Cafritz Foundation Grants

Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation

Next deadline: Jul 1, 2023 2:00pm PDT

Later deadlines: Nov 1, 2023, Mar 1, 2024 1:00pm PST, Jul 1, 2024 2:00pm PDT

Grant amount: US $10,000 - US $250,000

Funding uses: Education / Outreach, General Operating Expense, Project / Program

Location of project: District of Columbia, Counties in Maryland: Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Counties in Virginia: Alexandria city, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Falls Church city Show all

Location of residency: United States

Overview:

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.

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.

Eligibility:

• IRS-registered, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organizations with a public charity status of 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2) only.
• These organizations must serve residents in the District of Columbia, Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland, Arlington and Fairfax Counties, and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church in Virginia.
  

Ineligibility:

• In addition, The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation does not generally fund the following projects:
• Capital campaigns
• Endowments
• Multi-year grants
• Special events or tables for special events
• Please also note, the Foundation does not fund:
• Organizations that do not have 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the IRS
• Private Foundations
• Public charities with a non-private foundation status of 509(a)(3)
• Individuals
• Organizations whose missions fall outside our Funding Priorities
• Organizations serving residents outside the Washington, DC metropolitan area (see Eligibility Quiz)