Search Through Women & Girls Services Grants in the U.S.

Advancing Girls Fund

The Advancing Girls Fund is a Tides Foundation initiative that powers grantmaking for adolescent girls and young women of color and their allies, investing in spaces where they can learn, play, dream, and become powerful movement leaders.

Inspire Girls to Become Changemakers

In the gender justice movement, few philanthropic dollars center on girls and young women of color and their allies. But at Tides, we know that these young leaders intimately understand what it will take to solve the challenges that stand between them, their families, and their communities in the fight for equity and justice.

Funding Priorities

Girl-Led

We believe adolescent girls and young women of color possess the knowledge to advance social justice for themselves, their families, and their communities — despite the persistent inequities they face. Tides’ Advancing Girls Fund delivers equitable grantmaking for girls and young women of color and their allies by engaging their perspectives on resource distribution and programmatic investments.

Intersectional Grantmaking

Adolescent girls and young women of color live at the intersection of multiple identities and social issues. Any solutions to support their health and well-being must also work at those intersections, which is why Tides reaches across geographies, environments, and cultures to build capacity and power.

Gender Inclusive

We believe gender is self-determined and welcome cis-girls, gender-nonconforming youth, and transgender girls into our community. Tides’ Advancing Girls Fund defines girls as young people around the ages of 11–25 who identify as girls, as well as non-binary and gender-expansive youth.

Systems and Services

Tides invest in systems and services in parallel to support adolescent girls, young women of color, and their allies while they participate in long-term efforts to disrupt systems that create racial, gender, and socioeconomic disparities.

Multiyear Grantmaking

Aligned donors pool their funds to power intentional grantmaking for girls of color and their allies, investing in their leadership, health, and well-being. While grants are currently annual, as the fund matures, our intent is to emphasize multiyear, general operating grants to organizations, programs, and strategies.

Who We Are

The Creag Foundation is a private grant making foundation established in 2009 in Woodinville, Washington.

The founders of the Creag Foundation believe that meaningful change can only be achieved through hard work, creativity and passion. They also understand the practical mechanisms that allow charitable organizations to succeed and grow. As a group, Creag Foundation principals are dedicated to helping today’s most innovative programs improve the human condition in a wide variety of ways.

Our Focus

The broad purpose of the Foundation is to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations who are innovators in the field of human services. Our particular focus is on smaller organizations that are starting out or established organizations that are looking for funding to take their organization in a new direction.

What We Fund

/ What We Fund

The Creag Foundation is focused on innovation in the industry. We will consider proposals from 501(c)(3) organizations that are finding new ways to address societal issues facing the nonprofit community. Applicants must have held 501(c)(3) status for one year before submitting. If your organization has held 501(c)(3) status for over a year, and your believe that your organization has a new approach to an existing social problem or is addressing a previously unaddressed social issue, you are welcome to contact us and request that we consider your organization for a funding opportunity.

Community Grants

State Farm is committed to helping build safer, stronger and better-educated communities.

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We are committed to auto and home safety programs and activities that help people manage the risks of everyday life.
• We invest in education, economic empowerment and community development projects, programs and services that help people realize their dreams.
• We help maintain the vibrancy of our communities by assisting nonprofits that support community revitalization.

Good Neighbor Citizenship company grants focus on safety, community development and education.

Focus Areas

Safety Grants

We strive to keep our customers and communities safe. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Auto safety — improving driver, passenger, vehicle or roadway safety
• Home safety — shielding homes from fires, crime or natural disasters
• Disaster preparedness and mitigation
• Disaster recovery

Community Development

We support nonprofits that invest and develop stronger neighborhoods. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Affordable housing — home construction and repair
• Commercial/small business development
• Job training
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Financial literacy
• Sustainable housing and transportation
• Food insecurity

Education

Our education funding is directed toward initiatives that support the following programs:

• Higher education
• K-12 academic performance
• K-12 STEM
• Pathways for college and career success

All women and girls should be safe, free, and have an equal chance to thrive. Yet every day, because of unequal power relations, women experience violence and discrimination and are denied the freedom to decide how they will live. This undermines their health, safety, dignity, and independence.

We find inspiration and hope in strong and vibrant movements, built and led by women, which are transforming lives and communities across the world. Their shared purpose and collective power are sparking progressive attitudes and advancing a more just world – in ways that protect human rights and the future of our planet.

Supporting these movements to live, breathe, strengthen, and grow – by enabling women’s agency, leadership, and capacity – is at the heart of what we do.

We: 

• Support women-led rights-based services that address violence against women.
• Provide primarily long-term support as an act of solidarity, helping movements to achieve the lasting change needed for us all to thrive.
• Connect organisations and movements, and resource them to learn from each other and work together, to develop knowledge and skills, and to plan, organise, and mobilise.

We also engage with other donors and philanthropic actors to leverage more and better funding to advance women's rights around the world. 

Our Strategy

We recognise that unequal power relations are created and encouraged by legal, political, economic, and cultural systems, but we also believe in their capacity to change. The Issues Affecting Women Programme supports women’s efforts to create this change – to build, lead, and grow strong, vibrant, and influential movements in order to achieve equity and justice. We envision a world where women have the capacity, resources, and opportunity to be safe and free, and to enjoy their human rights.

Our Funding Principles

We support women’s organisations and groups that:

• adopt a rights-based approach to services and advocacy;
•  empower women to fully and equally participate in society;
• adopt a holistic approach, taking into consideration various contexts and cultures, and addressing root causes;
• promote systemic change by strengthening legal frameworks and holding governments and institutions to account;
• contribute to the broader women’s movement by complementing individual and community action with networking and joint advocacy initiatives;
• build evidence that contributes to best practices and catalyses innovation; and
• work to change behaviour and attitudes to prevent violence.

Grant Guidelines and Focus AreasMission StatementThe Jewish Women's Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago seeks to expand and improve opportunities and choices in all aspects of Jewish women and girls' lives through strategic and effective grantmaking. The Jewish Women's Foundation endeavors to empower women as leaders, funders, and decision makers.Overall Considerations

• JWF Chicago funds with a "gender lens" and a "Jewish lens". We are interested in projects that recognize Jewish women and girls have unique needs both because of their gender, and their religious and cultural heritage.
• JWF Chicago is committed to improving the overall status of Jewish women and girls, and funds projects that promote social change by addressing at least one of the indicators described below:
• JWF Chicago considers an organization's holistic support of women and girls, as well as the specific project or program for which you are seeking a grant. This includes the extent to which Jewish women and girls are included among your leadership and in key staff positions.
• JWF Chicago supports organizations through general operating and project specific funding. General operating support will only be awarded to organizations focusing exclusively on promoting social change for Jewish women and girls.

Grantmaking Focus Areas

JWF Chicago funds in four main areas. Prospective grantees are invited to submit project and program proposals that relate to these targeted areas.

Multiyear Grants

Three-year funding open to current JWF Chicago grantees and/or organizations previously funded by JWF Chicago in any of the past three grant cycles (since 2021).

JWF Chicago can award up to three new three-year grants per grant cycle.

JWF Chicago will award:

• up to $20,000 per grant in Year 1
• up to $20,000 per grant in Year 2
• and $15,000 per grant in Year 3

Funding in Year 2 and Year 3 will be contingent on applicant’s progress towards stated benchmarks.

The Labcorp Charitable Foundation

We believe every person deserves equitable care and education.

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

Common grant opportunities include:

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

About Us

Founded in 2009, the MacFarlane Foundation has affected change worldwide by working with a diverse range of charitable organizations.

Our Mission

The Roger I. and Ruth B. MacFarlane Foundation supports organizations that strive to increase the opportunities and improve the quality of life of individuals and communities. The Foundation acts as a catalyst for organizations and their programs to enhance their impact and expand their reach.

Grantmaking

The MacFarlane Foundation conducts its grantmaking through proposals invited by the Executive Director and Trustees. The Foundation is particularly interested in opportunities to catalyze organizations into their next phase of growth or impact. The Foundation makes grants in two categories, with Category One  and Category Two grants.The Foundation is interested in supporting organizations addressing a range of issues, including but not limited to: education, economic empowerment, climate change and the environment, health, human services, and the well-being of women and girls. The Foundation generally funds organizations whose programs focus on populations within the United States, though the Foundation also has supported U.S.-based nonprofits working in other countries.

Category 1 Grants

• Range of Grants Awarded: $10,000 - $75,000 
• Category One grants are made throughout the year

Category 2 Grants

• Range of Grants Awarded: $200,000 - $250,000
• The Foundation identifies potential organizations for Category Two grants during the Spring of each year, invites proposals over the Summer, and makes decisions in early Fall.

Charitable Giving

"People helping people" is at the core of what we do. Placing a holistic emphasis on giving, we strive to develop strong relationships with community partners, imagining what we can do together to make a difference.

We focus on working with organizations that support these initiatives:

• Advancing Equity
  • Reducing inequities by helping ensure that all people have the resources to reach success.
• Financial Wellbeing
  • Providing access to financial resources, education and opportunities to build economic wellbeing.
• Women's Empowerment
  • Fostering leadership, providing access to education and promoting the economic wellbeing of women and girls.

Helping Build Better Futures

Our mission is to deliver great value to our customers every day. For over four decades, our deep commitment to the principles of providing value and caring for others has helped define our culture. It extends beyond the walls of our stores, distribution centers, and offices, and into our local communities around the world. The intersection of these principles defines our global community mission:

Deliver great value to our communities by helping vulnerable families and children access the resources and opportunities they need to build a better future.

Our Social Impact Areas

We bring our community relations mission to life around the world by focusing our giving on four social impact areas where we believe we can have the most impact and are critical to helping families and children succeed and thrive.

Basic Needs

We are passionate about supporting nonprofit organizations that help fill critical basic needs such as a warm meal, clean clothing, and a safe place to sleep for vulnerable families.

Education & Training

Our efforts have focused on quality enrichment and extracurricular programs that provide skills, resources, and opportunities to support school and career success for children, teens, and young adults.

Patient Care & Research

We support organizations that deliver services to families and children facing health challenges and life-threatening illnesses.

Empowering Women

We support programs that provide services ranging from help for those fleeing domestic violence, to others that offer education, training, and job placement resources.

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

Centene Charitable Foundation

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

Vision

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

Areas of Focus

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

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

Our Mission

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

The Founder

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

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

The Foundation is dedicated to providing financial assistance to organizations committed to improving our world. Solutions to the problems of today's world still lie in the values of innovation, practicality, hard work, and compassion.

The Foundation considers applications for grants in the following areas:

• Education
• Social Service
• Health care
• Civic and cultural
• Environmental

The categories above are not intended to limit the interest of the Foundation from considering other worthwhile projects. In general, the Foundation guidelines are broad to give us flexibility in providing grants.

The majority of our grants are made in the U.S. However, like Dr. Scholl, we recognize the need for a global outlook. Non-U.S. grants are given to organizations where directors have knowledge of the grantee.

Our Purpose

For too many girls and women around the world, access to quality education is often limited. Two-thirds of all illiterate adults in the world are women, and not even seven percent of the world’s population has a college education. Education can equip all of us to challenge many of the global issues impacting women – poverty, oppression, misogyny, brutality. Ultimately, more and more educated girls will mean stronger and healthier villages, communities, and entire countries. And education will eradicate poverty.

Quality schooling can serve as an emancipator from poverty and lead to a better life for a woman and her family. The Circle of Sisterhood exists today to help make that better life possible by removing barriers to education and creating sustainable change for girls and women around the globe.

Grants

The Circle of Sisterhood seeks to support entities working worldwide to remove barriers to education for girls and women. We hope to help end oppressive brutality against women internationally by uplifting them from poverty through education.

Impact Categories

• Adult Education
• Community Programming
• Early Childhood Development
• Health & Medical Supplies
• K-12 Education
• Life Skills/Vocational Training
• Menstrual Hygiene Management
• Mentoring
• Reintegration from Sex Trafficking
• School Supplies/Infrastructure
• Teacher Salaries/Education

Our Areas of Interest

The Circle of Sisterhood Foundation (CofS) will fund programs or projects that remove barriers to education for girls and women, thereby improving their lives and those of their families. We value requests that advance long-range plans to improve the well-being of communities in sustainable ways.

Through relationships with our Grantees, we seek to:

• Ensure opportunities for girls and women to achieve education, by focusing on readiness for, access to, and performing well/persisting in school (e.g., providing tuition/school fees and necessary materials to succeed in school, enrichment/study groups, innovative approaches to education, awareness of the importance of education, parent involvement, menstrual health and hygiene, improving infrastructure, funding teacher salaries, etc.); and
• Improve the livelihood of girls and women (e.g., training to learn income-generating skills, business and vocational training, capacity-building, etc.).

Our Impact

Boundless Futures Foundation empowers, embraces, and elevates female entrepreneurs through grants to new businesses and to likeminded nonprofits.

Boundless Futures Foundation’s grants to businesses are awarded directly to female entrepreneurs who put social impact front and center in their business products or practices. We look at a society’s biggest issues and believe in the power of entrepreneurs to provide solutions by going above and beyond “business as usual” to create impact through profit and purpose — to solve a problem, improve on the status quo, or give back in an intentional way.

Grant-eligible entrepreneurs demonstrate clear and consistent commitment to creating positive change through businesses with ambitious and effective social reach. These businesses address issues related to:

• Poverty & Hunger
• Sustainability & the Environment
• Strong Communities

Past grantees illustrate the kinds of powerful businesses and visionary entrepreneurs Boundless Futures Foundation supports.

Grants are also awarded to mission-aligned nonprofits that provide women with skills and resources to start and sustain businesses through entrepreneurship-focused programs or services.

We’ve seen the statistics, and we are proud to join the effort to reduce barriers for women to thrive as entrepreneurs. We have also been a part of those statistics: we know, firsthand, that female entrepreneurs benefit from capital, expertise, and education. Our grants reflect our commitment to meeting those needs. We amplify our impact by supporting female-founded business that do good by doing well.

Her Village Grants

Her Village grants awarded to qualifying nonprofit organizations support work that advances and strengthens entrepreneurial skills, resources, ecosystems, and educational opportunities for girls and women. Grants typically range from $5,000 to $30,000. Our grantmaking to nonprofits is founded in the belief that, equipped with support, skills, and capital, female entrepreneurs can have a boundless impact in society.

Funding

Applicant organizations may request up to $30,000 in support.

GLMA Mission

GLMA is a national organization committed to ensuring health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities and equality for LGBTQ+ health professionals in their work and learning environments.  To achieve this mission, GLMA utilizes the scientific expertise of its diverse multidisciplinary membership to inform and drive advocacy, education, and research.

Lesbian Health Fund

The Lesbian Health Fund (LHF), a program of GLMA, improves the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ women and girls through funding rigorous scientific research. Since its inception in 1992, LHF has funded 126 research projects, awarding over $1.2 million in grants. Our grants are crucial catalysts to larger, multi-million dollar studies funded by federal agencies.

And today, LHF remains the only research fund dedicated solely to advancing the understanding of the unique health needs of LGBTQ+ women and girls. There is still a great need to understand how social determinants, especially race and ethnicity, influence the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ women and girls.

Our Mission

The mission of the Lesbian Health Fund is to improve the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ women and girls through funding rigorous scientific research. We achieve this mission through funding small-scale pilot grants and studies that establish knowledge of factors that impact our communities' health and shape our unique health needs.

LHF believes healthcare isn't a privilege but a right, and improving the health and wellbeing of the most marginalized and ignored uplifts all of society. We are committed to this mission until the causes of inequitable healthcare and outcomes are dismantled in our community.

Critical Need

Misinformation, homophobia among health care providers, and a lack of scientific data on basic lesbian health needs result in dangerously inadequate health care for many lesbians.

The serious impact these factors have on lesbian health is evidenced by alarming rates of suicidal behavior among lesbian, bisexual, and questioning youth; high incidence of stress-related chronic illnesses in lesbian adults; and avoidance of preventive health services by lesbians of all ages.

In order to improve lesbian health care, comprehensive research must be conducted, homophobia must be addressed within the health professions, and lesbians and their providers must become better informed.

Priority Areas

The LHF Grant Committee welcomes all proposals that identify or address health disparities among LGBTQ+ women and girls (e.g., sexual and/or gender minority women or girls, gender diverse people assigned female at birth); however, special consideration will be given to proposals that focus on the following:

• Research that generates pilot data for subsequent training or early-stage investigator grants
• Subpopulations that are often underrepresented in sexual and gender minority (SGM) research, including but not limited to:
  • Adolescents/Youth
  • Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color
  • Bisexual people
  • Gender diverse people
  • Intersex individuals or individuals with differences in sex development (DSD)
  • Older adults
  • People who experience multiple points of marginalization
  • Rural communities
• Methods & frameworks
  • Measurement & methods of LGBTQ+ people
  • Community-informed/community-based participatory research
  • Trauma-informed research
  • Social & behavioral research
  • Intersectionality
  • Sexual and Gender Minority Health Disparities Research Framework
• Topical area
  • Sexual and reproductive health, including family & parenting issues
  • The impact of the pandemic on health and wellbeing
  • Educational initiatives (e.g., curriculum development)
  • Acute care/hospitalization experiences
  • Access to healthcare issues

Sports 4 Life Partner Funding Cycle

Sports 4 Life offers community funding and seeks to effect sustainable improvement to the overall health and development of girls in these communities through grant making, leadership training and capacity-building efforts.

Sports 4 Life, cofounded by the Women’s Sports Foundation and ESPN in 2014, was created based on the knowledge that while sports participation offers tremendous life-long benefits – from improved physical health and self-esteem, to better grades in school and enhanced leadership skills – young girls of color are disproportionately excluded.

The program seeks to increase the participation and retention of Black, African-American, Hispanic and/or Native American girls, inclusive of American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

Grant Allocation

Funding can be used for coaching, curriculum, equipment, uniforms, transportation, facility rental, tournaments and/or team-building activities, all while fostering the Sports 4 Life benefits: leadership, self-esteem, confidence and perseverance.

Grant Guidelines and Focus AreasMission StatementThe Jewish Women's Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago seeks to expand and improve opportunities and choices in all aspects of Jewish women and girls' lives through strategic and effective grantmaking. The Jewish Women's Foundation endeavors to empower women as leaders, funders, and decision makers.Overall Considerations

• JWF Chicago funds with a "gender lens" and a "Jewish lens". We are interested in projects that recognize Jewish women and girls have unique needs both because of their gender, and their religious and cultural heritage.
• JWF Chicago is committed to improving the overall status of Jewish women and girls, and funds projects that promote social change by addressing at least one of the indicators described below:
• JWF Chicago considers an organization's holistic support of women and girls, as well as the specific project or program for which you are seeking a grant. This includes the extent to which Jewish women and girls are included among your leadership and in key staff positions.
• JWF Chicago supports organizations through general operating and project specific funding. General operating support will only be awarded to organizations focusing exclusively on promoting social change for Jewish women and girls.

Grantmaking Focus Areas

JWF Chicago funds in four main areas. Prospective grantees are invited to submit project and program proposals that relate to these targeted areas.

Annual Grants

One-year funding open to all applicants that meet JWF Chicago’s overall eligibility requirements as described below.

• There is no predetermined number of Annual Grants.
• JWF Chicago considers organizations for funding on a year-to-year basis.
• Previous funding does not guarantee continued funding.
• The minimum Annual Grant award is $15,000. There is no maximum grant amount.
• The average Annual Grant ranges between $20,000-$25,000.

Community Partnership Award

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

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

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

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

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

ENG(INE) is philanthropically funded and led by AlleyCorp, one of NYC’s most prolific venture builders and investors. Leveraging our 70+ person engineering team, ENG(INE) pairs nonprofits with a team of engineers over 6 months to deliver major, strategic technological builds. We believe in democratizing access to the best engineers and using tech to solve big social challenges.

What type of engineering services come with the prize? 

There isn’t just one singular type of tech support that our staff of 70+ engineers will be providing. Services will be entirely bespoke to what the nonprofit winners need the most to advance their mission and scale their impact.ENG(INE) pairs nonprofits with a team of engineers over 6 months to deliver major, strategic technological builds.

Our core expertise is in the following:

• AI/ML and data product development
• UX audits and application redesigns
• Re-architecture/replatforming of existing core infrastructure
• Infrastructure/platform development
• New product development 
• Developer experience enhancement/creation of API products

Will the grant be a cash grant that we can spend on outside engineering resources or new staff? Or is it in-kind using AlleyCorp’s engineering team and resources? 

The grant is for in-kind support worth $250K over 6 months. The engineering team and associated resources (project management, design, data, etc.) will be working on this full-time and are part of our engineering team at AlleyCorp Nord, our in-house engineering and design shop (roughly 70 in total). 

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.

Who We Are

Mona Foundation is a non-profit organization that partners with grassroots initiatives around the world to educate children, empower women and girls, and enable them to transform their own communities.

Our goal is to alleviate global poverty and contribute to creating a just and prosperous world so that no child ever goes to bed hungry, is lost to preventable diseases, or is deprived of education for lack of resources. We believe that universal education, gender equality, and community building are the keys to achieving this goal.

Our Focus

All Mona Foundation activities focus on universal education, gender equality, and community transformation.

Universal Education

Learning is intrinsic to human reality and everyone deserves the opportunity to receive a quality education. Educated communities are healthier, more sustainable, and less vulnerable to economic volatility.

Gender Equality and Women and Girls’ Empowerment

Providing equal educational opportunities to girls and women yield a higher rate of return than any other investment that can be made in our communities. Equality not only guarantees basic rights, it is also vital to promoting the robust, shared growth needed to end extreme poverty. World Bank data demonstrates that gender equality and economic development are inextricably linked and increasing education specifically for girls and women has a direct effect on a nation’s economic development.v

There is also a multiplier effect to educating girls and women. More educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn more income, have fewer children, and provide better health care and education to their children, all of which eventually improve the well- being of all individuals and lift households out of poverty. These benefits also transmit across generations, as well as to communities at large.

Community Building

All people have the right and the responsibility to lead their own lives and to contribute to the betterment of their own communities. The individuals most affected are the ones most ready to affect change.

Supporting communities in their own self-advocacy promotes empowerment, rather than dependency. Many students we support work with their communities to establish literacy programs, women health centers, parental trainings, cleanliness drives, tree plantations, and many other programs that stimulate harmony and community building in their communities.

Project Selection Criteria

The underlying basis for all the activities of the Mona Foundation is the belief that the key to poverty reduction and the development of human resources lies in universal education and gender equality.

We support grassroots initiatives around the world that educate all children, empower women and girls, train boys in lessons of equality, and emphasize service to the community. These educational programs address a significant deficit within a community (materially, or morally/spiritually) and focus on quality of teaching and learning, fine arts and character development to train capable, ethical, and altruistic leaders who contribute to the betterment of their families, communities, and ultimately their nation.

The role of Mona Foundation is to find and support educational programs that meet the following criteria:

• The program is founded and operated by residents.
• The program addresses a vital and significant deficit in the basic needs of children which prevent the full development of their capabilities as productive members of the society.
  • These needs must include education but may also include housing, food, and a nurturing environment in support of education.
• The program serves students of all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity, religion, and economic status.
• The program has a focus on education of girls and women and teaches all students the lessons of equality, oneness and service.
• The program seeks to develop human resources for the community, and trains capable, ethical, and altruistic students who contribute to the betterment of their families, communities, and ultimately their nation.
• The program has a history of success, having been established and functioning at least for three years.
• The program enjoys the support of the local community
• The program administrators have shown a long-term commitment to the development of the program, including not only ongoing maintenance but also capital development and expansion.
• The program administrators have the capacity to effectively manage funds received from external agencies.
• The program administrators are active participants in developing and implementing plans, and require and enjoy the participation of the community members in the long-term self sustainability of their program.
• In cases where the program delivers needed services to the marginalized segment of the population where financial sustainability is not feasible, community members participate and support the program in variety of other ways as their capacity may allow.

To foster collaborative relationships with our partner organizations, we carry out site visits prior to adopting new programs either by members of our Board, or designated representatives of the Board.

Aura Cacia Positive Change Project

In communities everywhere, women of courage and determination are working hard to better their lives in the face of seemingly overwhelming difficulties. We’re inspired by these resilient women and created the Aura Cacia Positive Change Project to support them. Together, we’re helping women transform their lives.

Aura Cacia provides meaningful financial support to organizations committed to helping women and girls facing difficult life situations make transformational improvements in their lives. Founded in 2016, the Positive Change Project works to equip women and girls with the resources necessary to further their commitment to live more purposeful lives.

Programs supported through the Positive Change Project, are those that help women and girls through one or more of the following measures: enable disadvantaged women and girls become more stable and self-sufficient, employ strategies to help them live healthfully and purposefully, reinforce positive self-image, self-respect and self-confidence in women and girls, or creates opportunities for women to drive curriculum or programming that can be applied to program development and mentoring other women.

A portion of every sale of an Aura Cacia product goes back into the program, so you know that when you purchase from Aura Cacia, you are giving back to those in need. Since beginning the program in 2016, the Positive Change Project has given back more than $1 million.

Organizational Priorities

• Provide resources and services directly to women and/or girls facing significant barriers to sustaining their commitment to positive change.
• Empower disadvantaged women/or girls who are motivated to create lasting change to achieve greater stability and self-sufficiency.
• Maintain an annual organizational budget between $2 million and $8 million USD.

Program Priorities

• Implement strategies that support and reinforce women’s and girls’ positive change by promoting healthy, purposeful living.
• Foster positive self-image, self-respect, and self-confidence in women and/or girls.
• Create opportunities for women/program participants to lead and shape curriculum or programming, enabling them to contribute to program development. 

Our Mission

The Hansen Family Foundation provides opportunities to domestic, international, secular, and non-secular organizations that support the American way of life, which is defined by the principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Causes

Children

The Hansen Family Foundation supports causes dedicated to helping children both home as well as abroad. Learn More

Education

The Hansen Family Foundation believes that a decent education should be made available to everyone, young or old, the world over. Learn More

Animals

The Hansen Family Foundation believes in helping those who cannot speak on their own behalf. Learn More

Environmental

The Hansen Family Foundation is dedicated to preserving the world we all share. Learn More

Humanitarian

The Hansen Family Foundation views the plight of our fellow man as an opportunity to actively engage and effect change. Learn More

Arts & Culture

The Hansen Family Foundation supports all forms of artistic and cultural endeavors. Learn More

The Gender Justice Fund makes grants to groups that:

• Have a long-term vision for and engage strategies that focus on gender justice.
• Are led by people most affected by gender oppression, and build broad membership and leadership bases that can survive when key leaders step down
• Understand power differences based on identity and can talk about how they are trying to challenge those power imbalances both within their organizations and in their communities.
• Prioritize ongoing education/consciousness raising for constituents and allies that broadens their membership base.
• Have a plan, including short term and long term goals that are specific, achievable, and relevant to gender justice.
• Are knowledgeable about other organizations working on the same issue, and are able to work in coalition across movements, issues, and communities to amplify impact.
• Are less likely to be funded by more traditional funders, because of their commitment to challenging power and prioritizing the leadership of marginalized people; therefore, a grant from Bread & Roses Community Fund would be critical to seeding or sustaining their work.

Bread & Roses makes grants to organizations that have a long-term vision for social justice and engage in strategies that promote sustainable social change, including:

• A focus on community organizing and activism (not social service, self-help, or educational programs).
• A clear understanding of the root causes of the problem or issue that they are working to resolve.
• A vision that emphasizes changing the systems that create or perpetuate the problem or issue being addressed.
• A strategy that includes building a local base for taking collective action by the community affected by the problem or issue and results in concrete outcomes at the neighborhood, city, state or national level.
• Leadership that is primarily composed of people most affected by the problem or issue that is being addressed.

 Community Action Grants - General Operating Support

AAUW’s General Operating Support Grants for Community Action provide flexible funding to nonprofit organizations whose primary mission focus is promoting education and equity for women and girls in grades K-12. General operating support grants may be used as organizations see fit, and often offer valuable support for advancing a nonprofit organization’s mission, sustainability and its ability to innovate. Since 1972, AAUW has provided support to hundreds of communities across the United States through its Community Action Grants.

Selection Criteria

• Alignment of applicant’s mission with advancing equity for women and girls.
• Coherent presentation of how grant funding would build organizational capacity for advancing its mission.
• Clarity of anticipated results (outputs and/or outcomes), supported by a strong rationale for how funding will enable the applicant to directly and/or indirectly address their needs and support the achievement of these results.
• Demonstrated organizational capacity and capability to achieve its objectives.
• Potential for and/or commitment of additional funds and involvement from community organizations, businesses and funders (preferred).

Funding

Award: $10,000

Community Action Grants - Project Support

Community Action Grants fund projects that promote education and equity for women and girls in grades K-12 and that are implemented by nonprofit organizations, universities or AAUW branches and state organizations. AAUW holds an especially strong interest in projects with a STEM focus and has funded more than 63 STEM projects over the last 4 years, in addition to providing funding support for hundreds of communities across the United States since 1972.

Selection Criteria

• Project alignment with promoting equity for women and girls in grades K-12, preferably with an emphasis in STEM fields.
• Strength of project rationale; applicants must provide specific context to show how their project builds on existing work, addresses a need or tackles a topic or problem related to equity for women and girls in a new way.
• Clarity of anticipated results, which are convincingly connected to specific proposed activities and outputs and that are logically connected to the project’s goals.
• Project proposals must reflect how community/stakeholder participation is considered in the project’s design.
• Demonstrated organizational capacity and capability to achieve its objectives.
• Reflect a commitment to learning and evaluation by:
  • incorporating monitoring/evaluation methods that enable assessment of project outcomes; and
  • describing how results and/or learnings from project implementation will be shared with stakeholders and/or the communities which the project intends to serve.
• Feasibility of the programmatic work or project:
  • the programmatic work or project has realistic time frames;
  • the project budget is adequate, and expenses are reasonable and necessary;
  • there is adequate support from collaborative organizations and community partners, as appropriate.
• Potential for and/or commitment of additional funds and involvement from community organizations, businesses and funders (preferred).

Funding

Award Ceiling: $10,000