PRISM Fund Grant

The PRISM Fund Grant, offered by PFund Foundation, aims to enhance equity within LGBTQ+ communities in the upper Midwest. It focuses on supporting rural LGBTQ+ organizations through grants, training, and collaboration. The program prioritizes communities disproportionately affected by discrimination, such as queer people of color, gender-expansive individuals, and LGBTQ+ residents of North and South Dakota. By addressing unique regional challenges, the PRISM Fund fosters resilience and connectivity among these underserved populations.

PFund Foundation builds equity with LGBTQ+ communities across the upper Midwest by providing grants and scholarships, developing leaders, and inspiring giving.
PRISM (Promoting Rural Interconnections for Sexual Minorities) grants support rural LGBTQ+ organizations from across PFund’s five-state service area.
The PRISM program works to increase the capacity and connection of rural LGBTQ+ serving organizations through grants, trainings and cohort collaboration.
PFund builds community and provides resources for LGBTQ+ individuals across the upper Midwest and the First Nations therein.
Prioritized Communities
The LGBTQ+ community of the upper Midwest is not monolithic. Factors such as age, race/ethnicity, geography, disability, income, and gender all influence the challenges facing queer individuals. PFund Foundation recognizes that some subpopulations of the queer community may need elevated levels of support to achieve equitable outcomes. To address this need, PFund Foundation has identified three prioritized communities who are especially important to our work:

• Queer People of Color

LGBTQ+ people who also belong to minority racial and ethnic groups experience additional oppression and discrimination—both inside and outside of queer communities.
PFund demonstrates its commitment to queer people of color through its programs. 55% of 2022 PFund Scholars identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. During the worst months of the COVID-19 pandemic, PFund launched a $90,000 emergency fund (now known as the Equity Fund) for queer entrepreneurs of color in Minneapolis to help their businesses survive the economic impacts of the coronavirus and unrest following the murder of George Floyd. In 2022, PFund offered a second round of grants from the Equity Fund for queer BIPOC business owners in Minneapolis.
Gender-Expansive People
Transgender, gender-expansive, and nonbinary individuals are being made the targets of discriminatory legislation and scapegoating at the regional and national levels. The pandemic has also disproportionately impacted transgender and gender non-conforming college students: the Williams Institute at UCLA found that transgender students were six times more likely to have been seriously ill or hospitalized with COVID-19 than their cisgender peers. 55% of 2022 PFund Scholars identify as transgender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, or nonbinary.
Queer People in North and South Dakota
LGBTQ+ people living in North or South Dakota face a unique set of challenges, including the ongoing impacts of high COVID-19 rates, political environments actively hostile to queer and trans individuals, and fewer nonprofit resources for queer communities (especially outside of large cities). PFund estimates there are at least 82,000 queer individuals living in the Dakotas and the foundation is in the process of building a new targeted outreach program to LGBTQ+ people in rural areas the upper Midwest in 2022.

Eligibility

Eligibility Requirements:Align with PFund’s Mission and Vision.Primarily serve LGBTQ+ populations in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and/or the Native Nations therein.Been in operation at least 1-year as of September 1st, 2025.Be registered as 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the IRS. Informal groups with a nonprofit organization serving as a fiscal sponsor are also eligible to apply.States We ServeMinnesota