Community Action Grants - Faith and Neighborhoods

The Community Action Grants - Faith and Neighborhoods program by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation supports faith-based organizations addressing social justice and community needs in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. This initiative emphasizes racial justice and encourages organizations with annual budgets under $3 million to apply. By fostering community leadership and participation, the program aims to empower underserved communities and tackle pressing issues such as housing and immigration, ensuring equitable solutions for all.

Alongside community partners and donors, we use tools such as grantmaking, advocacy, research and policy work to drive lasting, positive change and create a future where every community member can thrive.
SVCF Community Action Grants
Using an equity lens, the Community Action Grants Program identifies and supports organizations across issue areas that foster creativity and help build the community’s power to promote an equitable, economically secure and vibrant Silicon Valley.
SVCF awards grants under the Community Action Grants program through an open Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, nonprofits may apply to multiple strategies through one application. The application is designed to recognize the important intersectional and intersectoral work of nonprofits in the region and provides organizations one entry to be considered for grants across the multiple focus areas.
This application is open to organizations engaged in the following focus areas:

• Arts and CultureEnvironment
• Faith and Neighborhoods
• Health
• Local Journalism
• Movement- and Power-Building
• Community Action Grants - Faith and Neighborhoods

Faith communities have historically been at the center of social movements. However, many congregations are dwindling, and their social power is diminishing. With the vanishing capacity to serve the poor and advance social justice, young leaders lack the religious or spiritual support structures that historically fueled social change.
SVCF’s Faith and Neighborhoods: Community Action Grants Program recognizes that faith communities can provide a moral frame for seeking community-led solutions in neighborhoods where many have suffered the impact of systemic injustices. In this focus area, we aim to support faith-based organizations working with underserved communities, invest in community leadership, and increase community participation in civic life to address housing and immigration issues.

Eligibility

Organizations with religious affiliations will be considered for funding only if the project for which they seek support addresses the needs of the wider community without regard to religious beliefs.Organizations must have an annual organization budget under $3 million. Additional preference will be given to organizations with budgets under $1.5 million. Applicants are required to submit an organization budget for either Fiscal Year 2026 or 2025-2026.Organizations must serve San Mateo and/or Santa Clara counties.
Organizations headquartered outside the two-county region may apply but should demonstrate significant service to these areas or partner with a local organization that does.
Organizations with a 501(c)(3) designation, those that have a fiscal sponsor with a 501(c)(3) designation, public agencies, collaborations of nonprofit and public agencies, or other entities that have a designated charitable purpose will be considered.Organizations must not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, citizenship status, creed, religion, religious affiliation, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status or any other protected status.

Ineligibility

The following organization types are not eligible to apply for this RFP:Fiscally sponsored projects that are established solely to support the work of one individual.Foundations with the sole purpose to raise funds to support a public entity (such as education foundations).
Event sponsorship or fundraising events
Funding gaps due to organizational emergencies, such as office vandalism, the resignation of an executive director, or sudden loss of funding