Priority Grants

Priority Grants are awarded to grantees that are pursuing projects that align with specific funding opportunities available. They are awarded based on their alignment with the Foundation’s strategic funding areas of Access to Healthcare and Prevention (see below). This funding will focus on programs and outcomes that make significant long-term impact on our community.

Access to Healthcare

• Strengthening the Safety Net
• A strong safety net, alongside coordinated wraparound supports, is key to overall community health. Safety net providers may include Federally Qualified Health Centers, emergency departments, community-based health centers, local health departments and free and charitable clinics. Coordinated wraparound services may include health education, transportation, housing and case management. The goal of Strengthening the Safety Net is to provide support for quality comprehensive care, including physical, oral and mental health, and coordinated wraparound services to improve overall health.
• Improving Maternal and Child Health
• Addressing potential health issues in pregnancy or early infancy can prevent death and disability and allow children to reach their full potential in life.
• The goal of the Maternal and Child Health initiative is to improve outcomes for moms, infants and families in the first year of life.

Prevention

• Healthy Behaviors
• According to Healthy People 2020, regular physical activity can improve the health and quality of life for people of all ages, even ones with chronic disease or disability.
• The focus of this initiative is to increase access to nutritional foods and physical activity and to improve health outcomes related to chronic diseases.
• Early Childhood Education
• What if every young child in Virginia had the education foundation he or she needs for success in school and life? This goal is at the core of the new early childhood education initiative and partnership between the Obici Healthcare Foundation and the University of Virginia for young children in Western Tidewater.
• After observing the state’s investment in early childhood initiatives, the Obici Healthcare Foundation made the decision to contribute $1M to boost initiative engagement in Western Tidewater. This funding is a movement toward the importance of early learning opportunities as a long-term health investment. CEO Annette Beuchler states, “Improving the level of early childhood education is the primary path for improving overall academic achievement and ultimately better health status.
• The investment paves the way for Western Tidewater to become a model case study for the impact of high quality early childhood educational experiences in a wide-range of preschool settings.
• Capacity Building
• In October 2018, the Obici Healthcare Foundation entered a strategic planning process with the Curtis Group. Together we will design a capacity building initiative to strengthen the overall capacity of nonprofit organizations in the service area. By gathering data and insights from local nonprofits and other successfully modeled capacity building initiatives, we will form the key components of the strategic planning process. The Obici Healthcare Foundation will bring together a suite of resources and tools to help organizations adapt impactful measures.

Background

Mid Atlantic Tours brings the best of the performing arts to communities across the mid-Atlantic region. Presenters select from a curated roster of artists that changes annually but maintains a programmatic commitment to a diversity of performance genres, regional artist representation, and engaging with communities underserved by the arts. 

Grant Information

Presenters located in the mid-Atlantic region who engage a Mid Atlantic Tours Roster Artist during the project period receive up to 50% subsidy for the Roster Artist’s compensation (including artistic compensation, housing, per diem and travel) as well as a presenter capacity support. Presenters work directly with the Roster Artist’s Tour Manager to negotiate terms, including engagement dates and compensation. 

Once terms are confirmed between Presenter and Tour Manager, the Presenter completes a short application to Mid Atlantic Arts. Applications are not competitive, but Presenters interested in engaging a Mid Atlantic Tours Roster Artist during the project period are encouraged to confirm terms with the Artist’s Tour Manager as soon as possible as funding is limited. Final grant award distribution is determined by Mid Atlantic Arts staff in collaboration with Tour Managers.

Roster

Visit midatlanticarts.org to review the roster.

The Mid Atlantic Tours roster is curated by Mid Atlantic Arts staff with curatorial advisement from performing arts colleagues from the mid-Atlantic region. As a final step in the curatorial process, mid-Atlantic region Presenters indicate interest in prospective Roster Artists through a presenter interest survey conducted via email.

The selection process for the Mid Atlantic Tours roster prioritizes:

• Projected touring success for Roster Artists: tour feasibility & presenter interest
• Broad representation of multiple performance genres
• Broad geographic representation from artists based in different states/jurisdictions in the mid-Atlantic region
• Artists and creators who are actively engaged with diverse communities to energize the transformative power of the arts

Mid Atlantic Arts is committed to countering structural inequities based on race, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, class, age and geography through our programs.

Touring Preparation Residency

Each Mid Atlantic Tours roster artist may work with one presenter for a Touring Preparation Residency that does not include a public performance. All other guidelines and procedures for Mid Atlantic Tours engagements must be met, including the artist fee match from the presenter to the Roster Artist. The presenter is eligible for artist fee and presenter capacity support subsidies.

Suggestions for engagement activities for the preparation residency include, but are not limited to:

• extended technical residency
• work-in-process showing
• a rehearsal or demo of a prospective community engagement activity
• working with a dramaturg
• developing marketing materials
• refining a technical rider

If you are interested in partnering with a Mid Atlantic Tours Roster Artist to host the Roster Artist’s Touring Preparation Residency, reach out to the Artist’s Tour Manager.

Grant Award Details

Presenters meeting the eligibility criteria who engage a current Mid Atlantic Tours roster Artist for at least two engagement activities during the project period are eligible to receive a grant award from Mid Atlantic Arts to support the following:

• Artist compensation subsidy up to 50% of the artist compensation agreed upon between the Presenter and the Roster Artist (including artistic salary/fees, housing, per diem and travel). Minimum request: $750.00 USD;
• Other eligible expenses up to 2,000.00 USD to support direct project expenses including program staff salary, direct technical personnel fees, audience development, marketing and promotional expenses, project-specific purchases or consulting related to increasing access for disabled artists, staff, audiences or community members, technical and equipment rental expenses for virtual or in-person engagements, artist travel/lodging expenses, and/or expenses related to public health measures for in-person engagements.

NOTE: Artists must apply to Ibermúsicas for support before October 1, 2022. All presenters interested in receiving grant subsidies and forming part of selected tours must submit their online grant form by April 25, 2023. Presenters must invite artists for a public performance in addition to a community engagement activity between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Background

Mid Atlantic Arts was established to promote and support multi-state arts programming in a region that includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is one of six regional arts organizations in the United States, and works in close partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and its member state and jurisdictional arts agencies. Mid Atlantic Arts distinguishes itself through its work in international cultural exchange, model programs in performing arts touring, its knowledge and presence in the jazz field, and its support of folk and traditional arts.

Mission

Mid Atlantic Arts nurtures and funds the creation and presentation of diverse artistic expression and connects people to meaningful arts experiences within our region and beyond.

Vision

Mid Atlantic Arts envisions a future in which artists and creators are actively engaged with diverse communities to energize the transformative power of the arts.

Iber Exchange Grant Program

Mid Atlantic Arts believes in the power of the arts to promote a greater understanding of other cultures. Iber Exchange is a grant program designed to increase availability of international music programming throughout the Mid Atlantic region and to promote a greater understanding of other cultures through the performing arts. Iber Exchange provides fee support grants to nonprofit presenters located in the mid-Atlantic region that contract artists as part of the Iber Exchange program in collaboration with the Ibermúsicas organization.

Mid Atlantic Arts recognizes that international touring is most cost-effective for presenters and artists when multiple presenters collaborate to bring an artist to various communities in one trip. This program offers the opportunity for both presenters and artists to receive funding to facilitate collaborative cultural exchange.

About Ibermúsicas

Ibermúsicas is a nongovernmental organization dedicated to supporting the diversity and growth of the Iberoamerican music sector. Members include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay. Ibermúsicas provides grants to support the mobility and development of musicians in their member countries.

How it Works

This initiative is a partnership grant program featuring cross-cultural collaboration between artists and presenters.

• Artist Selection: 
  • Artists must be based in Ibermúsicas’ member countries to apply for funding and meet eligibility criteria.
  • Nonprofit presenters in mid-Atlantic Arts’ region interested in inviting an international music ensemble or solo musician should provide a letter of invitation to the artist so that artists can apply directly to Ibermúsicas.
  • Artists selected following panel review will receive grant support directly from Ibermúsicas to defray visa costs.
• Presenter Grant Support:
  • Nonprofit mid-Atlantic presenters who provided letters of invitation to these artists when they applied to Ibermúsicas will be eligible for grant support from Mid Atlantic Arts for up to 50% of the negotiated artist fee.
  • Grants will generally range between $2,000 - $8,000 per presenter.

Mission

The mission of Southern Partners Fund (SPF) is to serve rural Southeastern communities and organizations seeking social, economic and environmental justice by providing them with financial resources, technical assistance, training and access to systems of information and power. There are two central ideas embraced in the democratic philanthropy of Southern Partners Fund: compassion and community. Compassion implies an understanding or concern for community members lacking local political power to impact the decisions that affect their lives. Community relates to the things that bring us and hold us together.

Purpose

The Purpose of SPF Grantmaking is to:

• Develop and nurture grassroots community-based leaders and organizers.
• Build the capacity of rural, grassroots community organizing groups and leaders.
• Strengthen rural communities and people.
• Develop equitable peer relationships, which support real transformation toward a just society.

Hubert E. Sapp Regular Grants Cycle

SPF’s grantee partners are transforming their communities by building sustainable organizations aimed at reversing the inequities of the rural South. They are learning not to focus on the symptoms of inequities, but on the root cause; racist and anti immigrant mindsets of small-town mayors and city council members. SPF’s grantees are tackling social and economic systems that for them have been rooted in persistent poverty and lack of resources, compounded by poorly performing schools.

We are proud to partner with extraordinary community organizations and coalitions through our regular grants cycle, assisting them to build capacity and power. We believe general operating support is best for building capacity, particularly for small to midsize community-based organizations in the rural South.

In 2013, SPF’s board adopted its Southern Organizing Strategy, focusing 60% of grant funds on three special initiatives:

• Voter Rights & Engagement
• Immigration Rights
• Education Reform

In 2019, under the banner of “revolutionary change,” SPF’s board decided to integrate census and redistricting work into the ongoing major initiatives above as each was directly impacted by the Census and Redistricting process that laid ahead. Though there are still pending redistricting lawsuits in many of our southeastern states, for 2022, SPF is back to its original SOS strategy, with at least 60% of regular grant cycle funds going to Voter Rights & Engagement, Immigration Rights, and Education Reform.

The remaining 40% of grants will continue to fund:

• Environmental Justice
• Healthcare Reform
• Women & Girls' Leadership
• Economic Justice
• Incarceration Reform
• Youth Leadership
• Housing Reform
• LGBTQ Rights
• Disability Rights

During this cycle SPF will not consider grants to organizations with operating budgets over $350,000 for general operating support. If the budget is over $350,000 an organization may apply for project support.

The Foundation seeks to be responsive to community issues and needs. Our process is highly competitive and is open to new projects and new organizations. The following summary, Examples of our Grant-Making, is offered to help guide applicants. While this is not intended to be an exhaustive description and may, as appropriate, change over time, we hope that the following will suggest the kind of meaningful work in which the Foundation is seeking to invest.

Generally, the Foundation looks to support work that improves the lives of DC-area residents, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable and underserved individuals. We encourage organizations that provide comprehensive services and work towards systemic change, which addresses all levels of, and all who are affected by, the issue. The goal is that all in the region become self-sufficient and lead healthy, fulfilling lives. We search for nonprofits that also employ effective partnering and show cultural competence in engaging effectively with communities and people of various cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. On occasion, the Foundation invests directly in strengthening the nonprofit sector by helping current grantees to build organizational capacity and by supporting advocacy and other efforts.

Grants are made in five program areas:

Arts and Humanities

 Our giving in the Arts and Humanities includes theater, dance, music, visual arts, film and other multidisciplinary art forms, as well as organizations that promote the humanities. We focus on nonprofits that have deep, meaningful impact and can demonstrate the depth and breadth of their local initiatives. The Foundation examines how access to the Arts and Humanities for diverse populations is created and how unique opportunities are provided for all ages to engage. In addition to more traditional approaches, we believe in the power of the Arts and Humanities to be innovative and create social change.

Community Services

Community Development: The Foundation’s Community Development grant-making includes affordable housing production and preservation, homeless services, transitional and permanent supportive housing, foreclosure and eviction prevention, community economic development and wealth building, and civic engagement

Children, Youth and Families: The Foundation’s Children, Youth and Families portfolio includes out-of-school time programs, youth development and academic enrichment in schools, as well as programs for homeless youth or those in the foster care and juvenile justice systems.

Justice: Access, Violence Prevention, Reentry: The Foundation invests in organizations and programs that help increase access to justice for low-income individuals.

Education

The Foundation’s Education docket invests in learning from cradle to career. It includes schools that provide early childhood education, kindergarten through twelfth-grade instruction and undergraduate and graduate institutions. The Foundation also looks for models that provide comprehensive services to help students improve academic success and future employment outcomes. This may include charter and private schools, college access programs, groups focusing on teacher and school leader training, as well as certain supportive scholarship programs. In addition, the Foundation invests in adult basic education, literacy programs and preparation and testing for the General Equivalency Diploma.

The Foundation’s grants related to workforce development largely reflect two types of organizations: those that focus on a specific field and help individuals on a career pathway or those that concentrate on broader job- and career-readiness.

Environment

The Foundation strives to preserve the region’s resources and raise awareness so that individuals can enjoy healthy and fulfilling lives in a clean environment. Through our grant-making, we support groups that are concerned with our natural environment’s past, present and future. To help restore and protect our region’s natural resources, we have focused on local parks, the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We have also funded programs that create future stewards. Through such education and outreach efforts, the public becomes more aware of the dangers of an unhealthy environment — including pesticides and toxins — and better understands the need to protect open natural spaces.

Health

Our giving in Health and Wellness supports integrated healthcare and prevention efforts and broad collaborations, to ensure that all DC metropolitan residents live longer, healthier lives. We strive to bridge the worlds of health and healthcare through a broad range of investments. These may include support for community-based nonprofit health centers and coalitions of healthcare providers, in order to increase access to coordinated, high-quality medical, dental and mental health services for our region’s low-income and most vulnerable residents.

We also look for models that keep people healthy in the first place. Support may go towards increasing access to nutritious, affordable food; creating opportunities for better health in our neighborhoods, homes, schools and workplaces; and decreasing the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the DC metropolitan region.

To address disparities among our region’s most vulnerable populations, the Foundation also funds nonprofits that provide community-based, culturally competent, comprehensive services to children, older adults and disabled individuals. Our hope is that every metropolitan Washington resident can actively participate in a robust community life and maintain independent living for as long as possible.

Helping the Disadvantaged Become Self-Reliant

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.

Loudoun Impact Fund

This partnership between the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties and Community Foundation for Northern Virginia will fund grants for programs serving vulnerable and at-risk youth in Loudoun County.

Grantmaking Priorities

The Loudoun Impact Fund grant advisors will consider applications to fund services and projects that positively impact one or more of these three populations:vulnerable or at-risk children and youth; people with disabilities; and/or older adults in Loudoun County.

Examples of proposed projects and services that may be prioritized for funding include:

• Basic needs support for low-income, vulnerable, or at-risk children or youth, people with disabilities, and/or older adults, including food, shelter, and housing;
• Physical and behavioral health and wellness for low-income, vulnerable, or at-risk children and youth, people with disabilities, and/or older adults;
• Trauma-informed services for low-income, vulnerable, or at-risk children and youth, people with disabilities, and/or older adults, addressing and preventing family violence and/or abuse;
• Academic and school-readiness support for low-income, vulnerable, or at-risk children and youth;
• Programs providing high-quality child care for low-income, vulnerable, or at-risk children and youth;
• Programs providing life-skills, literacy services, job training, and/or employment placement services to low-income, vulnerable, or at-risk youth, people with disabilities, and/or older adults;
• Youth development and leadership opportunities for low-income, vulnerable, or at-risk children or youth;
• Programs providing social support, day-support, transportation assistance, and/or respite care for people with disabilities and/or older adults.

Organizations may request project-specific funding, or funding for general operating support.

Funding

An estimated $50,000-$100,000 will be available for distribution. Grants are expected to range from $5,000 to $15,000; grants of less than $5,000 will be considered. 

Supporting Critical Need in Northern Virginia

The Community Investment Funds are the signature grant cycle managed by the Community Foundation in which funds are invested in organizations serving the Northern Virginia community in the areas of child and youth development, education, health, mental health and aging, military personnel and their families, and poverty relief.

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia conducts an annual grant cycle through the Community Investment Fund. Nonprofit organizations providing services in Northern Virginia are invited to apply.

For the 2023 application cycle, the Community Foundation will accept requests in the following categories.

• Aging
• Arts
• Child & Youth Development
• Education
• Environment
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Fund
• Lamond Fund to Benefit Children and Youth in Alexandria and Fairfax County
• The Latino Engagement and Achievement Fund (LEAF)
• Mental Health
• Military Personnel & Their Families
• Safety Net Fund to Support Basic Needs

NOTE: The United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg’s grant application process for 2024 will be amended and shortened. Instead of an open application process, as has been practiced in recent years, only agencies awarded grants in 2023 will qualify to apply for the 2024 grant cycle. This is a temporary amendment to the application process, and we expect to return to an open application process in the future.

Our Funding Process

We believe in comprehensive solutions to combat our region’s most pressing issues.

Through our Steps to Success grants, local nonprofit agencies can apply for funding to help us reach a common goal of bettering our communities. Every program funded through a Steps to Success grant is monitored, evaluated and measured for effectiveness. In this way, United Way validates that investments get results and make a difference where it matters most.