Local Data for Equitable Communities Grant Program

Local Data for Equitable Communities Grant Program

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Amount: US $50,000
Last Updated: February 26, 2026

Summary

Overview

Local Data for Equitable Communities CFP This call for proposals (CFP) invites eligible nonprofit organizations in the U.S. to apply for a grant to collect, analyze, and use data to address inequities in the physical, economic, and social conditions of a place. Improving these conditions is key to achieving health equity where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. Structural racism is one of the leading barriers that results in inequities in conditions within and across communities. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) expects to award up to 30 grants of $50,000 each, with a period of performance of nine months. The Urban Institute, as the national coordinating center for this program, is collaborating with RWJF on program design, grantee support, and communications. Local data can be valuable tools to make progress on building places that offer everyone the chance to be as healthy as possible. Community organizations and residents can use data to understand challenges, set priorities, advocate for what is important to them, and hold others accountable for promised changes. The goals of the Local Data for Equitable Communities grant program are to: Inform public policy and improve the physical, social, and economic conditions of placesBuild local capacity to use data for actionStrengthen the use of equitable data practicesDocument successful practices for more communities to learn from and adapt Funding Type of Award: Awards funded under this opportunity will be structured as grants. Number of Awards: Up to 30 awards will be funded. Amount of Award: Each award will be up to and including $50,000. Award Duration: Awards will be nine months.

Eligibility

We've imported the main document for this grant to give you an overview. You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.

Application Details

2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
Local Data for Equitable Communities
OVERVIEW
This call for proposals (CFP) invites eligible nonprofit organizations in the U.S. to apply for a grant
to collect, analyze, and use data to address inequities in the physical, economic, and social
conditions of a place. Improving these conditions is key to achieving health equity where health
is no longer a privilege, but a right. Structural racism is one of the leading barriers that results in
inequities in conditions within and across communities. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
(RWJF) expects to award up to 30 grants of $50,000 each, with a period of performance of nine
months. The Urban Institute, as the national coordinating center for this program, is collaborating
with RWJF on program design, grantee support, and communications. Additional information about
this CFP, including program goals, eligibility, selection criteria, and guidance on applying follows.
BACKGROUND
RWJF is committed to building a future where everyone in America has a fair and just
opportunity to reach their best health and wellbeing. Policies and decisions made today and
going back generations have favored communities that are home to wealthier, White families.
RWJF is working to make sure that all residents have a say in their communities, and everyone
has access to what they need for a healthy life, like clean water, parks and green spaces,
high-quality and affordable housing, good jobs, and laws that are applied fairly to everyone.
RWJF is working toward a vision for the future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.
We aim to get there through our long-term focus on dismantling the structural racism that
permeates society. We’re pursuing the ambitious goal of building the future we all want for our
children and grandchildren. To advance health equity, we invest in creating communities with
the physical, economic, and social conditions for residents to live their healthiest lives.
RWJF is launching the Local Data for Equitable Communities grant program that supports
collecting, analyzing, and using data to catalyze action on timely issues within communities.
This ongoing, annual grant program will help community organizations develop capacity to use
data as tools in transforming inequitable institutions, systems, and social practices. The program
aims for a future where we can achieve racial equity and health is for everyone. Annually, this
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
program will fund nine-month projects that build on applicants' knowledge, relationships, and
experience with existing change efforts on timely issues. The expectation is that after nine
months, the scope of work supported by the grants will be completed. This program was
inspired by two past grantmaking efforts to use local data for action.
PURPOSE
Local data can be valuable tools to make progress on building places that offer everyone the
chance to be as healthy as possible. Community organizations and residents can use data to
understand challenges, set priorities, advocate for what is important to them, and hold others
accountable for promised changes.
• What counts as data? Data are any collected statistics or information. Data may be
quantitative, like counts or percentages based on information from surveys or the operations
of governments, foundations, or nonprofits. They may also be qualitative, such as stories
from lived experience or information collected through focus groups or interviews. All data
are inherently shaped by the purposes, assumptions, and biases of the people who created
them.
The goals of the Local Data for Equitable Communities grant program are to:
• Inform public policy and improve the physical, social, and economic conditions of
places:Data can be a transformational tool for community-based nonprofits to answer
questions directly relevant to on-the-ground efforts to improve the physical, social, or
economic conditions of a place. With key data in hand, nonprofits can inform public
discourse, resulting in program and policy solutions that reduce health inequities.
• Build local capacity to use data for action: A community with data capacity is one where
people can access and use data to better understand and improve outcomes where they
live. This grant program supports community organizations to collect, analyze, and use data
about a locally relevant and timely issue. As they do so, their capacity to use and apply data
is strengthened, which leads to a stronger influence in their communities to achieve
important community-driven goals.
• Strengthen the use of equitable data practices: Equity should be a leading consideration
in how data are collected and, ultimately, in who gets to interpret, disseminate, and leverage
data to take action. People most affected by racial, economic, and geographic inequities in
health and wellbeing need to be able to access, interpret, and contribute data to assess
structural inequities in their communities. They should have the opportunity to participate in
decisionmaking about how to address barriers and design solutions to improve healthy
equity based on that data.
• Document successful practices for more communities to learn from and adapt: This
grant program funds organizations to address immediate local needs and conditions,
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
informed by data relevant to project questions that are locally determined. The program is
designed such that resulting projects will create and disseminate a diverse and innovative
set of practices that will be relevant and useful to other places.
Guidance on Project Activities
RWJF welcomes creative and innovative ideas that are in full alignment with the goals of this
funding opportunity. We recognize that the changes needed to address the physical, social, and
economic conditions in a community shaped by structural racism are going to take time. This grant
opportunity is intended to catalyze initiatives and collaborations working with community members
to bring about these changes. Given the nine-month grant period, we seek project ideas that
leverage applicants’ knowledge, relationships, and experience in their community.
The following list provides project examples, but it is far from exhaustive.
• Examine the experience of renters of housing units that are corporate-owned to develop
policy recommendations for improving housing quality and reducing the risk of
displacement.
• Conduct listening sessions, a resident-led housing needs assessment, and data analysis
sessions to mobilize residents for advocacy campaigns for housing justice.
• Train residents to collect and analyze environmental data while building capacity to
advocate for environmental justice.
• Collaborate with a community group to better understand community safety priorities
through surveys or focus groups and use these data to identify priority strategies and
investments for local government.
• Develop new strategies to address structural barriers to employment by working with a
coalition of regional funders to analyze how discriminatory and racist policies and practices
in transportation have contributed to inequities in access to employment.
• Advance equitable access to quality recreation spaces by collaborating with a local
recreation department and community groups to use data to assess the distribution of
recreation spaces and identify priority locations for future investments.
To see more examples of project ideas, you can read about the projects funded by a similar
program in 2022.
This funding opportunity will not support projects that are:
• developing data tools or dashboards without designing for specific audiences or defined
uses. We will only support the development of data tools in cases where specific local
organizations, initiatives, or user groups have articulated why they need the data and how
the tools will be used.
• programmatic evaluation
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
• data analyses that address individual social or medical needs
• research disconnected from near-term decisionmaking and action
• community health needs assessments
• health impact assessments
• data collection to support grant writing
• national- or state-level projects
• lobbying or political activities
FUNDING DETAILS
• Type of Award: Awards funded under this opportunity will be structured as grants.
• Number of Awards: Up to 30 awards will be funded.
• Amount of Award: Each award will be up to and including $50,000.
• Award Duration: Awards will be nine months.
• Use of Funds: Award funds should cover actual costs of the project including personnel
and other direct costs. If the grantee is a public charity/501(c)(3), grant funds will also cover
indirect costs to support the applicant organization’s general operations. In keeping with
RWJF policy, funds may not be used to support clinical trials of unapproved drugs or
devices, to construct or renovate facilities, and for lobbying or political activities. Additional
budget guidelines are provided in the online application materials.
• Payment of Awards: Payment of the award will be based on spending against approved
budgets or milestones (not invoices).
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
• Awards will be made to organizations, not to individuals.
• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) or
Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundations or non-
functionally integrated Type III supporting organizations.
• Universities, whether public or private, are ineligible to apply, but are eligible to partner with
an applicant that is a Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) organization.
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
• Organizations that are fiscally sponsored by an eligible tax-exempt 501(c)3 or 501(c)4
organization are also eligible. The fiscal sponsor cannot be a university, whether public or
private. The fiscal sponsor is required to provide the total amount of the award to the
organization that will perform the program activities as described in the application less the
fiscal sponsorship fee. The fiscal sponsorship fee is an allowable expense under the award.
The Foundation may require additional documentation.
• Applicant organizations must be based in the U.S. or its territories.
• Applicants must focus their projects on local geographies, such as neighborhoods, cities,
counties, metropolitan areas, or tribal areas.
• Organizations may only submit one proposal.
Applicants should also take the following guidance into account as they plan their project
approach, timing, and budget.
• Applicants must execute proposed work within a nine-month period of performance.
• Applicants may propose work that expands the scope of an ongoing project that is aligned
with this funding opportunity.
• Grantees are encouraged to share detailed methodologies (and code as applicable) to
assist the Urban Institute in disseminating examples for potential replication in other
communities.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to make any underlying data that are not confidential or
proprietary available for download and reuse and to use open-source technology where
possible.
• If a project requires review by an institutional review board (IRB), applicants should account
for IRB preparation and review.
• Applicants may include funding in their budget for up to 50 percent of the total budget for
collaborating organizations.
While each collaborating organization must be described in detail in the proposal, only one
organization may represent the collaboration and be the lead contact in the application process.
SELECTION CRITERIA
A team of reviewers from RWJF and the Urban Institute, and possibly external reviewers, will
evaluate all proposals. The review process will consider how the applicant’s proposal addresses
these selection criteria:
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
• Locally Relevant Project Questions Related to Structural Racism and Health Equity:
Poses clear question(s) that are related to addressing structural racism, health equity, and
specified physical, social, or economic conditions in the applicant’s geographic focus area.
• Specific Activities, Methods, Data Sources, and Outputs: Outlines how the project
questions will be addressed through project activities, methods, data sources, and the
products, events, or services that will be created.
• Credibility and Relationships With Community: Demonstrates that the people who are
affected by the conditions the project addresses have roles in the project activities.
• Feasible Timeline and Scope: Outlines a timeline that is feasible and scope of work that
can be completed in nine months.
• Identifies Who Will Use the Data and How They Will Use It: Names specific
organizations, agencies, and/or groups of people. Describes how they will use the data, and
explains why the issue is timely for them.
• Impact and Change: Identifies the impact and/or change that will result from the project.
• Project Team Capacity: Demonstrates that the project team has experience to successfully
perform the activities proposed, including providing data and data analysis to communities
and engaging communities.
OPEN ACCESS
In order to ensure RWJF-supported research is made accessible to a wide and diverse
audience, grantees who publish findings in peer-reviewed publications must do so in open
access journals and/or must include funds in their budgets to cover the cost of making the
resulting publications open access (typically $2,000–$5,000 per manuscript). See our Open
Access policy for more information.
HOW TO APPLY
Proposals for this solicitation must be submitted via the RWJF online system. Visit
http://www.rwjf.org/cfp/DHC3 and use the “Apply Online” link. If you have not already done so,
you will be required to register at my.rwjf.org before you begin the proposal process. Applicants
should not begin drafting their full proposals until they have familiarized themselves with the
detailed instructions displayed in the online application system.
Proposals must include brief responses (within the designated word counts) to the following
questions:
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
1. Select up to three physical, social, or economic condition(s) of your community that best
describe those your project seeks to address.
a. Built environment
b. Child care access
c. Community safety and policing
d. Climate and environment
e. Healthy food access
f. Housing
g. Small business and economic development
h. Transportation
i. Other (please describe in no more than 10 words)
2. What is the geographic focus of the project activities and data analyses?
a. Neighborhood or set of neighborhoods
b. City or town
c. County or parish
d. Tribal area
e. Other (please describe in no more than 10 words)
3. What is the specific name(s) of the place(s) of focus for this application? For example, list
the neighborhood name(s) or city name. (15 words)
4. Provide a brief overview of the question(s) that your project seeks to answer and why they
are relevant to addressing structural racism, health equity, and the specified condition(s)
referenced in question 1, in your geographic focus area referenced in questions 2 and 3.
(250 words)
5. Describe the project activities, methods, data sources, and what these will produce –
including products, services, events, or other forms of project documentation. (400 words)
6. Describe how people who are affected by the condition(s) referenced in question 1 will
participate in and/or contribute to project activities (250 words)
7. List key milestones and timing for your project, considering what is feasible for the nine-
month grant period. (150 words)
8. Describe who will use the data and how they will use it. Your response should name specific
organizations, agencies, and/or groups of people and also describe why this issue is timely
and why data are needed now. (250 words)
9. Describe the expected impact or change that will result from this project. (100 words)
10. Describe your project team and their roles, and their experience with the activities proposed.
Include any collaborating partner organizations and a description of their role, and their
experience with the proposed work. (250 words)
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
Required Supplemental Documents:
One-paragraph bio sketches that identify the roles on the proposed work for a maximum of two
key team members of the applicant organization, and if collaborating with a partner, for a
maximum of two key team members of the collaborating partner organization. These should
include any relevant skills or experience needed to complete the proposed activities.
Please direct inquiries to:
Leah Hendey and Kathryn Pettit
Email: localdata@urban.org
All applicants should log in to the MyRWJF system and familiarize themselves with online
submission requirements well before the final submission deadline. Staff may not be able to
assist all applicants in the final 24 hours before the submission deadline.
RWJF does not provide individual critiques of proposals submitted.
PROGRAM DIRECTION
Direction and technical assistance for this program are provided by the Urban Institute, which
serves as the national coordinating center. The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research
organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. It is a
trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decisionmaking, create inclusive
economic growth, and improve the wellbeing of families and communities. For more than 50
years, Urban has delivered facts that inspire solutions—and this remains its charge today.
The Urban team also serves as the national partner in the National Neighborhood Indicators
Partnership (NNIP), which helps local communities use data to shape strategies and
investments so that all neighborhoods are places where people can thrive. Urban’s experience
with NNIP has inspired and informed the development of this grant program.
Contact information:
Local Data for Equitable Communities
Urban Institute
500 L’Enfant Plaza S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024
Email: localdata@urban.org (preferred)
Website: LocalDataforEquitableCommunities.org
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
Responsible staff members at the national coordinating center are:
• Kathryn Pettit, MPP, co-principal investigator
• Leah Hendey, MPP, co-principal investigator
• Jake Cowan, MPA, consultant
Responsible staff members at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are:
• George Hobor, PhD, senior program officer
• Katie Corbit, MPH, interim program officer
• Christine Phares, program financial analyst
KEY DATES AND DEADLINES
• February 4, 2025
CFP launches.
• February 18, 2025 (1 p.m. ET)
Optional applicant webinar. Registration is required through this link.
• March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
Deadline for receipt of full proposals.
• May 23, 2025
Awarded applicants are notified.
• July 15, 2025
Grant start date.
Applicant Deadline Policy
All proposals for this solicitation must be submitted via the RWJF online system. Visit
http://www.rwjf.org/cfp/DHC3 and use the “Apply Online” link. If you have not already done so,
you will be required to register at my.rwjf.org before you begin the proposal process.
All applicants should log in to the system and familiarize themselves with online proposal
requirements well before the final submission deadline. Please note that, in the 24-hour period
leading up to the proposal deadline, staff may not be able to assist all applicants with any
system-related issues. Therefore, we encourage you to submit your proposal well before the
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
deadline so that any unforeseen difficulties or technical problems may be addressed in
advance.
Late submissions will not be accepted for any reason. While late submissions will not be
accepted, RWJF may choose, at its sole discretion, to extend the proposal deadline for all
applicants. Such extensions generally will be granted only in the event of: (1) a verified issue
with the RWJF proposal system that prevented completion and submission of proposals; or (2)
a disaster, emergency, or significant internet outage that affects one or more regions. For
purposes of this policy, a region is generally considered to be one or more states. RWJF strives
to give all applicants any support needed to successfully submit their proposal prior to the
deadline. Submission is defined as all sections completed, marked ”Finished,” the proposal
“Submit” button used, and the proposal status shows “Submitted.” If the deadline is extended for
any reason, the extension will be posted on the funding opportunity page at www.rwjf.org. In
addition, an email will be sent to all individuals that have started a proposal in the RWJF online
system.
EVALUATION
An independent (third party) research group selected and funded by RWJF will conduct an
evaluation of the program. As a condition of accepting RWJF funds, we may require grantees to
participate in the evaluation. The focus of the evaluation will be on the overall Local Data for
Equitable Communities grant program, not on any individual grantee.
MONITORING
RWJF monitors the grantees’ efforts and careful stewardship of grant funds to assure
accountability. Nonprofit grantee organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code will be required to submit a final financial report at the end of their
grant period and will be subject to additional reporting requirements, as the grants will be
structured as expenditure responsibility grants.
Grantees will be required to complete one deliverable— a one–two page project profile that
summarizes the grantee’s work, the data used, accomplishments and impact, any lessons
learned, and next steps. Grantees will also be expected to participate in a small number (3–4) of
periodic phone calls with the Urban Institute to share insights and challenges as the grant
proceeds and at the end of the grant period. Grantees may have additional optional check-ins
with the Urban Institute throughout the grant period.
OUR EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION COMMITMENT
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is committed to building a Culture of Health that
provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and wellbeing. Achieving this
goal requires focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion. To that end, we are committed to
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2025 Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: March 18, 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
fostering diverse perspectives. We recognize that individuals’ perspectives are shaped by a host
of factors, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, age, socioeconomic
status, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, familial status, education, religion,
legal status, military service, political affiliation, geography, and other personal and professional
experiences.
We know that the presence of diverse perspectives alone is not sufficient. Therefore, we also
are committed to creating inclusive environments where all individuals are encouraged to share
their perspectives and experiences. We believe that only through valuing our differences and
similarities, and remaining vigilant in advancing equity, will we be able to maintain an equitable
workplace and actively pursue equity in all aspects of our work. We commit to being continuous
learners and working alongside others to cultivate equity, diversity, and inclusion.
ABOUT THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION
RWJF is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our
lifetime. To get there, we must work to dismantle structural racism and other barriers to health.
Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, we work side-by-side with
communities, practitioners, and institutions to achieve health equity faster and pave the way,
together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. For more information, visit
www.rwjf.org.
Sign up to receive email alerts on upcoming calls for proposals at www.rwjf.org/manage-your-
subscriptions.html
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Princeton, NJ 08540-6614
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