Search Through Grants for Environmental Justice in Maine in the U.S.

Catalyst Fund

The Catalyst Fund supports organizations that are using grassroots organizing to advance reproductive justice policy and systems change. By centering efforts led by women of color, Catalyst supports work led by low-income white women, transgender, and gender-expansive people, who together make up the constituencies that experience the greatest reproductive health disparities and the largest barriers to reproductive freedom in the U.S.

Catalyst awards grants directly to grassroots organizations, including matching grants designed to bolster organizations’ efforts to raise new money from other sources. Particular attention is paid to organizations building cross-movement alliances between reproductive justice efforts and other social justice organizations, including labor, environmental and economic justice. Catalyst also awards matching grants to public foundations and women’s funds who make grants to organizations led by women of color and transgender people of color. atalyst grantees are the main participants in Groundswell’s two flagship capacity-building programs aimed at boosting the grassroots power of the field: the Integrated Voter Engagement Program and the Grassroots Organizing Institute. Catalyst has a strong track record of galvanizing new money for RJ from foundations and individual donors. Since Groundswell’s first RJ grants were made in 2008, grantmaking partners and grassroots organizations receiving matching grants have catalyzed $41 million into primarily women of color-led RJ work.

The Catalyst Fund has one primary grantmaking round in the fall of each year.

When identifying groups to support through the Catalyst Fund, Groundswell looks for organizations with:

• A highly engaged and growing membership/constituent base comprised of people directly impacted by the conditions that they seek to transform;
• Organizational leadership that reflects the diversity of this base;
• Clear mechanisms for leadership development;
• The ability to mobilize a base to win concrete policy changes;
• A strategic direction with clear goals and objectives that are driven by the membership/constituency;
• Ability to forge inter- and cross-movement alliances and to work well in coalition;
• Innovation in framing and thought leadership;
• A clear timeline for achieving goals and objectives and organizational capacity to achieve these;
• An integrated racial, gender, and class justice analysis;
• Connections to intermediary support organizations that build the capacity and collective power of the RJ movement;
• A strong track record of policy wins or strong strategy towards future wins; and
• System for measuring the impact of the work, including clearly defined benchmarks for success.

Catalyst provides the following types of support:

The fund provides general operating grants, capacity building grants and project grants, with grant sizes ranging from $20,000-$100,000.

Mission

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

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

Beliefs

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

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

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

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

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

Background

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation seeks to dramatically improve the lives of underserved communities across the globe by supporting scalable, innovative, and impact-first solutions that leverage existing systems and stakeholders. Our goal is to find social entrepreneurs with dynamic products or services that have a proven ability to positively impact the lives of underserved people, and nurture those organizations at the early stages by providing capacity, capital, and community.

Our application process is designed to be open and accessible, and we accept applications year round from across our priority geographies and sectors. Borrowing from our venture capital legacy, we find exceptional entrepreneurs and provide them with: 

Capacity

• The core of DRK’s model is deep and extensive operational and technical support for each portfolio organization, both through dedicated hands-on Board service and specialist capacity-building resources for fundraising, board and organizational development, leadership, financial support, and scaling strategy,

Capital

• DRK provides up to $300,000 USD in either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital over a three-year period, and

Community

• DRK convenes our portfolio and alumni annually, facilitating connections and community. 

What We Fund

DRK Foundation funds early-stage social impact organizations solving the world’s biggest social and environmental problems using bold, scalable approaches.

What stage of growth does DRK Foundation typically fund?

Early stage: Organizations who are early stage, which we define as post-pilot and pre-scale. This typically means: 

• Your program, product or service is already being used in the market or in the field, 
• You have early indication that your model is having its intended impact on the beneficiary populations,
• Your organization is relatively young (ideally between two and five years old, although we will consider both younger and older organizations).

Venture funding: In the case of for profits, we typically support Seed to Series A organizations, and never lead rounds; we also generally but not exclusively refrain from participating in financings exceeding a $15M USD post-money valuation.  

Mission

The mission of the Hearst Foundations is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States can build healthy, productive and satisfying lives. Through its grantmaking, the Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of focus—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.

Whether providing a scholarship to a deserving student, supporting a rural health clinic or bringing artists into schools so children can see firsthand the beauty of the arts, the Foundations’ focus is consistent: to help those in need, those underserved and those underrepresented in society. Since the Foundations were formed in the 1940s, the scale and capabilities of the grant making have changed, but the mission has not.

Culture Grant

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those that enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent. Supported organizations include arts schools, ballets, museums, operas, performing arts centers, symphonies and theaters.

Funding Priorities in Culture

In the recent past, 25% of total funding has been allocated to Culture. Organizations with budgets over $10 million have received 60% of the funding in Culture.

The Hearst Foundations are only able to fund approximately 25% of all grant requests, of which about 80% is directed to prior grantees and about 20% is targeted toward new grantees.

Types of Support

Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

The Labcorp Charitable Foundation

We believe every person deserves equitable care and education.

In 2020 Labcorp established a private charitable 501(c)(3) foundation to advance our desire to bring quality healthcare access to all by supporting education and our local communities. 

Common grant opportunities include:

• Supporting food pantries and meal programs
• Providing healthcare and patient services for underserved populations
• Encouraging STEM programming
• Advocating for healthy lifestyles through ongoing medical research and screening

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation only accepts unsolicited proposals for specific areas within the education, family economic stability and childhood health sectors in select countries where we work, namely the United States, India and South Africa.

As a guideline, the foundation does not fund more than 25% of a project’s budget or more than 10% of an organization’s total annual operating expenses.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has always recognized the power of providing grants to partner organizations that we knew were already working hard to improve the lives of urban children living in poverty. By aligning with organizations that are already making a difference, we continue to make an immediate impact on the lives of thousands of children.

Foundation priorities:

We fund social enterprises that directly serve or impact children or youth from urban low-income communities in the areas of education, health, and family economic stability (including livelihoods and financial inclusion). These social enterprises may be structured as for-profit or nonprofit entities.

Partnerships

We collaborate with a range of organizations focused on creating opportunities for children and families living in urban poverty, with a deep emphasis on measuring impact. Our funding advances projects already making an impact in education, health, and family economic stability. Through these enduring and long-standing partnerships, we create lasting change together.

The Sidney Stern Memorial Trust is devoted solely to the funding of charitable, scientific, medical and educational organizations.

The Board endeavors to support soundly-managed charitable organizations that give service with a broad scope, have a substantial effect on their target populations, and contribute materially to the general welfare. The Board does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

About

The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative catalyzing social impact on a grand scale. Every year we select and nurture a group of big, bold solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges, and with the support of an inspiring group of donors and supporters, come together to get them launched.

Housed at TED, the nonprofit with a long track record of surfacing ideas worth spreading, and with support from leading social impact advisor The Bridgespan Group, the funding collective is comprised of several respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy.

Our goal is to match bold ideas with catalytic resources.

• We encourage the world’s inspirational changemakers to dream bigger than ever before.
• Help shape their best ideas into viable multi-year plans.
• Present those solutions in a compelling way to potential supporters.

The Process

Every year, The Audacious Project works with proven change-makers to surface their best, boldest ideas for tackling global problems.

Sourcing & review

Projects are sourced from public applications and a global network of partners and donors. They are narrowed down to a group of finalists whose ideas are representative of a broad range of geographies and issue areas while elevating leaders with proximity to the communities they serve.

Idea shaping & investment support

Each finalist project goes through a rigorous ideation, due diligence, and investment support process, to ensure their proposal is achievable and compelling.

Funding & launch

Finalist projects are presented privately to groups of donors and are then publicly unveiled at TED. Funded projects then pursue their plans and share regular updates on key milestones reached with donors and the public.

Is Your Idea Audacious?

• Are you a changemaker with a bold vision?
• Are you a non-profit with an experienced team equipped to receive large scale philanthropic support?
• Is your idea a proven concept that aspires to create a better world?
• We look for ideas that cover a wide range of issues, from global health and climate change, to social justice and education.

What Makes An Idea Audacious?

Inspire

• Transformative vision
  • Your idea should capture a bold vision for tackling one of the world's most urgent topics.
• Creating a better world
  • It is your opportunity to take a giant leap forward; you may be tempted to think incrementally, but remember for it to be bold, your idea should offer significant, enduring impact.
  • This vision should bring us much closer to your version of an ideal world in a matter of years rather than generations.
• Innovative and original
  • There should be a unique aspect or creative element to your approach that challenges convention or status quo or changes the narrative for the greater good.

Convince

• Proven concept
  • There should be evidence that the idea will have impact based on a track record of past success, a demand from those that would be affected, and justified confidence that results can be sustained in the future.
• A bold vision that has clear outcomes
  • There should be a sense of where you will be at the end of a multi-year funding term and the strategy, resources and timeline required to achieve it. We want to hear about the changes that would take place because of your idea, not just the components that go into implementing it.

• Established support
  • You and your capable and confident team have the backing of a nonprofit, NGO, or institution (or is part of a collaboration between multiple such entities). This organization should be able to receive philanthropic funds and have the core infrastructure necessary to support the work. (Note: Past projects have had an annual operating budget of $1 million or more.)

Please refer to FAQ for additional guidelines.

Our Mission

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

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

Grants

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

Giving Project Fund for Community Organizing

The 2025 Giving Project Fund for Community Organizing is a participatory grantmaking program that provides unrestricted, general operating support to community organizing groups advancing justice (economic, environmental, racial, and social) and tribal sovereignty in Maine, unceded Wabanaki Territory.

Grantmaking decisions will be made by our Giving Project cohort, a cross-class, multi-racial, multi-generational group of 20 donor-organizers who convene regularly over 6 months for engaged learning and training to collectively mobilize resources and evaluate applications.

Interested organizations are encouraged to read the Funding Opportunity Announcement for eligibility requirements, award terms, and application instructions. Grant awards will be announced in March of 2025.

Purpose

We believe in self-resourcing, community-led movements to build power.

The purpose of the Giving Project Fund for Community Organizing is to resource social change movements and organizing efforts by shifting money to community organizing groups advancing social, economic, environmental, and racial justice & tribal sovereignty in Maine, unceded Wabanaki Territory.

We focus on community organizing because we believe that lasting change comes from the bottom up, affecting not just political and economic systems but also the culture of communities. Community organizing involves the most people, allowing for the greatest diversity and number of perspectives to be expressed. Community organizing is the exercise of democracy in action.

We need to build our skills and infrastructure to fund our own movements. 

Through the Giving Project, a cross-class, multi-racial, multi-generational cohort of community members convene regularly over six months for engaged learning and training to collectively mobilize resources to support community organizing. These donor-organizers will raise funds through their networks for the Giving Project Fund and then make the grant award decisions. Maine Initiatives is convening its inaugural Giving Project cohort in September 2024 and will announce Giving Project Fund grantees in March 2025.

Amount

The 2025 Giving Project Fund for Community Organizing provides 1 year of unrestricted, general operating support of up to $20,000 to at least 5 community organizing groups. Grant awards will be disbursed in March 2025.

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

The Foundation supports projects in coastal areas of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and selected international locations.

For the last two decades, the Foundation has focused a significant portion of its financial resources on Southeastern Massachusetts, where its office is located. Here the Board seeks to understand how communities grow sustainably and equitably, how to increase educational opportunities, how rural and urban economies are intertwined, and how to best protect working landscapes and the people who rely upon these areas for their livelihoods. In funding in a few specific areas, the Board believes it will have the most impact.   

Environment

In Southeastern Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island, the Island Foundation promotes the conservation of marine and coastal resources. For many years, the Foundation has given priority to North Atlantic right whale research, protection of coastal waterbird habitat, and preservation of coastal lands.

More recently, the Board has been interested in new initiatives that:

• link climate change, renewable energy, and regional planning and support those most impacted by climate change;
• support working landscapes (sustainable agriculture and community-based fisheries) and the people who rely on them for their livelihoods;
• help local conservation organizations strengthen their own capacity;
• connect community health, quality of life, and environmental conservation; and
• promote environmental justice and seek to include the voices of those most affected by environmental harms.

Rapid Response Program Fund

The Rapid Response Fund is a grant opportunity that supports emergency and/or time-sensitive needs of organizations and communities whose work aligns with the Sewall Foundation’s mission: To support a culture of equity and interconnected well-being for people, animals, and the environment in Maine.

• Emergency refers to an unexpected and unplanned event or situation that requires an immediate and time-limited response.
• Time-sensitive refers to opportunities that are short-term in duration (usually within the next few months) and purpose.

Some examples of Rapid Response Fund grants that we’ve recently made are included below. Funding requests can be for work happening anywhere in Maine and do not need to fit into one of our grant programs.

Priorities

In keeping with Sewall’s values and commitment to fostering equity and centering community voice, Rapid Response Fund grants are generally focused on:

• Community-based organizations with operating budgets under $250,000
• Organizations led by and/or serving black, indigenous, people of color, rural Mainers, and women
• Land back and land access efforts. Up to $100,000 of available Rapid Response funds will be dedicated towards down payments, legal fees, appraisals, due diligence, and other time sensitive acquisition costs

Additional priorities include:

• Organizations, networks, or grassroots efforts working to coordinate or mobilize response/action for their field or sector, a geographic region, or a specific community or population
• Collaborative and cross-sector efforts
• Efforts that are explicit in their commitment to racial and environmental justice
• Efforts that integrate the well-being of people, animals and the environment

Funding

• Available Funding: $400,000
  • Up to $100,000 is for land back and land access projects
• Grant Size: Most Rapid Response Fund grants will be no greater than $10,000.
• Grant Term: All Rapid Response Fund grants are limited to a 12 month term.  

About the Foundation

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

Annual Grant Focus

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

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

Calling to Serve

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

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

Areas of Interest

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

Grant Considerations

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

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

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation Vision

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

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

Georgia-Pacific Foundation

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

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

Investment Priorities

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

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.

Environmental Justice for New England Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program

A total of $48 million will be awarded to New England community-based organizations, environmental justice organizations, nonprofits, Tribal governments (both federally and state recognized), and other entities representing underserved, urban, rural, Indigenous, remote, and capacity-constrained communities. The funds will support organizations implementing projects to address local environmental and public health challenges across the region, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Eligible applicants can apply for subgrants through three concurrent tiers as well as the Seed Fund for organizations with limited capacities.

Seed Funds

Seed Funds are available for up to $75,000 for efforts to support community-based organizations with limited capacities, which are defined as those having an equivalent of four or less paid full-time staff members at the time of application, amongst other criteria.

In a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Justice for New England will implement the EJ Thriving Communities Subgrants in New England. This grant program seeks to counter historical disinvestment in communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis including communities of color, immigrant communities, indigenous communities, urban, rural, and low-income communities. It seeks to seed and build deeper capacity for a sustainable environmental justice movement to address environmental hazards, climate resiliency, and energy justice, and build livable and healthy communities.

Environmental Justice for New England Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program

A total of $48 million will be awarded to New England community-based organizations, environmental justice organizations, nonprofits, Tribal governments (both federally and state recognized), and other entities representing underserved, urban, rural, Indigenous, remote, and capacity-constrained communities. The funds will support organizations implementing projects to address local environmental and public health challenges across the region, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Eligible applicants can apply for subgrants through three concurrent tiers as well as the Seed Fund for organizations with limited capacities.

Tier 1 - Assessment Projects

Tier 1 will grant up to $150,000 for one year. Projects in this tier should begin to assess a local community’s environmental justice landscape.

Example project activities include but are not limited to:

• Research that informs project design
• Sampling
• Testing
• Monitoring
• Investigations
• Surveys and studies
• Public education
• Community surveys, listening sessions, focus groups, or other forms of engagement

In a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Justice for New England will implement the EJ Thriving Communities Subgrants in New England. This grant program seeks to counter historical disinvestment in communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis including communities of color, immigrant communities, indigenous communities, urban, rural, and low-income communities. It seeks to seed and build deeper capacity for a sustainable environmental justice movement to address environmental hazards, climate resiliency, and energy justice, and build livable and healthy communities.

Environmental Justice for New England Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program

A total of $48 million will be awarded to New England community-based organizations, environmental justice organizations, nonprofits, Tribal governments (both federally and state recognized), and other entities representing underserved, urban, rural, Indigenous, remote, and capacity-constrained communities. The funds will support organizations implementing projects to address local environmental and public health challenges across the region, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Eligible applicants can apply for subgrants through three concurrent tiers as well as the Seed Fund for organizations with limited capacities.

Tier 2 - Planning Projects

Tier 2 will grant up to $250,000 for up to two years. Projects in this tier should include plan formulation and partnership development activities to address identified environmental justice concerns.

Example project activities include but are not limited to:

• Planning
• Partnership building
• Developing communications and outreach plans
• Developing curricula, toolkits, or guidelines
• Developing social media plans and content
• Producing videos or printed materials
• Building or strengthening partnerships and collaboration
• Public outreach
• Training activities for community
• Projects and activities to spur community involvement

In a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Justice for New England will implement the EJ Thriving Communities Subgrants in New England. This grant program seeks to counter historical disinvestment in communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis including communities of color, immigrant communities, indigenous communities, urban, rural, and low-income communities. It seeks to seed and build deeper capacity for a sustainable environmental justice movement to address environmental hazards, climate resiliency, and energy justice, and build livable and healthy communities.

• Here are the additional associated grants in regards to this opportunity:
  • Here is the Tier 1 - Assessment Projects page.
  • Here is the Tier 2 - Planning Projects page.

Environmental Justice for New England Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program

A total of $48 million will be awarded to New England community-based organizations, environmental justice organizations, nonprofits, Tribal governments (both federally and state recognized), and other entities representing underserved, urban, rural, Indigenous, remote, and capacity-constrained communities. The funds will support organizations implementing projects to address local environmental and public health challenges across the region, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Eligible applicants can apply for subgrants through three concurrent tiers as well as the Seed Fund for organizations with limited capacities.

Tier 3 - Implementation of Projects

Tier 3 will grant up to $350,000 for up to two years. Projects in this tier should support implementation projects informed by community planning and research. Projects may have educational and outreach components but must focus on developing tangible community assets or providing defined community benefits.

Examples of project activities include but are not limited to:

• Strengthening cumulative impact, public health, or environmental justice protections
• Increasing access to healthy food
• Reducing the use of pesticides or toxic substances
• Cleaning up contaminated sites
• Conducting healthy home assessments
• Increasing energy or water efficiency in homes or buildings
• Creating community resilience hubs

In a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Justice for New England will implement the EJ Thriving Communities Subgrants in New England. This grant program seeks to counter historical disinvestment in communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis including communities of color, immigrant communities, indigenous communities, urban, rural, and low-income communities. It seeks to seed and build deeper capacity for a sustainable environmental justice movement to address environmental hazards, climate resiliency, and energy justice, and build livable and healthy communities.

Centene Charitable Foundation

Successful corporate citizenship happens when companies invest in the local organizations that know their communities best. The Centene Foundation works with our local partners on initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person and community development.

Vision

Centene’s purpose is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. The Centene Foundation is an essential part of how we pursue this purpose. We achieve measurable impact for the communities we serve through partnerships and philanthropy efforts that invest in initiatives with holistic approaches to dismantling barriers to health.

Areas of Focus

Reflecting Centene’s commitment to the needs of those who rely on government-sponsored health care and to addressing social determinants of health and health equity, preference will be given to initiatives in three distinct areas of focus.

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

Keystone Grant Program

The Keystone program prioritizes grassroots and community-led efforts to address environmental and racial justice, as a key strategy for equitable social change and community well-being. By funding efforts that use advocacy and community organizing, and strategic messaging and communications, and by funding organizations that provide essential capacity supports for grassroots and community-led efforts, we will contribute to building a robust civic engagement infrastructure to advance a just, sustainable, healthy Maine.

Priorities

Our focus is on supporting organizations and efforts that meet at least three of the following criteria:

• Demonstrate a clear commitment to environmental justice and racial justice
• Are grassroots or community-led. Sewall understands grassroots efforts to be inclusive community-led and -based efforts that include everyday people working to bring about a change through collective action. Grassroots efforts include and are led by people from the community that is primarily affected by the issue they are addressing
• Provide meaningful capacity and technical support to grassroots and community-led efforts in Maine
• Work to create conditions necessary for a just, healthy, sustainable future, with a primary focus on advocacy, community organizing, civic engagement, and/or field- and movement-building efforts
• Work statewide in Maine or regionally with clear impact in Maine

We prioritize applicants that: 

• Are led by Black, Indigenous, People of Color, rural Mainers, and women;
• Are working collaboratively across sectors; and/or
• Have an explicit commitment to environmental justice and/or racial justice

Funding

• Available Funding: $1,500,000
• Our normal grant range is $10,000-50,000 for individual organizations. Collaborative grants that will be shared with multiple partners may be up to $200,000.

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 Partnership Award

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

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

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

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

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