Keystone Grant Program

The Keystone Grant Program, funded by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, aims to empower grassroots and community-led initiatives focused on environmental and racial justice in Maine. With available funding of up to $1.5 million, the program supports organizations demonstrating a commitment to advocacy and civic engagement. Applicants must be eligible to receive tax-deductible donations and can include diverse groups, particularly those led by marginalized communities, to foster a sustainable and equitable future.

The Keystone program prioritizes grassroots and community-led efforts to address environmental and racial justice, as a key strategy for equitable social change and community well-being. By funding efforts that use advocacy and community organizing, and strategic messaging and communications, and by funding organizations that provide essential capacity supports for grassroots and community-led efforts, we will contribute to building a robust civic engagement infrastructure to advance a just, sustainable, healthy Maine.
Priorities
Our focus is on supporting organizations and efforts that meet at least three of the following criteria:
Demonstrate a clear commitment to environmental justice and racial justiceAre grassroots or community-led. Sewall understands grassroots efforts to be inclusive community-led and -based efforts that include everyday people working to bring about a change through collective action. Grassroots efforts include and are led by people from the community that is primarily affected by the issue they are addressingProvide meaningful capacity and technical support to grassroots and community-led efforts in MaineWork to create conditions necessary for a just, healthy, sustainable future, with a primary focus on advocacy, community organizing, civic engagement, and/or field- and movement-building effortsWork statewide in Maine or regionally with clear impact in Maine
We prioritize applicants that:
Are led by Black, Indigenous, People of Color, rural Mainers, and women;Are working collaboratively across sectors; and/orHave an explicit commitment to environmental justice and/or racial justice
Funding
Available Funding: $1,500,000Our normal grant range is $10,000-50,000 for individual organizations. Collaborative grants that will be shared with multiple partners may be up to $200,000.

Eligibility

Keystone will support an ecosystem of grassroots and community-led efforts to advance environmental and racial justice, and nurture a healthy, just and sustainable Maine.Requests will be considered for general operating and program support, special projects, and capital expenses.Applicants must be eligible to receive tax-deductible donations as outlined in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. This includes: 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organizations; public schools; public agencies working for the State of Maine; Indian tribal governments (and their political subdivisions) recognized by the Department of the Interior. We accept applications from organizations and groups who work through a fiscal sponsor. A fiscally sponsored organization does not need to be a legal entity, but it must have a signed fiscal sponsorship agreement with a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The Sewall Foundation has funded 501(C)(4) organizations in the past for specific nonpartisan and charitable work, however it requires additional considerations and expenditure responsibility. We ask that any 501(c)(4) organization contact program staff to explore potential grant support. Organizations with 501(C)(4) status should not start or submit a grant application before speaking with program staff. Eligible organizations may apply regardless of their funding history with Sewall Foundation.

Ineligibility

The Sewall Foundation does not provide grant funding to private for-profit enterprises, cooperatives, or individuals.