is generally defined as having a population of less than 50,000 people in the applicant’s service area. 

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.

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

What does this program do?

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.

What is an eligible area?

Rural Business Development Grant money must be used for projects that benefit rural areas or towns outside the urbanized periphery of any city with a population of 50,000 or more. Check eligible areas. 

What kind of funding is available?

There is no maximum grant amount; however, smaller requests are given higher priority. There is no cost sharing requirement. There are two types of RBDG projects, Opportunity grants and Enterprise grants.

• Opportunity type grants are limited to up to 10 percent of the total Rural Business Development Grant annual funding.
• Enterprise type grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application.

How may Enterprise type funds be used?

Enterprise grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application. Uses may include:

• Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling and training, market research, feasibility studies, professional or/technical reports, or producer service improvements.
• Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings; plants, machinery, equipment, access for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities.
• Pollution control and abatement.
• The capitalization of revolving loan funds, including funds that will make loans for start-ups and working capital.
• Rural distance learning for job training and advancement for adult students.
• Rural transportation improvement.
• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.

How may Opportunity type funds be used?

• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.

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.

NOTE: Please consult MHF prior to submission.

The Menorah Heritage Foundation is guided by the following principles in awarding grants:

• Perpetuate the Jewish Community
• Anticipate and adapt to changing needs
• Invest in transformational change
• Address critical/severe needs
• Support meaningful programs that benefit the Greater Kansas City Community

The Menorah Heritage Foundation seeks to support organizations who:

• Maintain a history of compassion and excellence
• Address the needs and represent the interests and viewpoints of their clients
• Possess the leadership, management, efficiencies and resources necessary to achieve the organizational objectives
• Collaborate with other providers whenever feasible and appropriate
• Establish financial stability and present a sense of awareness regarding the details of operations

Jewish Community Cycle

Our Jewish Community cycle includes grants for the following:

• Health focused grants programs which promote short-term and long-term physical or mental health. This category also includes healthcare-related social services. Examples include: nutrition counseling and food assistance, health education, medication assistance, social work services, support for providers of physical or mental health services. MHF maintains specific sources of funding set aside for health focused programs.
• Programs which foster or maintain a vibrant Jewish community. Examples include: Jewish education programs, transportation to Jewish communal social activities, initiatives focused on Jewish persons age 33 and younger, efforts that promote a literate and educated Jewish community, programs that serve older adults.
• Core support for organizations in the Jewish Community (maximum grant request of $10,000). Applicants for core support may not submit program grant requests.

Program Grants: In order to determine the appropriate grant request amount, our Program Officer will contact you to schedule a site visit and discuss your grant. In prior years, grantees had to contact MHF, but we expect this to simplify our process.

Core Operating Support Grants: $10,000 maximum grant request

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: Older Adult Special Initiative Grants are limited to invited, collaborative proposals that convene Kansas City metro area stakeholders addressing important issues facing older adults who wish to age in community. These issues include, but are not limited to, access to community-based services (healthcare, housing, care management, transportation, etc.) and social/civic engagement. A meeting with Menorah Heritage Foundation is required.

Background

Aging in community is a concept that promotes interconnected relationships and supports for older adults to safely remain living in their chosen home and community to avoid prematurely entering institutional care due to the need for modest additional resources.

Our Aging in Community Cycle provides three types of grants to organizations and programs that support older adults aging in community. First, we award unrestricted operating grants to organizations which exclusively or primarily support older adults aging in community by providing social and civic engagement, home adaptations/repairs, access to healthy food, physical activity and/or learning opportunities. This unrestricted funding may be used for organizational expenses which are part of a board-approved annual budget, including administrative salaries, employee benefits, utilities, office supplies and equipment, technology, and professional development.

Second, we award grants to programs which exclusively serve older adults aging in community, even though the sponsoring organization is not primarily senior focused. This funding must be used only for the specific program supporting aging in community.

Third, from time to time and by invitation only, we award special project grants to provide seed money to early-stage and/or innovative strategies which address specific challenges of aging in community in the KC metro area. Organizations who are interested in applying for a special project grant should contact our Program Officer, Kim Lewis, to schedule a preliminary conversation.

The Menorah Heritage Foundation is guided by the following principles in awarding grants:

• Perpetuate the Jewish Community
• Anticipate and adapt to changing needs
• Invest in transformational change
• Address critical/severe needs
• Support meaningful programs that benefit the Greater Kansas City Community

The Menorah Heritage Foundation seeks to support organizations who:

• Maintain a history of compassion and excellence
• Address the needs and represent the interests and viewpoints of their clients
• Possess the leadership, management, efficiencies and resources necessary to achieve the organizational objectives
• Collaborate with other providers whenever feasible and appropriate
• Establish financial stability and present a sense of awareness regarding the details of operations

Older Adult Cycle

Our Older Adult Grants include special initiatives and core operating support.

Special Initiatives are invited proposals only that seek to convene regional stakeholders addressing the important issues facing older adults who wish to age in community. These issues include housing, care giving, transportation, and social/civic enjoyment.

Our Older Adult core operating grants support core operating expenses for organizations that provide programs and services promoting social and civic engagement of older adults. Core operating support is defined as expenses incurred for day-to-day operations such as: Utilities, accounting services, audit, technology, facility maintenance, professional development.

Older Adult Special Initiative Grants are limited to invited, collaborative proposals that convene Kansas City metro area stakeholders addressing important issues facing older adults who wish to age in community. These issues include, but are not limited to, access to community based services (healthcare, housing, care management, transportation, etc.) and social/civic engagement.