Fund for Belonging: Trusted Messenger Network Grant

The Fund for Belonging: Trusted Messenger Network aims to empower immigrant communities in Sonoma County by providing timely, culturally sensitive information about evolving laws and policies. The initiative focuses on fostering collaborative partnerships that enhance information sharing, ensuring accessibility during both disaster and non-disaster situations. With five anticipated grants, the program emphasizes the importance of trusted messengers within these communities to effectively disseminate critical information and strengthen community resilience.

Note: The grantmaking process for the Fund for Belonging begins with an open call for letters of interest (presented above as Letter of Inquiry (LOI)).
Community Foundation Sonoma County
Community Foundation Sonoma County helps people give back to the place they love. With over 40 years of experience and deep roots in the region, we partner with donors, nonprofits, and local leaders to strengthen giving, grow impact, and support the people and organizations driving change in Sonoma County.
We work alongside donors and nonprofits alike —making philanthropy easy and meaningful through trusted guidance and personalized support, and helping organizations grow stronger through grants, capacity-building, and collaborative initiatives.
We’ve granted more than $300 million to local organizations and now steward over $214 million in charitable assets across 450 charitable funds created by individuals, families, businesses, and community groups.
CFSC’s Fund for Belonging addresses the intersecting challenges facing immigrant communities through targeted grantmaking, strategic collaboration, and responsive civic leadership. The design of the 2025 grant program is a culmination of the input and wisdom of more than 80 local leaders across immigrant communities, nonprofits, government, and philanthropy. This program brings together aligned funds at CFSC to respond to the results of this community engagement process.
Contingent on additional resources, we aim for the Fund for Belonging to remain responsive and collaborative as we grow to encompass new areas of focus and invest in even deeper community leadership in 2026 and beyond.
Funding Areas
The 2025 grant program will accept letters of interest related to the following four funding areas: Legal & Policy Information; Trusted Messenger Network; Income Generation and Safe Spaces & Wellbeing.
To disseminate accurate, accessible, timely, culturally sensitive, and easily understood information related to rapidly evolving laws and policies. These grants are intended to fund collaborative partnerships that foster information sharing, building a trusted information network that can be accessed during disaster and non-disaster times. Funded organizations will be expected to disseminate information shared by the awarded organization in the Legal & Policy Information funding area.
Anticipated number of grants – 5
One to two applicants representing each geographic region of Sonoma County will be invited to apply.

Eligibility

The following evaluation criteria will be used to review letters of interest for all funding areas:501c3 Status – Organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or an organization fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with offices and services based in Sonoma County.Funding Area Alignment – Program demonstrates alignment with the objectives in one or more of the funding areas.Designing to the Margins – Program is designed by and for immigrants living on the margins in Sonoma County (see FAQs for more details). In our selection process, we will consider the diversity of immigrant communities in Sonoma County.Organizational Connection & Capacity – Organization provides evidence of current/past impact in immigrant communities and the likelihood of sustained commitment in this area.Partnerships – Organization engages in strong partnerships and includes plans for collaboration using grant program funds.Geographic Focus – Organization has a strong physical presence in one or more of Sonoma County’s regions (North, South, Central, East, or West), such as a dedicated building for service provision or consistent services with physically present staff (i.e. a regular mobile unit route or office hours).Trusted Messenger – Organization documents that it is a trusted messenger among immigrant communities and is willing to support the dissemination of information as needed.