Mississippi Grants for Nonprofits

Bell's Brewery Sponsorships and Donations

Sponsored events and donations play a key role within our Bell’s philosophy. Through these events, we are able to not only give back to the communities we sell our beer in, but also get to have a great time with our fans! We are always looking for new opportunities and welcome your suggestions and applications. Please keep in mind that while we would love to be able to participate in everything, we sometimes must respectfully decline.

We do have a few guidelines we follow for all sponsorships and donations, please read through them below before proceeding to our application.

• Requests must be submitted at least 8 weeks prior to the event start date or the date the donation is needed. Any events submitted with less than 8 weeks’ notice will automatically be declined. We want to give every event we are involved in the best chance for success, which means we need time to plan. While 8 weeks is our minimum time requirement, additional time is always appreciated, especially for larger events.
• We do very little traditional advertising, instead we focus our efforts on sponsorships. When we partner with an event or an organization, we like to be involved! That said, if your proposal only involves a logo placement, we will politely decline in favor of events that offer us a chance to interact with our fans.
• We’re an eccentric bunch here at Bell’s and love to be involved with events that reflect your community’s eccentricities, uniqueness and inclusivity.
• We are always happy to consider requests for donations of Bell’s swag for homebrew competitions, fundraisers and events! That said, due to Michigan state law, we are not legally allowed to donate beer to events in any state. We’re sorry, but we legally cannot make any exceptions.

Charitable Investments

CSX is proud to support people and organizations that in turn honor those who serve our communities. We offer monetary and in-kind resources to nonprofit organizations advocating for the betterment of our nation’s military members or community first responders, and have additional resources available to support other community efforts.

In Kind Donations

Intermodal Transportation Services

Intermodal transportation services provide applicable organizations with intermodal equipment and rail service throughout the CSX rail network, and afford these organizations an opportunity to reduce or eliminate their transportation spending.

Ideally, intermodal moves work best when freight is moving 500 miles or more. However, the in-kind moves program requires only that freight have an origin and destination within a combined 250 miles’ distance to a CSX intermodal facility.

CSX’s door-to-door product is an ideal solution for the in-kind moves program, as our trained team will pick up your freight at its origin and transport it to a terminal to be placed on an intermodal train. Then, we will pick up your freight at the destination terminal and deliver it directly to its endpoint. The door-to-door network provides service across the Eastern United States with its large nationwide network and trucking capability.

CSX will also work with you to determine the type of equipment that is an ideal fit to transport your freight. CSX has a large fleet of rail-owned containers, as well as an expansive network of channel partners that can provide equipment to fit your needs.

Railroad Equipment and Materials

CSX occasionally donates materials, supplies and used railroad equipment based on availability. The online in-kind application can be used to request the donation of railroad-related items, including retired rail cars when available. Please note that rail, rail ties and spikes are not available for donation or purchase. Applicants will be contacted if the requested item becomes available within 90 days of their online submittal. At that time, arrangements will be made to transfer possession of the requested item. All applicants will be asked to re-submit their application at a later date if the requested item does not become available within the 90-day period.

Our Mission

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

Community and National Initiatives

Supporting successful, inclusive cities

What We Fund

Knight is a national foundation with deep local roots. We have offices in eight cities where the Knight brothers once published newspapers, and work through community foundations in 18 others. We work to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. 

Communities Program

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

Cities with Knight Foundation offices

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

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

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

Community Foundations Program

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

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

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

National Initiatives

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

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

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

What We Support

Children are at the heart of everything we do at the Kellogg Foundation. Our goal is lasting, transformational change for children. As a grantmaker, we recognize that children live in families and families live in communities. Therefore, our three areas of focused work – Thriving Children, Working Families and Equitable Communities – are dynamic and always interconnected.    

Achieving strong outcomes for children happens by connecting what families need – at home, in child care settings, at school, at work and in their communities. As a foundation, we use a variety of change-making tools – grantmaking, impact investing, networking and convening. With our support, grantees and partners work together to make measurable improvements in children’s lives.

Our Interconnected Priorities:

• Thriving Children: We support a healthy start and quality learning experiences for all children.
  • improving access to high quality, early childhood education
  • support healthy birth outcomes
  • quality maternal and infant health care
  • children's early development
  • increase breastfeeding rates
  • expand access to oral health care
  • increase access to fresh, local healthy food
  • improve nutrition for children and families in early child care settings
• Working Families: We invest in efforts to help families obtain stable, high-quality jobs.
  • widen pathways to stable, high-quality jobs
  • more equitable employment opportunities
  • expand support for tribal-, minority-, and women-owned business enterprises
  • accelerate small business growth
  • inform policies and change systems to create greater economic stability
• Equitable Communities: We want all communities to be vibrant, engaged and equitable. 

Embedded within all we do are commitments to advancing racial equity and racial healing, to developing leaders and to engaging communities in solving their own problems. We call these three approaches our DNA and believe they are essential to creating the conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success.

About Rachael Ray Foundation™

The Rachael Ray Foundation™ is funded by a portion of proceeds from each sale of Rachael's pet food, Nutrish®. The Foundation was launched by Rachael in 2016 to better support the causes she cares for most such as helping animals in need.

The Rachael Ray Foundation and Best Friends Animal Society are committed to helping Best Friends Network Partners increase lifesaving in their communities through impactful, innovative, and inclusive programming. Every year, there are two types of Rachael Ray grants for which partners can apply.   

Grants for Animal Rescue to Save More Lives: The Rachael Ray Save Them All Grants

The Rachael Ray Save Them All Grants fund projects to reduce the lifesaving gap of cats and dogs in U.S. shelters. We welcome project proposals from public and private shelters, rescue groups, and other animal welfare organizations that enable lifesaving in a community.  

The Rachael Ray Save Them All Grants fund projects that increase lifesaving of cats and dogs in U.S. shelters. We welcome project proposals from public and private shelters, as well as rescue groups and other animal welfare organizations focused on impacting lifesaving at shelters. 

Your organization can apply for a grant of up to $50,000, with the amount requested not exceeding 10% of your operating budget. The average grant awarded last year was just under $13,000, therefor granting may only cover partial funding needed for your project. 

Project Requirements

• Projects can be focused on just one event/program or can include multiple events/programs.   
• Proposed projects should align with regional priorities. Projects that satisfy these priorities will have the largest impact on lifesaving in each region.   
• We welcome project proposals from public and private shelters, rescue groups, and other animal welfare organizations that enable lifesaving.
• If the applicant that is applying is an organization that is already no-kill, their project needs to be impacting a shelter that has a lifesaving gap and has not achieved a 90% save rate.  
• If awarded, the applying organization will need to submit quarterly impact statistics of how many lives were impacted through the project.  
• The impacted shelter’s intake and outcome data will need to be submitted as well, in order to calculate the reduction in gap to 90%, which will measure success of the project.  
• Best Friends will make calculations for reduction in lifesaving gap after all data points are submitted. These two metrics (impacts and reduction number in lifesaving gap) will be used for grant accountability and measuring success.  

Regional Priorities

Before you begin an application, please review the priorities for your region to ensure that your project aligns. 

Southeast: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina 

South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas

Great Plains: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota

Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming

Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington

Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Mid-Atlantic: District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

Background

The Penn National Gaming Foundation, a 501(c)3 private foundation, was launched in 2005 by Penn National Gaming, Inc. in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to provide assistance to the nearly 2,000 Penn National employees impacted by the storm. The Foundation awarded over $1.4 million in grants for immediate needs such as food, water, clothing, shelter and medical needs.

The Foundation also supported relief efforts across the Gulf Coast through donations to organizations such as Hope Haven Shelter in Bay St. Louis, the MS Law Enforcement and Firefighter Katrina Relief Fund, KaBOOM! and its efforts to rebuild playgrounds on the Coast, and the Gulf Coast-area Salvation Army. 

Today, the Penn National Gaming Foundation is proud to support numerous local non-profit organizations in the communities in which Penn National operates, focusing on projects that promote community development, education, human services, cultural affairs and diversity, health services, and programs that provide support and services to veterans, active members of the military and their families. 

Our Commitment

Penn National Gaming Foundation, Inc. grants shall be used to address the broad needs of the residents of the communities in which Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PNGI) operates or has a business interest, which currently includes the following states: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. 

Funding Criteria

Foundation grants shall generally fall in the following categories: 

Community Development. Projects and programs related to community infrastructure improvements, public safety, economic development, housing, historic preservations, citizen involvement, civic leadership training, and other general community activities. 

Education. Programs which support per-school, elementary and secondary education, post-secondary education and special education programs.

Human Services. Programs which address the needs of children and youth, senior citizens and disadvantages populations, especially in times of natural or man made disaster.

Cultural Affairs & Diversity. Programs and facilities designed to foster an understanding, appreciation and celebration of different cultures and encourage participation among individuals of different cultures and belief systems.

Health. Local health and medical-related programs.

NOTE: A limited number of applicants will then be invited to submit a full application. Preceding the deadline for a full proposal, all invited applicants will be required to schedule a virtual meeting with South Arts to discuss their project. 

Cross-Sector Impact Grants

South Arts recognizes that as our communities continue to change, the arts play an incomparable role in addressing many of our communal and individual challenges and strengths. Further, the value of partnership and working together across sectors brings new opportunities, increased effectiveness, and greater depth to our collective work. Through this program, South Arts seeks to provide significant support to projects developed by partners that harness the power of “Arts & …”.

South Arts is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.  Cross-Sector Impact Grants are open to all art forms, for partnership projects taking place in South Arts’ nine-state region. Eligible projects will continue to feature “Arts & …”, for example, arts and the military, arts and equity, arts and aging, arts and community revitalization. Applicants may be organizations, units of government, higher educational institutions, or artists.

For applicants new to this program that did not receive a Cross-Sector Impact Grant in FY20, FY21 or FY22, matching grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded. For these projects, South Arts encourages applications for new projects. However, projects that deepen and expand existing partnerships may also apply. For applicants/projects that did receive funding through this program in FY20, FY21, or FY22 matching grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded in order to continue or advance the project. South Arts anticipates that this grant program will be highly competitive and that successful applications will be fully funded. 

South Arts’ mission is advancing Southern vitality through the arts. This program addresses two of South Arts’ strategic goals:

• Connect artists and arts professionals in the South to resources that will increase opportunities for success within and outside the region
• Advance impactful arts-based programs that recognize and address trends and evolving needs of a wide range of communities in the South

Project Requirements

South Arts welcomes proposals from partnering entities working together on a project that addresses arts and community impact through cross-sector partnership. Projects must utilize the arts as a tool in creative approaches to address and advance an issue that is of importance in their community. Projects should also establish or advance relationships across at least two different sectors, one being in the arts. 

Arts disciplines may include, but are not limited to:

• Performing arts, including dance, music, theater, musical theater, and opera;
• Literary arts, including fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry;
• Visual arts, including craft, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media;
• Film or media;
• Traditional and folk arts, including music, craft, storytelling, dance; or
• Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary artforms.

Community impact areas may include, but are not limited to:

• Education, including literacy, youth development;
• Environment, including sustainability, weather impact;
• Health and human services, including aging, prisons and rehabilitation, military;
• Infrastructure, including housing, community revitalization, food and nutrition; or
• Social justice, including immigration, community activation, equity and accessibility.

Matching Requirements

For applicants/projects that are new to this program, the minimum grant request for this program is $5,000; the maximum request is $15,000. For applicants/projects that did receive funding in FY20, FY21 and/or FY22, the minimum grant request for this program is $5,000; the maximum request is $10,000.

A match of at least 1:2 is required, meaning for each grant-funded dollar, the grantee must provide $.50 towards the project.

Up to half of the match may be comprised of in-kind contributions such as donated materials, donated services, or other contributed non-cash assets or staff time diverted to this project. At least half of the match must be cash and cannot include salaried staff time allocated to this project. However, contracted services specifically for this project may be included in the cash match. 

NOTE: A maximum of 600 submitted grant applications are accepted on a quarterly basis. The maximum number of applications has been met and the site will be closed for the remainder of the quarter. The next grant application cycle will begin on October 6, 2022.

Our History

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation was founded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Firehouse Subs co-founders, Chris Sorensen and Robin Sorensen, traveled to Mississippi where they fed first responders as well as survivors. As they traveled back to Florida exhausted and exhilarated, they knew we could do more and the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation was born.

Our Mission

To impact the life‐saving capabilities, and the lives, of local heroes and their communities.

Funding Areas

Life-Saving Equipment

Provide first responders with live-saving equipment.

Examples: Vehicle extrication tools, automated external defibrillators (AEDs), bunker gear, thermal imaging cameras, automated chest compression systems, vehicle stabilization struts, bullet-proof vests, all-terrain vehicles, fire hosesLife-Saving Equipment

Prevention Education

Provide prevention education tools to the public about the importance of public safety in order to prevent disasters in the home and community.

Examples: Fire extinguisher training systems, inflatable fire safety houses, prevention education materials, programming initiatives to focus on issues such as DUI education, carbon monoxide poisoning, CPR training and accessibility and other relevant safety issues.

Scholarships and Continued Education

Provide financial resources or continued education to individuals pursuing a career in public safety.

Example: Partner with schools on scholarship programs for individuals pursuing/advancing their career in the public safety sector.

Disaster Relief

Provide assistance and resources during and after natural and man‐made disasters such as fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.

Examples: Feed first responders and survivors and provide life-saving equipment to first responders to help them better prepare for any future disasters.

Support for Members of the Military

Benefit men and women of the military who have served their country in any of the branches of the United States Uniformed Services.

Find a list of commonly requested equipment here. 

The Abelard Foundation is a family foundation, with offices on both the east and west coasts, which has been making grants in support of progressive social change since 1958.

Abelard Foundation-East (Abelard East) focuses its grantmaking on projects operating east of the Mississippi River.

The board of directors meets in the late spring and late fall each year to make grantmaking decisions. The average grant size is $10,000. While grants are approved for one year, the Foundation will consider two one-year renewal requests.

Each year the Foundation makes approximately 15 grants, of which generally five are new. Most grants are for general support.

Criteria

Successful applications to Abelard East satisfy criteria in three areas.

Strategy

Fundamental to the grantees of Abelard East is the strategy of community organizing (including civic and electoral participation) as they work toward the goal of a more democratic, just and equitable society. Basic to an organizing strategy is the development of local leadership and the empowerment of constituents. We also look for strategies that reflect the connection between local work and broader policy issues and the efforts to address them at the state, regional or national levels.

Issues

Abelard East is committed to supporting local progressive social change activities that advance and protect civil rights and liberties, immigrant rights and worker rights and promote and strengthen community involvement in, and control over, the decisions that affect their lives. We do not focus on any issues in particular, e.g. housing, health, the environment, or education, etc. Our grantees are involved in a broad range of issues which involve social, racial and economic justice and civil and human rights.

Constituencies

The constituents of Abelard East’s grantees are those who are seeking to affirm their human rights, including poor and low-income people, the disenfranchised, immigrants, workers, people of color, and the disabled among others.