Community Endowment Fund- Solidarity Program- Renewal Grants

Community Endowment Fund- Solidarity Program- Renewal Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Charlottesville Area Community Foundation
Amount: Up to US $25,000
Last Updated: February 20, 2026

Summary

The Community Endowment Fund's Solidarity Program offers Renewal Grants of up to $25,000 to support movement groups focused on racial equity in the Charlottesville area. These grants aim to foster wellness and reparative support for leaders and activists, enabling them to drive systemic change and build resilient community infrastructures. Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) organizations and those fiscally sponsored, with a focus on initiatives led by Black and ALAANA individuals. Pre-consultation meetings are encouraged before application.

Overview

NOTE: All applicants are strongly encouraged to meet with staff before beginning a proposal to discuss grant eligibility, alignment, and any initial questions. Meeting requests should be made as early as possible, ideally at least one month prior to submission deadlines. This pre-consultation date is represented by the pre-proposal deadline above. Community Endowment FundThe Community Endowment Fund (CEF) reflects the Foundation’s ever-growing commitment to regenerative philanthropy. A diverse and regionally representative, openly recruited Community Advisory Committee leads all CEF program development and funding decision-making. The Community Endowment Fund, through our Solidarity program, currently offers three (3) application-based grant opportunities – Renewal, Reimagine, and Reshaping Futures grants – that support movement groups advancing justice and racial equity in Charlottesville and/or the surrounding counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson, and Orange. About the Solidarity Program Our Solidarity program supports racial equity movement building in our region. To achieve lasting, community-level change, “movement building” groups go beyond providing direct services and individual relief, and instead seek to alter or completely reimagine broken systems. The most effective drivers of this sort of change are the social movements led by those most affected by racial inequities. Rather than charity, regenerative philanthropy calls for greater solidarity with Black and ALAANA (African, Latine, Asian, Arab, and Native American) members of our community – those who deeply know the solutions needed for a more just, equitable, and sustainable future that benefits us all. Solidarity Grants The Solidarity program offers three (3) Community Endowment Fund grant opportunities — Renewal, Reimagine, and Reshaping Futures — designed to help build, strengthen, and sustain our local movement infrastructure. Each Solidarity grant is informed by learnings from our 2023-2024 pilot year, our grant-making history, and the collective wisdom and expressed needs of movement groups and thinkers from across our region and beyond. Depending on the grant, support might include but isn’t limited to: General operations, research and development, program experimentation and piloting;Strategic planning and restructuring, training, coalition building, and increased frontline/grassroots support;Advocacy, legal, and direct action campaigns and mobilization;Sabbatical support, conflict resolution/mediation, and other collective healing, joyful resistance, and reparative work;Narrative change storytelling and creative expression; andPopular education and community organizing. What is the Renewal Grant? To sustain movements for change, our movement leaders, organizers, and activists not only need more equitable funding and other resourcing, but also greater resourcing that encourages wellness (especially rest), joy, collaboration, and repair. Renewal Grants of up to $25,000 provide movement groups with wellness and reparative support, whether it be spiritual, physiological, or interpersonal. Requests can be for sabbaticals, collective healing work, “joyful resistance,” coalition building, and conflict resolution/mediation. Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Renewal Grant applicants must follow our general policies for Community Endowment Fund (CEF) grants, as well as meet the following minimum requirements: Tax-Exempt Local Charitable StatusApplicants must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, school, governmental or religious entity, or a group fiscally sponsored by a mission-aligned 501(c)(3) organization, whose work directly benefits residents of Charlottesville or the counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson, and Orange. Nonconcurrent Grantee or Applicant StatusUnless serving as a fiscal sponsor, applicants may only submit one funding request to the Solidarity program per calendar year. Past Solidarity program and other Community Endowment Fund grantees must have also fulfilled all close-out requirements of their previous grant to be eligible to apply for a Renewal Grant.Power Building & SharingThe Solidarity program supports Black- and ALAANA-led initiatives that advance racial equity through movement building. We consider Black- and ALAANA-led as any of the following:Executive Director(s) or equivalentStaff majority Volunteer majority (if a volunteer-led group or initiative) Board majority Project team majority  Movement BuildingThe Solidarity program recognizes that approaches to movement building vary and occur along a continuum. When reviewing proposals, preference is given to applicants whose strategies are primarily Proactive or Transformative. (See What is Movement Building? for further explanation.)Additional Requirements for Sabbaticals- To be eligible, the applicant’s staff member must: Be in a paid full-time role for at least two years at your nonprofit or fiscally sponsored group. Have a demonstrated track record of racial equity movement building commitment and community engagement.  Reside in the Community Foundation’s service region, with your work centered in the region. Work with an organization that has the capacity to maintain critical operations and programs while the staffer is on their one- to three-month (1-3) sabbatical. Work with a group that has 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or fiscal sponsorship from a 501(c)(3) organization. Share the Community Foundation’s commitment to working in solidarity with other Black/ALAANA nonprofit leaders to promote wellness and restore resources in our communities. The Solidarity program will only accept one Renewal Grant sabbatical application per organization per grant cycle year.The organization’s Board of Directors must be in support of the staff member taking the sabbatical.Funding requests should cover additional interim/fill-in staffing needs for the organization and sabbatical-related costs for the staff member on leave, such as travel and retreats.Because salary and benefits are generally already in the annual budget, this is not considered an additional cost and should continue uninterrupted. (See Costs of a Sabbatical Program for further explanation.)

Ineligibility

The Community Foundation is unable to accept Renewal Grant applications from fiscally sponsored businesses or for-profit entities at this time.