Sherwood Foundation: Program Grants & Capital Grants

Sherwood Foundation: Program Grants & Capital Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Sherwood Foundation
Last Updated: October 27, 2025

Summary

The Sherwood Foundation offers program and capital grants aimed at promoting equity through social justice initiatives in Nebraska. Supporting 501(c)(3) organizations, government entities, schools, and churches, the foundation focuses on urban community partnerships, rural community partnerships, and early childhood education. The foundation values civil liberties and equality, encouraging applicants to align with its mission. First-time applicants are advised to contact the foundation for guidance on suitable grants and application processes.

Overview

NOTE: 1ST TIME APPLICANTS: If you have never applied for a grant from us before, your first step is to e-mail the foundation. We can let you know which, if any, grants are a match for your organization, what the grant timelines are, and what next steps are for you. We can also let you know if you are not a good match, saving your valuable time on an application that is unlikely to be funded. Mission The Sherwood Foundation® promotes equity through social justice initiatives enhancing the quality of life in Nebraska. Vision We believe social justice is the proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes, and actions that all produce equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts, and outcomes for all. Who We Fund The Sherwood Foundation® limits grants to organizations that are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3), government entities, schools, or churches that are serving Nebraska. These organizations must be in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service. What We Fund The Sherwood Foundation® limits grants to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations that predominately benefit those that are serving Nebraska and must address one of our categories: Urban Community Partnerships Our work in Nebraska’s urban communities focuses on family stability and child wellbeing with an overarching emphasis on community context. Using a two-generation approach, we are interested in the relationship between direct service provision and the greater systems that impact a community. Applicants are wise to cite specific research that influences a service model or approach to solving a community challenge. Omaha Public Schools Guidelines: OPS employees must obtain approval from the District before submitting an application. Applications lacking such documentation will not receive consideration.For assistance, please contact the OPS Grant Coordinator at 402.557.2151. Rural Community Partnerships Through these grants, The Sherwood Foundation® promotes local capacity to address locally-identified priorities and thereby strengthen the common good we enjoy as fellow Nebraskans. Requests from communities outside of the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas are considered on an ongoing basis. The following priorities guide The Sherwood Foundation’s Rural Community Partnership grants: Community leadership development that helps local community members expand and deepen their skills and experiences to better serve their home community through learning and innovation.Community inclusion that is broad-based and intentionally developed to leverage the diverse skills and perspectives of community members in service to the benefits and responsibilities of community life.Community collaboration that aligns stakeholders and resources in order to strategically build upon and utilize locally-controlled assets. Early Childhood Education The Sherwood Foundation® supports early childhood education on a regional and national basis through The Buffett Early Childhood Fund What the Sherwood Foundation Values The Sherwood Foundation has strongly held values regarding civil liberties, equality and fairness with a particular focus on women and people oppressed because of their race, sexual orientation, and/or religion or lack-thereof. We respect that not all nonprofit organizations share the same values as the Foundation.We don’t ask nonprofits to change values for us or for funding.We do ask that nonprofits leaders respect our values and save everyone time and energy by not seeking funding if our organizational values aren’t aligned. Equal rights. We believe all humans are created equal. We work to eliminate government and social barriers to equality. Access to civic life. We are proud to live in a democracy and believe that the rights provided to individuals in the United States should be protected and the best way to protect those rights is to ensure equal access to the voting polls. Reproductive justice. We support a woman’s right to self-determination about reproductive health choices. We expect our grantees serving women and girls to ensure access and education to all health care options, including abortion. Opportunity to thrive. We believe a zip code should not determine the outcome of a life. We see how government institutions and laws have historically and do presently oppress and suppress opportunity, particularly for people of color but also other minority populations and women. We work with our community to undo systemic oppression and build systems that meet the needs of citizens and do not further oppress. We seek economic justice for our neighbors and the opportunity that lies therein. Access to services. We expect grantees to ensure that clients have access to services and that service providers work to remove barriers rather than create barriers to care and compassion. A service provider’s religious belief system should not be imposed upon those who seek their services, whether through proselytization, coercion, guilt, or an unspoken quid-pro-quo expectation to participate in faith-based classes or religious services.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. To qualify, an organization must:Be classified as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3), a government entity or a church and must be in good standing with the Internal Revenue ServiceBe located within the state of Nebraska (If located outside of Nebraska, funds can only be used for projects within the state of Nebraska.)Organizations must be a 501(C)(3), be located in Nebraska or have a project in Nebraska and must address one or more of our categories:Urban Community PartnershipsRural Community PartnershipsOmaha Public SchoolsEarly Childhood EducationIn an effort to ensure that we are supporting organizations that adhere to best practices in nonprofit management we are instituting new requirements to that end. Our grant applications now include the following requirements:Grantees must be an active and dues paying member of the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands (NAM);Utilize the NAM "Guidelines and Principles" tools, take the assessments and work towards a "Best Practice Partnership" status with NAM;Participate in the online salary survey administered by NAM on an annual basis.