Search Through Technology Grants in California in the U.S.

What is the Innovation Fund?

The CHCF Innovation Fund aims to improve access and to ensure high-value care for all Californians by partnering with emerging companies to bring the best innovations and technology to providers, health systems, payers, and patients. We invest in early- through growth-stage companies, providing critical investment capital and network-building support to mission-aligned entrepreneurs. Our team brings deep knowledge in policy, delivery system partners, and reimbursement within Medicaid and California, which gives us a unique ability to help our portfolio companies navigate California’s complicated Medicaid ecosystem.

What types of companies or organizations does the Innovation Fund invest in?

We invest in early- through growth-stage companies, providing both capital and network-building support to entrepreneurs working to grow their reach in California’s Medicaid ecosystem.We believe that technology solutions should be developed by the people in the communities they serve because no one has more insight into the challenges than the people who wrestle with them. Right now, we are actively working to grow our portfolio of companies we support founded by Black and Latinx people, other people of color, and women. These founders are critical partners because they are often able to tap their lived experiences to champion solutions that align with our mission of improving health care delivery to all Californians.

We seek companies that have a strong commitment to CHCF’s mission, and whose products or services have the potential to significantly improve quality of care, lower the total cost of care, or improve access to care for Californians with low incomes. In these cases, we help companies understand how to navigate the systems that provide care for people living on low incomes, and can provide feedback, answers, and expertise on broadening the reach of these solutions. Ultimately, for us to invest we need to see both mission alignment and a path to a promising commercial relationship.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Brightening Our Communities

Today, Edison International is one of the largest corporate philanthropic contributors in Southern California, we partner with local nonprofits and everyday community heroes to brighten our neighborhoods and build a better tomorrow.

Last year, we contributed $20 million in funding to support programs that help communities in our service area shine bright while tackling tough issues, such as improving air quality and access to clean energy solutions, increasing community resilience and disaster preparedness, advocating for increased diversity, equity & inclusion, and helping kids make a difference in the world by studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

More than 90% of our giving helps underserved residents, including diverse ethnic groups, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, women, LGBTQ+ populations and low-income families.

Grants to Make a Difference

Our grant funding aims to assist members of our communities that are often underserved, such as diverse ethnic groups, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, women, low-income and LGBTQ+ populations.

Our Giving Priorities

Education

We believe education has the power to change lives, communities, and the world. Education receives the most funding of our focus areas to support educational programs designed to help keep kids engaged in school while opening doors to higher education.

We look for education programs that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in middle school, high school, and college levels, including tutoring, scholarships, and college-access programs.

The Environment

Our commitment to protecting the environment began decades ago and is deeply rooted in our company culture and focus to be a clean energy leader for our region and state.

We are uniting with nonprofits that have the passion and expertise to help shift environmental issues impacting our state and the world, such as improving Southern California's air quality, conserving green spaces for future generations, preserving and restoring habitats, and creating healthier communities by increasing access to green jobs and clean energy solutions.

Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness

Natural disasters can strike suddenly, anywhere and at any time. Earthquakes pose a real and ongoing threat, while wildfires have become an urgent problem with devastating consequences for all Californians.

Edison is committed to protecting our communities and helping families be prepared for natural and human-caused disasters. We support programs focused on electrical safety, emergency/disaster preparedness, community resiliency and wildfire safety and mitigation for our most vulnerable community members.

Civic Engagement

We believe that the ability to lead the transformation of the electric power industry toward a clean energy future relies on the diversity of our team and a society that enables all people to thrive.

To reflect our values, we partner with organizations that are deeply rooted in community advocacy and engagement while providing services such as workforce development and career pathway programs, professional and civic engagement leadership, youth mentoring, and capacity building for local nonprofits.

Gene Haas Foundation Mission Statement

To introduce to and educate individuals for the field of manufacturing technologies specifically CNC machining.

Additionally, we support local organizations that help the quality of life for individuals within the community.

Community Grants

Gene Haas has always believed in giving back to the community. Accordingly, wherever his companies are located, the Gene Haas Foundation helps those in need. It concentrates its efforts in Ventura County, California, Clark County, Nevada, and Cabarrus County, North Carolina.

Support from the Gene Haas Foundation has been, and will continue to be, instrumental in improving the lives of people in our communities. Since 1999, more than $30 million in community-based funding has been provided to qualified and deserving non-profit organizations. 

About the Henry T. Nicholas, III Foundation

The Foundation has been at the forefront nationally in supporting victims' rights, reflecting Dr. Nicholas' longstanding commitment to victims of violent crime. He has been a leader of the victims' rights movement since 1983, when his sister, Marsy, was murdered. He helped his parents found Justice for Homicide Victims, a leading non-profit organization that supports families of murder victims. Dr. Nicholas led the effort in 2008 to pass Marsy's Law, a state constitutional amendment that created a comprehensive Victims' Bill of Rights for California. Following this campaign, he formed Marsy's Law for All, an organization dedicated to enforcing the constitutional amendment, empowering victims' rights organizations, and creating a national movement to pass a victims' Bill of Rights as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Through Marsy's Law for All, the Foundation provides legal, technical, media and other resources to support victims' rights organizations and initiatives.

Read more about us.

Grant Information

The Henry T. Nicholas, III Foundation was created in 2006 with the vision of enabling and assisting communities and individuals to reach their highest potential. The Foundation is dedicated to improving lives through investment in Education, Youth Sports, Technology, Science, Medical Research, Victim's Rights, and National Defense.

Since its inception, the Foundation has provided more than $2.7 million to numerous public charities and non-profit organizations engaged in helping people build better lives for themselves and their neighbors.

The theme that unites the Foundation's various efforts into a single mission is investing in people and their futures:

• Grants are provided to help young people build strong educational and athletic foundations that will lead to healthy, productive and successful lives as adults.
• Advancement in science, technology and medicine is supported because these fields are the key to future health and prosperity for people and communities.
• Aid and support is provided to help violent crime victims and their families, and to assist the heroes who defend our nation and their families, because without safety and security there is no future.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

At Honda, we know the true measure of a company isn’t just great products but the impact that the company has on society. From reducing our impact on the environment to the life-saving technology in our vehicles to our associates’ community service work, we’re committed to making a difference in ways that extend across North America.

Honda Corporate Funding

Honda’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vision is to help people fulfill their life’s potential. We do this by supporting the communities where we live and work through financial contributions and the volunteer efforts of Honda associates. Honda offers funding opportunities for programmatic support and community event sponsorships. Each request is evaluated based on its own merit, taking into consideration community needs and available funding.

Community Event Sponsorships

As a company deeply embedded in the fabric of our communities, Honda is proud to support the places we call home. We aim to sponsor community events that celebrate and uphold the rich cultures, heritages, and traditions of the communities where we live and work. By valuing each person’s unique contributions and perspectives, Honda is committed to the collective strength of our communities. In doing so, we strive to be a company that society wants to exist.

Community event sponsorship requests can include, but not limited to parades, community festivals, galas, runs, walks.

Geographic Scope

Requests for community event sponsorships can be local, regional or national in scope, but must primarily benefit communities where Honda associates live and work. Eligible requests must serve one or more of the following states, where Honda has major operations in the U.S. and a strong community presence:

Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina,  andTexas.

The goals of our foundation are:

• To be a model of charitable giving to children in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• To support tuition assistance, technology, and learning in pre-K-12 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• To assist major museums, cultural and non-profit organizations with their educational programs for children and families in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Joseph and Mercedes McMicking Foundation (The Foundation) is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

The Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life, primarily to benefit San Francisco Bay Area residents through contributions, grants and scholarships for the education and welfare of children and their families.

Areas of Interest

The Foundation has an established interest in providing grants and scholarship for the education of children of all ages and all ethnic backgrounds in the areas of:

• Arts
• Technology
• Education
• Science

Background

Pentair believes it is our responsibility to make a positive impact on people and the planet – through our solutions, communities, and operations - as reflected in our Win Right Values. Since 1998, Pentair and the Pentair Foundation have contributed more than $80 million to philanthropic causes strengthening the communities in which we operate. The mission of the Pentair Foundation is to support and advance inclusive and sustainable communities by investing in the availability, quality, and enjoyment of water and by increasing the participation of youth and young adults in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education.

Program Areas

In support of this mission, Pentair and the Pentair Foundation engage in giving across these key program areas:

Water

Pentair and the Pentair Foundation seek to help the world sustainably move, improve, and enjoy water by reducing water stress and building ecological resilience; improving the quality of drinking water; improving access to cleaner and safer water; and increasing water-related safety and well-being.

The Pentair Foundation focuses on programs that help to:

• Move: Reduce water stress and build ecological resilience
• Improve: Improve water quality and reduce single use plastic water bottles
• Enjoy: Increase swim safety and promote water-related well-being

Education

Pentair and the Pentair Foundation seek to help build the workforce of the future by investing in or supporting STEM career pathways, with a particular focus on engineering and manufacturing for youth and young adults.

Community

Pentair and the Pentair Foundation seek to advance vibrant, inclusive communities where we live and work by encouraging employee volunteerism and matching Pentair employee donations.

If you have an initiative you would like Pentair to consider, please contact Pentair. 

Grant Funding Priorities

We aspire to a future where all  rural families provide childcare with a nurturing, safe, and stable foundation for life. A child’s early years are the most critical time for setting a positive trajectory for life. Research shows that trusted relationships with caring adults make all the difference. We want to help families access the supports they need.

What we prioritize:

• Parent and caregiver supports build nurturing and healthy attachments that allow children to thrive. Our communities have identified a need for programs that better match the demographics of families and the emotional needs of children. We prioritize home visiting, parenting education, early childhood mental health and other community supports for parents and caregivers.
• Family financial stability helps parents access programs that exist to assist low-income families, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. We also offer educational scholarships for parents.
• Child abuse prevention protects children and improves outcomes for future generations. We fund and partner with local organizations and regional and statewide networks to prevent abuse and neglect, build awareness and strengthen systems that bring stability and safety to the most vulnerable among us.Grants aligned with our Education impact area aim to ensure that rural children have the supports and opportunities they need to succeed in their education. Our emphasis is on early childhood education, helping children start strong in their early grades, and preparing students for the transition from high school to postsecondary education or a career.

We envision a future in which all rural young people experience educational success. Education has always been at the top of The Ford Family Foundation’s priorities. We invest in high-quality, affordable early childhood education all the way to our scholarship programs, which have helped thousands of aspiring college students achieve their dreams.

Our emphasis is on ensuring that children and their families benefit from targeted support across two key transitions — from the early years to the schoolroom, and from K-12 to educational and career opportunities after high school.

What we prioritize: 

• Early childhood education allows children to develop the habits, skills and healthy brains that will help them succeed academically as they enter their K-12 school pathway.
• P-3 alignment helps children and families transition from early childhood education settings to more structured classrooms. This ensures children can read independently, problem solve and manage their social-emotional needs.
• Supports and pathways build K-12 students’ knowledge, skills and awareness to plan for life after high school and to improve their long-term economic opportunities.
• Postsecondary completion for students, especially those who are the first in their families to attend and complete college, improves economic and social outcomes for them and their families.

We commit to a future where rural communities are vibrant places that provide opportunities for everyone to thrive.  The Ford Family Foundation is a community building organization. We support rural residents as they work together to develop a shared vision for their community’s future and implement plans that enable them to attract and retain a diverse population, especially working-age families.

What we prioritize:

• Community building catalyzes efforts by rural residents to address needs and improve their communities. Community building fosters leadership, relationships, capacity and collective action to create well-being for all, especially children and families. From scholarship alumni to business leaders, community builders are everywhere. Learn more about the rural Community Building Approach.
• Community economic development builds a vibrant rural economy, improves the economic well-being of families and makes the community a place where people choose to live. Rural business retention and expansion is at the heart of our work in this area.
• Organizational capacity building across the region supports a range of stable and effective organizations that contribute to more resilient rural communities. Nonprofits are the backbone of providing essential services to rural families.

Good Neighbor grants

They’re called Good Neighbor grants for a reason. Good neighbors help each other, learn from each other and lift each other up.

Good Neighbor grants are designed to support the initiatives that matter in your community in a way that works for your organization, including unforeseen emergencies that interrupt programming or services. We fund both program and capital requests.

For Good Neighbor Grants, applicants should note the following:

• 25% committed before applying (in-kind can play a role but strongest requests have other funding at the table)
• Can request up to 1/3 for programs/operations and up to 50% for capital
• Clearly need to see the community at the table where services will be provided
• We also look for a clear plan in place for sustainability
• You will typically hear back from us in six to 10 weeks

Grant amount: Up to $25,000

Grant examples

• Emergency repairs to essential equipment at a food bank, library, fire hall or other community service provider
• Updates to facilities at a beloved community gathering place, including ADA accessibility and technology
• Community events such as celebrations, clean-ups or summer festivals (Events and celebrations must be free to the public and multi-day or annual, such as a music or art series.)
• New or special programs for the children and families in your communities
• Studies or research on a community need
• Playgrounds or recreational facilities
• Translation of materials or outreach to special populations
• Basic needs for vulnerable children and families
• Feasibility studies for economic development projects (e.g., business incubator, makerspace, commercial kitchen)

Our Mission

The Del E. Webb Foundation invests in productivity that results in long-term benefits.

Our Vision

We believe that investing in results-based programs will impact the future of our society by allowing it to reach its maximum potential.

Our Values

Following Del E. Webb's legacy, our giving is defined by new ideas and innovative adaptations. We invest in results by committing to programs operating within Arizona, California or Nevada that create or enhance opportunities for permanent improvements. We focus primarily on child and health initiatives.FundingThe range of grants is $5,000 to $3,000,000. Round the amount to the nearest $1,000.

About the Motorola Solutions Foundation

At Motorola Solutions, we are good citizens by design. Our work makes a difference in the critical moments that shape lives, businesses and the world, but our contributions don’t end there. The Motorola Solutions Foundation acts as the charitable and philanthropic arm of Motorola Solutions and focuses on giving back to the community through strategic grants, employee volunteerism and other community investment initiatives. The Foundation is one of the many ways in which the company lives out its purpose to help people be their best in the moments that matter.

Grant Program Focus

The Motorola Solutions Foundation, which has donated $100 million over the past 10 years, aims to partner with organizations that are creating safer cities and thriving communities, and prioritizes underrepresented and/or underserved populations, including people of color and women, within the three focus areas below:

• Technology and engineering education
• First responder programming
• Blended first responder programming and technology/engineering education programs

Overarching Priorities

• Reach people of color, women and other underrepresented and/or underserved populations within our focus areas
• Leverage robust partnerships with other nonprofit organizations and institutions
• Support organizations that exhibit strong financial health
• Support organizations with data-driven evaluation methods, including quantifiable metrics

Focus Areas

First Responder Programming

• Provide leadership development and training opportunities for underrepresented first responders, including people of color and women
• Provide mental wellness and stress management trainings for first responders and their families
• Provide wellness and scholarship support to families of fallen first responders
• Prepare youth and young adults for careers in public safety through outreach, scholarship and educational programs
• Offer safety preparedness and response training to schools, adults, students and first responders
• Lead safety and disaster preparedness trainings for the public

Technology & Engineering Education

• Engage students in innovative, hands-on technology and engineering activities, such as design, coding and robotics
• Provide vocational skills, scholarships, certifications and workforce placement opportunities in engineering, information technology and data science
• Equip teachers with the skills and training necessary to enhance instruction in technology and engineering
• Prioritize school-aged students ages 8-18, college/university students and young adults

Overview

Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) values being an informed, compassionate and contributing neighbor in our local communities. The commitment has been demonstrated throughout Sandia’s history and is an enduring part of our future.

Sandia and National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS) provide grants to address the greatest challenges facing families in our communities. K-12 school systems are working to eliminate educational disparities from one community to another. Many families struggle with affordable housing, food insecurity, and other challenges. Recognizing that both family stability and equitable educational success are critical to our children’s futures, we are investing our corporate contributions in the areas of Family Stability and Educational Success. NTESS, on behalf of Sandia National Laboratories, contributes more than $1.5M annually to our local communities. 

Family Stability Criteria

This grant opportunity is intended to support non-profit organizations that are helping families in crisis provide and sustain a stable home environment, especially for families with children. Programs should demonstrate sustainable improvement and where applicable, partnerships with other organizations to create efficiencies and avoid duplication of services. Priority will be given to programs that address:

• Hunger relief services including pantries and prepared meal services that serve people experiencing food insecurity.
• Support those working toward obtaining short or long-term housing for people experiencing homelessness
• Workforce development serving under-employed populations.
• Services and wraparound support for children/families who are experiencing a temporary crisis. 

Program Overview

The W. M. Keck Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting Medical Research and Science & Engineering projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach, question the prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their field.

Past grants have been awarded to major universities, independent research institutions, and medical schools to support pioneering biological and physical science research and engineering, including the development of promising new technologies, instrumentation or methodologies. Please see our grant abstracts for examples of funded projects. 

Background

The Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge is an open call for applications or request for proposals (RFP) designed to provide catalytic grant funding to community organizations across the world. This year, the Foundation invites proposals from community organizations developing innovative employment solutions for low-income youth primarily between the ages of 15 and 24.

Funding Overview

Despite recent progress, young people globally continue to experience challenges in their pursuit of employment, including skills mismatch and gaining access to quality jobs. According to the International Labour Organization, 65 million young people globally are unemployed. Since the Citi Foundation’s inception, advancing youth employability has been integral to our mission of supporting low-income communities globally. The Citi Foundation invested more than $300 million over the last decade alone in programs that supported over one million young people in expanding their skills, experience and networks through its Pathways to Progress initiative. Building on our funding journey, this year’s Global Innovation Challenge is focused on youth employability, and we invite proposals from community organizations developing innovative employment solutions for low-income youth primarily between the ages of 15 and 24

These innovative solutions could include, but are not limited to:

• Technical and vocational training programs that upskill or reskill low-income youth and move them into employment, which could include paid internships, apprenticeships or formal employment.
• Entrepreneurship programming that specifically focuses on the incubation or scaling of youth-led enterprises to increase job creation and access to selfgenerated income.
• Efforts to embed financial education programming into workforce development initiatives equipping low-income youth with financial skills and access to safe and affordable financials tools. 

First Tech community grants and sponsorships

We fund innovative solutions for children and their families. Our grants program focuses in two key areas: education and fundamental needs. Working with our community partners, our funding provides access to STEM education for underserved communities and fuels new programs to address our communities’ most urgent needs.

We provide charitable grants focused on programmatic and capacity building support, as well as nonprofit sponsorships, to organizations within our Oregon, Washington and Northern California footprint. These grants and sponsorships support programs focused on education and fundamental needs.

You can request First Tech’s grant or sponsorship support for 501(c)3 charitable organizations through our online application.

Education

We focus on helping underserved communities build the infrastructure and resources to think creatively, problem-solve and innovate—to succeed today and lead tomorrow. We target our support for education in three key areas:

• Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
• Early childhood literacy
• Financial education

The Boston Scientific Foundation’s mission is to improve health and open up educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged persons, with an emphasis on communities where Boston Scientific employees live and work in the United States.

Education

The Foundation supports programs focused on improving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) educational opportunities and academic development for K-12 students who are economically disadvantaged.

Grants to benefit economically disadvantaged in education programs is defined as programs with:

• Minimum of 50% of program participants at 185% of poverty or lower OR
• Funding directed to participants at 185% of poverty or lower
• We do not fund dollars towards stipends for program participation

How do you select applicants?

We support programs that improve health and STEM education for economically disadvantaged persons. Applications are initially pre-screened, with qualified submissions then vetted by regional grant review committees. We are particularity interested in proposals that contain these elements:

Evidence based approaches that include a methodology for tracking and measuring improvements in STEM learning or specific health outcomes related to our focus areas.

Clear identification of the target audience and data used to determine the majority of grant beneficiaries (participants) are economically disadvantaged (e.g., household income, enrollment in Medicaid or SNAP benefits, census data for the neighborhood or community, etc.)

Cost-effective and results-oriented programs, where our contributions can make a long-term measurable difference in the quality of people’s lives and serve as a catalyst for positive change.

Our Vision

Sustainability involves economic viability, environmental sensitivity, and social responsiveness, with emphasis on working with and preserving nature. Innovation involves creativity and new ideas that make this world a better place to live.

The foundation seeks to foster environmental restoration, preservation and education with emphasis on seed moneys that lead to establishing demonstration projects that link rural and urban settings. Projects could orient toward use of resources in sustainable ways, integration of food production, technology, economics, and community development in harmonious ways with the natural world, preservation of wildlife habitat as well as the diversity of wild and domestic plants and animals, and conservation of wilderness and open space. Of interest might be projects designed to restore and maintain biological diversity of flora and fauna or establishment of seed banks, sustainable land use, or appropriate technology for alternative energy resources. Efforts to find space in tight urban areas, bring the countryside to the city in the form of gardens, landscaping, and space are encouraged. Likewise, efforts to provide space and alternative living to urban people in a rural area are welcome.

A particular concern is with sustaining agriculture through organic, biodynamic, permacultural and other processes, training young people to be farmers, and linking farms to communities through community supported agriculture. Another area of need would be support for small alternative presses and periodicals that focus on issues and problems and their resolution and desire to impact broadly on society with their creativity and new ideas.

The foundation sponsors Laguna Wilderness Press that publishes books featuring the work of concerned artists, photographers, and environmentalists. Its books move in two directions: (1) to depict nature and pristine wilderness areas through photography and essay; (2) to focus on changing landscape and the impact of urban growth, technology, and development on natural beauty and resources.

With its interest in LWP and its home base in southern California, the foundation desires to direct attention to environmental groups and concerns in Laguna Beach, especially preservation and restoration of areas under conservation in the open space known as the Laguna Greenbelt or Wilderness and including the Laguna Bluebelt; projects that expand open space in the inner greenbelt, promote community gardening, including in its schools, restore wherever possible the canyon creeks to their natural setting, and help to establish the legacy of a unique place and its traditions of village diverse planning and vision, plein air painting, and historic homes and sites.

Project Types

Projects could orient toward use of resources in sustainable ways, preservation of wildlife habitats, conservation of wilderness, integration of food production, technology, economics, and community development in harmonious ways with the natural world. Also, another area of interest is support for small alternative presses and periodicals that show creativity and new ideas, and focus on issues and problems.

Background

The CalMoneySmart program provides annual grants of up to $200,000 to nonprofit organizations to provide financial education and financial empowerment programs and services for unbanked and underbanked Californians.

CalMoneySmart began when Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 455 (Bradford) in October 2019, which created the Financial Empowerment Fund to fund a grant program for nonprofit organizations. The CalMoneySmart program was launched with an initial $4 million fund, and the program was authorized to award up to $1 million each year to nonprofits for financial empowerment programs focusing on unbanked and underbanked consumers in California. In 2021-22, Assembly Bill 137 expanded the Financial Empowerment Fund by an additional $10 million, increasing the annual amount available for grants to $2 million with a maximum grant award to $200,000 per fiscal year until the program sunsets on January 1, 2030.

Unbanked households have disproportionately lower incomes and levels of education than banked households. Black and Hispanic households, single mothers, working-age adults with a disability, and immigrants are also disproportionately represented among the unbanked. Due to their credit status, unbanked and underbanked households often pay high fees for everyday financial services and find it difficult to build savings, establish credit, and build wealth.

Financial education programs, like those funded by CalMoneySmart, are cost-effective means to improve both financial knowledge and financial behaviors that promote stability, protect consumers, and generate wealth (Kaiser, FINRA Foundation, 2022). Individualized counseling reinforces and empowers consumers to participate in financial services and build assets and financial security. Access to free financial products provides a pathway to mainstream financial services and helps to develop habits to increase financial well-being.

Community-based nonprofit organizations that have received CalMoneySmart funding over the past four years have implemented diverse and innovative approaches to reaching underserved communities by supporting and educating Californians about creating a better future for themselves and their families. Reports of previous CalMoneySmart cycles can be found at https://dfpi.ca.gov/calmoneysmart-grant-program/.

Since the program’s inception, grant funds have been awarded on an annual basis through a competitive application process. Beginning in the 2024-25 fiscal year, applications will be accepted for a two-year period. Funding will be announced in advance for two consecutive fiscal years, with funds disbursed separately at the beginning of each year. This program change has been introduced to improve the sustainability of funding for community-based organizations, allowing them to recruit and retain qualified staff and build organizational capacity to meet program objectives.

Use of Funds

The grants may be used to:

• Design, develop, or offer free classroom- or web-based financial education and empowerment content intended to help unbanked and underbanked consumers achieve, identify, and access lower-cost financial products and services, establish or improve their credit, increase their savings, or lower their debt.
• Provide individualized, free financial coaching to unbanked and underbanked consumers.
• Design, develop, or offer a free financial product or service intended to help unbanked and underbanked consumers identify and access responsible financial products and financial services, establish or improve their credit, increase their savings, or lower their debt.

Every project funded with a CalMoneySmart grant must:

• Promote and enhance the economic security of consumers.
• Adhere to the Five Principles of Effective Financial Education described in the June 2017 report issued by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau titled Effective financial education: Five principles and how to use them.
• These five principles are:
  • Know the individuals and families to be served
  • Provide actionable, relevant and timely information
  • Improve key financial skills
  • Build on motivation and,
  • Make it easy to make good decisions and follow through.

Henry L Guenther Foundation Grants

The Henry L. Guenther Foundation is a private non-profit charitable California corporation organized to promote and engage in exclusively charitable endeavors, which will tend to improve social conditions, promote human welfare, and/or alleviate pain and suffering. Endowed with the advantage of choice, the Guenther Foundation primarily applies its resources to preserve and enrich the benefits to be derived by California residents, and principally those residing in Southern California, from improved and expanded medical services, opportunities for youth, and other similar humanitarian projects. The foundation has funded a vast array of projects in the past, including capital campaigns, homeless and veteran services, medical equipment and technology, individual and family services, food distributions, emergency services, housing opportunities, educational programs, community programs, and many more projects that fall within the scope of the foundation’s funding guidelines.

Grants are awarded for a 12-month period. If an organization is unable to spend the entirety of the funds for the purpose approved by the board of directors within the 12 months, the funds must be returned to the foundation. 

Spark Grants is an innovative, just-in-time grantmaking process.

Our vision is to introduce a process that can fill urgent needs for education organizations that are well-aligned with our focus areas. We seek to fund highly impactful initiatives that would not be possible if they needed to wait through a traditional grant decision timeline.

Baseline Grant Criteria

• We will be awarding grants up to $25,000 to nonprofits and educational institutions whose projects hit one of the focus areas outlined below.
• For this funding cycle, we will focus on organizations that are doing work in California.
• Given the size and scope of digital inequity and the complexity of securing adequate funding for programs and initiatives to fully address the issue, we welcome proposals where Michelson Spark Grant funds are part of a larger overall project with multiple funding streams.

Digital Equity Funding Cycle Focus Areas

Eliminating Digital Discrimination: Efforts that help address the impact that low-quality and/or unaffordable Internet has in areas that may superficially appear to have Internet access, and provide tools to combat digital discrimination and to promote equitable access to broadband throughout California. By focusing on the role of race in the historical causes of digital equity, we seek to grow awareness and uplift the voices and needs of underserved communities that have been deliberately excluded from connectivity by systematic redlining and disinvestment. These may include but are not limited to:

• Efforts that highlight disparities in broadband access
• Research that addresses mapping shortcomings at the state level
• Storytelling, surveying, testimonial-gathering

Digital Equity in Tribal Communities: Projects that help Tribal communities bridge the digital divide and achieve digital sovereignty. This may include but isn’t limited to:

• Digital Equity Research & Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on Tribal communities, digital equity best practices, and more)
• Community Capacity-building
• Broadband Infrastructure Workforce Development

Policy Advocacy and Civic Engagement: Efforts that increase civic participation in digital equity policy-making and regulatory processes at the local, regional, or state-level (including the education of state policy-makers on key digital equity issues). This may include efforts focusing on education, capacity-building, and the equitable implementation of digital equity policy

Digital Equity as a Social Determinant of Health: Efforts that address digital inequity through its impact as a social determinant of health, and that can be a promising practice to be scaled across the state. Efforts that bridge the digital divide in at least one of the following issue areas:

• Higher Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on college students)
• Healthcare/Public Health (i.e.: Equitable access to digital healthcare)
• Economic Opportunity (i.e.: Workforce Development; equitable access to seeking, applying, and securing jobs)
• Civic Engagement (i.e.: Access to public benefits)

Digital Equity and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Projects that aim to ensure communities that have been historically underinvested have access to and are prepared to take advantage of technological advancements in AI for full participation in our society, as well as projects that are aimed at increasing transparency and equity in the use and development of AI tools.

Our Mission

Our mission is to uplift and sustain the lifeways and economies of Native communities through advocacy, financial support, and knowledge sharing.

We envision a world in which Tribal Sovereignty is upheld, and Native ingenuity and knowledge are honored and respected.

Grant Overview

First Nations believes that Native youth represent the future of Native communities and that investing in youth and giving them a sense of place and tradition in the community ensures a future of bright and capable leaders. We seek programs that meet youth where they are, support them in accomplishing their goals and dreams as future leaders, and shape pathways that prepare them for an empowered adulthood guided by their cultures and families.

In 2002, First Nations launched the Native Youth and Culture Fund (NYCF) to support tribes and Native American-led organizations that work with Native youth through programs that provide learning, leadership building, and intergenerational mentoring.

In 2024, through this Fund, two-year grants ranging from $20,000 to $60,000 will be awarded to Native youth programs and projects that focus on increasing youth leadership and providing opportunities for intergenerational transfer of knowledge.

• 10 to 12 grants of up to $60,000 will be awarded to structured day and/or overnight camp programs that focus on recreational, cultural, educational, language, Native youth leadership and intergenerational mentoring activities. (If you are applying as a camp program you must indicate this within the application.)
• 4 to 8 grants of up to $60,000 will be awarded to programs supporting Native youth by California-based tribes or California tribally controlled non-profit organizations. These grants are made possible through our California Tribal Fund (CTF). The CTF was created to support California-based, California-Native-led nonprofits and tribal programs in controlling and protecting their food systems, water, languages, traditional ecological knowledge, and land.
• 10 to 12 grants of up to $60,000 will be awarded to programs supporting Native youth that demonstrate alignment with one or more of the program priorities (see below).

Native Youth and Culture Fund Priorities

All proposals must demonstrate their project or program will carry out one or more of the following:

• Provide structured day or overnight camp activities. Camps are defined as structured day or overnight programs that focus on recreational, cultural, educational, youth leadership, and intergenerational mentoring activities.
• Focus on preserving, strengthening, or renewing cultural and/or spiritual practices, beliefs, and values of Native youth.
• Engage youth and elders in activities that demonstrate methods for documenting traditional knowledge systems, practices, and/or beliefs.
• Increase youth leadership and their capacity to lead through intergenerational educational or mentoring programs.
• Increase youth access to and sharing of cultural customs and beliefs and traditional Native art forms using appropriate technologies (traditional and/or modern), as a means of reviving or preserving tribal language, arts, history, or other culturally relevant topics.

Background

Funded by employee donations, Community Grants are awarded to nonprofits in our California service areas. A diverse advisory board, made up of Cox employees, reviews and evaluates applications to ensure that our giving is meeting the needs of our local communities.

Cox Charities funds organizations with programs that focus on the following:

• Digital Equity: All Markets
  • Creating opportunities which allow technology access for all.
• Conservation & Sustainability: All Markets
  • Championing positive environmental change in our community and beyond.
• K-12 STEAM Education: All Markets
  • STEAM opportunities for K-12 students beyond the classroom.
• Military & Veterans: OC/PV/SD
  • Supporting programs that enrich the lives of military and veteran populations.
• Affordable Housing and Food Insecurity: SB
  • Connecting families to programs that provide quality food and shelter.

Capacity Building Grants

Capacity Building grants assist nonprofits in achieving new levels of organizational strength and effectiveness. Their purpose is to help nonprofit organizations directly serving older adults in California to strengthen internal systems; execute needed IT infrastructure updates; and improve efforts to mobilize older adults in their communities. Capacity Building grants are not intended to pay for existing client-facing programs and services, nor are they intended to provide general operating support to the organization. The goal of a successful capacity building grant is to enhance an organization’s level of financial and operational sustainability.

Capacity building support offered through this RFP is limited to the following (one project type per application and one application per organization):

Internal Operations, which may include:

• Improvements to financial management, internal controls and chart of accounts, human resources, or volunteer management;   
• Onboarding new staff, training and technical assistance on quality improvement, or facility planning;     
• Building evaluation capacity to improve outcome evaluation methods and metrics;
• Conducting organizational assessments and strategic planning, fundraising assessment and development, communications/marketing planning, contingency/disaster planning, or business planning;       
• Building strategic relationships, such as helping two or more organizations work through collaboration and strategic restructuring, or positioning for merger or affiliation;       
• Developing new sources for earned income, which may include business planning, social enterprise, contracting, startup costs for a new program, legal services, accounting, or actuarial services.

Technology Improvements, which may include:

• Enhancing IT capacity through upgrades to hardware and software, cybersecurity, networking, websites, and staff training to optimize the use of technology.

Community Mobilizing, which may include:

• Enhancing organizational ability to provide and receive information directly to/from older adults in their communities to address existing and emerging needs;
• Developing community advisory boards or hosting town hall meetings that result in actionable insights;       
• Forming or maintaining coalitions that elevate lived experiences of older adults;       
• Creating and strengthening advocacy efforts that incorporate voices of older adults;       
• Conducting community needs assessments to better understand how to serve older adults and include their perspectives.

Funding

Capacity Building grants offer up to $50,000 to support direct service organizations that serve older adults in California, helping them improve internal structures and operations.

About The Wonderful Company

Being “Wonderful” goes beyond our consumer promise of growing, harvesting, and distributing wholesome, high-quality fruits, nuts, and other products for customers around the world. We strive to make The Wonderful Company true to its name with a wide range of philanthropic activities that focus on investing in and collaborating with the communities where our employees live and work.

Central Valley Community Grants

Now, more than ever, The Wonderful Company is focused on the health and well-being of Central Valley communities. In the past 10 years, Wonderful Community Grants has funded over $8.5M across 142 nonprofits and 165 schools in the San Joaquin Valley. This year, we will be funding $1 million in grants to schools and organizations serving our priority communities.

A successful applicant will demonstrate a commitment to making the rural communities of the San Joaquin Valley in California a more equitable place to live, work, and play.

Proposed projects must be aligned with the organization’s current mission and overall goals, and culminate into something visible and tangible in the community.

Grant Amounts

• $1,000–$50,000 grants, awarded until funds are exhausted.
• Up to two $100,000 grants, awarded funds to be used over two years.

Roy and Marian Holleman Foundation Grant

The mission of the Roy and Marian Holleman Foundation is to provide financial grants and annual support to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

A special emphasis is given to those organizations whose mission focuses on:

• The care, well-being, and general welfare of domesticated animals.
• The academic discipline of library science (the practices, perspectives and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas specific to libraries) including, but not limited to, student scholarships in this field of study.
• Interests, services, and activities that Roy and Marian Holleman would choose to support, and organizations they have supported through their Foundation in the past.

Program areas

• Education
• Environment, animals
• Human services

States served

• California

Goals & Priorities

The Stocker Foundation adopted a broader 21st century definition of literacy to help students keep pace in today’s rapidly changing world.

The Stocker Foundation remains committed to closing the education equity gap and making good educational practices great by supporting kindergarten readiness and ensuring students can read at or above grade-level by third grade. However, we can achieve more by combining these priorities to include STEAM-focused grantmaking. Remember, literacy is a part of every content area, always!

What is STEAM? STEAM is an educational approach that creates access points for guided student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking through the infusion of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.  

The Stocker Foundation will partner with new and existing 501(c)(3) charitable organizations that can effectively and realistically address the following areas of interest:

• Development of foundational reading and writing skills.
• Implementation of cross-disciplinary and project-based learning through STEAM.
• Safety-net services that ensure students are healthy, engaged, supported, and challenged, removing barriers to learning and academic achievement. A small percentage of available funding per community will be considered.