RSF Seed Fund: Providing Small Grants to U.S. based Organizations

Deadline: 15 March 2019

The Rudolf Steiner Foundation (RSF) is inviting applicants for its Seed Fund to provide small grants to organizations that offer innovative solutions to challenges in the areas of social finance, food and agriculture, education and the arts, or ecological stewardship.

Grantees must demonstrate a capacity for effectiveness and impact in addressing their cause. The Fund is a modest-sized fund and supported annually by unrestricted gifts to RSF rather than from an endowment.

RSF’s Mission

To create financial relationships that are direct, transparent, personal and focused on long-term social, economic and ecological benefit.
To achieve RSF mission by:
- Offering investors and donors dynamic ways to align their money with their values
- Connecting entrepreneurs with diverse forms of capital
- Empowering leaders and advancing innovations in the field of social finance

RSF’s Values

Cultivating Gratitude
Building Trust
Encouraging Radical Collaboration

Funding Information

RSF Seed Fund provides small grants (between $500 and $3,500).

Eligibility Criteria

Alignment with RSF’s mission and focus areas.
Non-profit status: The RSF Seed Fund accepts proposals from organizations that are any of the following:
- 501(c)(3) tax-exempt per the IRS
- Fiscally sponsored with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status per the IRS
- Schools or universities
- Non-governmental entities, Indian tribes or tribal non-profit organizations, and territorial, tribal, or unit of local government entities
New initiatives, defined for the purposes of this Fund as:
- Organizations in the first two years of operation
- New projects or programs, less than one year old, from organizations with an operating history greater than two years
The RSF Seed Fund will not award grants for:
- Multi-year operating needs
- Ongoing capital or capital projects and campaigns
- Projects expanding in geographic scope only
- Scholarships
- Travel, or attending conferences and workshops
- International work
Or to:
- Individuals
- Foreign organizations
- For-profit companies