Deadline: 6-May-21
Group Health Foundation is now accepting applications for Community Learning Grants: three-year commitments of core-support funding for organizations rooted in, reflective of, and serving Washington communities.
They aim to shape and accelerate efforts to improve health equity and advance community aspirations for a vibrant, healthy future in Washington.
Grants are three-year awards of core-support funding. Organizations often call this “general operating support.” Groups that are fiscally sponsored can also receive core-support grants. In those cases, it means that the funding is:
- restricted to a named, sponsored project and
- able to be used for any part of the project’s expenses and work.
Priorities
The Foundation will prioritize organizations and fiscally sponsored projects that:
- Have been overlooked by – or have had limited access – to philanthropy and institutional funders. They are also interested in work that has not been supported by multiyear and flexible funding. “Newer” and “smaller” organizations are encouraged to apply, as are those whose communities have historically seen very little funding from philanthropy.
- Are founded, led, and governed by people who reflect their communities. They specifically assess if and how a group’s board, chief executive, and staff leadership – or volunteer leadership for those without paid staff – reflect the people the organization serves.
- Represent a place- and/or identity-based community who is most adversely impacted by health inequities. They seek to fund work by and for Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color; queer, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people; people with disabilities; immigrants and refugees; people living with low incomes; and especially people who hold several of these identities. Places may include tribal lands, small or medium-sized cities, unincorporated areas, and communities in rural settings.
- Are pursuing community-powered work. As long as it is toward a vision of health equity, the work could be organizing mutual aid, mobilizing people and organizations, developing leaders, reclaiming cultural practices, fostering connection, leading anti-racism efforts, and the many other ways communities express power.
- Are determined to change current structures that uphold the status quo of who has access to social, political, and economic power. They are interested in how organizations are working to challenge white supremacy and systems that have excluded or oppressed their communities.
Funding Information
- In 2021, Group Health Foundation is making up to $15 million in Community Learning Grants to about 70 to 80 organizations.
- Amounts will range from $150,000 to $225,000 in total funding, or $50,000 to $75,000 a year.
Eligibility Criteria
- Group Health Foundation supports organizations and fiscally sponsored projects whose work is rooted in one or more communities in Washington State.
- This includes organizations whose work is exclusively inside our borders, as well as those whose efforts impact individuals and families along Washington’s borders.
- National and international organizations are not eligible for Community Learning Grants.
- The Foundation is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, which means that Group Health Foundation has flexibility in the types of organizations and work that they support.
- They expect most funding will support nonprofit organizations (e.g., 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), etc.) and tribal entities.
- In some cases, they may consider support for local governmental organizations.
- Community Learning Grants are not intended to support individuals.
Ineligible Applicants
The Foundation generally does not expect to support the following with Community Learning Grants:
- Organizations and fiscally sponsored projects that have significant financial assets and philanthropic revenue from foundations and private donors.
- Philanthropy-serving organizations, funder collaboratives, and community-of-interest funds (including those hosted by charitable organizations and research institutions).
- Partisan efforts or candidate electioneering, regardless of party affiliation.
- Specific departments, pilot projects, or some component part of larger organizations. (Note: This is distinct from fiscally sponsored projects.)
- Friends-of, fans-of, parents-of, and supporters-of groups affiliated with larger institutions. Community Learning Grants do not support individuals (e.g., scholarships and fellowships), nor do they support organizations that do not primarily serve people in and immediately surrounding Washington.
For more information, visit https://grouphealthfoundation.org/grantmaking/community-learning-grants/