Pittsburgh Foundation Basic Needs Grants: Education

Pittsburgh Foundation Basic Needs Grants: Education

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Pittsburgh Foundation
Amount: US $10,000 - US $75,000
Last Updated: January 08, 2026

Summary

The Pittsburgh Foundation Basic Needs Grants: Education aims to enhance educational opportunities for low-income students in Allegheny County. The foundation prioritizes funding for programs that support out-of-school time activities, tutoring, and relationship-building between schools and families. Grants typically range from $10,000 to $150,000, focusing on culturally-responsive methods that improve academic achievement and overall child development. This initiative addresses the critical need for equitable access to quality education, especially for marginalized communities impacted by poverty.

Overview

Pittsburgh Foundation Foundation-Directed Grantmaking The Pittsburgh Foundation is committed to helping the communities we serve become equitable and vibrant places where everyone can thrive. We align our grantmaking with resident’s dreams for themselves, their families and their communities and prioritize support in the five focus areas: Basic Needs; Equity and Social Justice; Environmental Action; Arts and Culture; and Economic Mobility. Duration: Generally, grants will be awarded for no more than two years due to limited availability of funds. Amounts: One-year grants generally range from $10,000 to $75,000. Two-year grants will generally not exceed $150,000. Actual grant amounts are determined based on staff review of each individual application and consideration of the funding available at the time the application is received. Basic Needs We seek to improve the stability of low-income people by supporting direct assistance to obtain food, housing, health care, mental health supports, child care, education and employment. Hardships caused by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 have been deep and widespread, but for many people — especially those who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) — hardships predate the pandemic. As examples, one-in-five Pittsburghers is food-insecure, and there is a shortage of affordable housing and child care. When individuals and families can meet their basic needs, they experience less stress, which supports overall health and well-being. Across our basic needs grantmaking, we are committed to expanding knowledge of, improving access to, and improving coordination among local resources and human services. Basic Needs Grants: Education Education includes student-centered activities that promote curiosity, joy and academic improvement in math, literacy, civics, history and science. It also includes the development of critical thinking, project-based learning and social capital competencies that are key to student success. Key to the development of these skills is the out-of-school time community, which serves as a bridge between learners, families and educational institutions. In Allegheny County, 67,000 students would attend an out-of-school time program if one were available. And if performance gaps based on race, ethnicity or economic status were eliminated, up to $5 billion dollars in lifetime compensation and in-kind benefits could be directed to students and their families, annually. In our education portfolio, we are interested in supporting the following: Out-of-school time (OST) The Foundation supports culturally-responsive, out-of-school time programs that promote academic achievement and whole-child development. Specifically, we seek to support: Activities that offer advanced skill development opportunities and/or certifications.Tutoring and homework assistance.Post-secondary planning and application support.Opportunities to build relationships between schools and families. We are particularly interested in programs that work to maximize student learning time, reduce chronic absenteeism, offer evidence-based mental health supports and serve students with disabilities and experiencing housing insecurity. Improving education quality The Foundation supports the following to ensure every child receives in-school instruction in an environment that is safe and high-quality: Specific curricula improvements at high-need, low-performing schools (e.g.: new science, literacy, math, civics or history curricula).Responsive professional development for OST and school staff.Efforts to reform policies and practices that negatively impact students and their families.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. To qualify for a grant, your nonprofit organization must be: Located within Allegheny County and/or primarily serve Allegheny County residents (unless otherwise specified in the grant criteria).Designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity. (If your organization does not have 501(c)(3) status, you may apply utilizing a fiscal sponsor.)

Ineligibility

What We Do Not Fund The Pittsburgh Foundation does not make grants to any organization not listed in Internal Revenue Code Section 170(b)(1)(A), including private non-operating foundations or any “disqualified supporting organizations” as defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 4966(d) (4).Organizational start-up support.Statewide or national organizations, unless they have an established local office or chapter that meets the above eligibility criteria and priorities.Projects that expressly advocate for or endorse a specific candidate for elected office.Annual appeals or event sponsorships.Episodic and/or one-time programs and events.Capital expenses and/or campaigns.Direct funding for individuals (except individual artists).Payments on organizational debt.Costs and activities that are completed before a requested grant has received a decision from our board.University overhead costs.Single-disease support organizations.Educational scholarships. Academic research. While we recognize their value, the following are not eligible for support at this time: Episodic programming, occurring less than three days per week (Grades K-5), or less than twice per week (Grades 6-12); or summer-only programs; leadership development or service-learning programs; and athletic programs, unless there is a clear case for alignment with the criteria for out-of-school time.