Shumaker Family Foundation: Social Justice & Education Grants

The Shumaker Family Foundation supports social justice, environmental justice, and education initiatives. Grants typically range from $10,000 to $30,000, focusing on systemic solutions and cultural shifts. The foundation prioritizes organizations with 501(c)(3) status and those led by community members. They prefer not to be the sole funder, valuing partnerships that enhance the capacity of grantees.

We take an active interest in the work of all our grantees. We also try to serve as a resource for our grantee organizations and their staffs by introducing them to other grantees with related projects and/or others in the community with the same or similar goals. All of our grantees are invited to utilize us in this way.
Our goal is to make the biggest impact we can with the limited funds we have available to grant each year.
Our Social Justice grants promote efforts leading to an equitable distribution of wealth, privilege, and opportunities. The Foundation has historically emphasized domestic violence and child abuse prevention and treatment. This continues to be a priority, but we now seek to support the leadership development of Black, Latino, or women leaders and grassroots social justice organizations led by those from the communities they serve.
For Education grants, we focus on projects that strengthen STEM, arts, and early childhood education programs for underserved communities, as well as programs that strengthen teachers and the education process. We favor programs and organizations developed by leaders from within the communities they serve and those that have traditionally lacked access to philanthropy.
Grant Awards
Generally, our grants range in size from $10,000 to $30,000. An appropriate request depends on the size of your organization, the project or program for which you want support, and how well we know you.

Eligibility

We fund only organizations with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status or with a nonprofit fiscal agent.We support programs and organizations that promote peace and justice and demonstrate respect and appreciation for human diversity in all its forms, such as race, culture, religion, gender, ability, sexual orientation, and social class.We fund some organizational strengthening projects, such as capacity-building or operating funds, when we are satisfied that an organization is prepared to work toward the next level of effectiveness.We prefer not to be the sole or majority funder for an organization, but we understand that sometimes a small organization needs a funder to take a chance on them and help them build the capacity to grow and to attract other funders.We strongly prefer to do a site visit before considering an organization’s application.We understand that organizations and projects often require 2 or more years of support to see results, and we do consider multi-year grants.We may consider offering renewal grants for 2 additional years beyond the first year (with a shorter application) if the organization or project shows adequate progress in relation to proposed accomplishments and if the Foundation has adequate grant funds available to renew the grant.An organization that has received 3 consecutive years of funding from us may be asked to reapply, starting with a full Letter of Inquiry (LOI) or by invitation.

Ineligibility

Generally we do not fund start-up organizations, nor do we provide the majority of funding for an organization, program or project.We do not fund any organizations based outside the United States.We do not fund:IndividualsOrganizations that are not registered not-for-profits or their equivalents (i.e., those with a fiscal sponsor)Projects of any organization that participates in activities harmful to the environmentProjects of any organization that participates in activities that promote violenceOrganizations or programs that discriminate on the basis of race, culture, religion, gender, ability, sexual orientation, or social classOrganizations that promote a particular religionOrganizations that seek to convert people from one religion to anotherOrganizations that make any particular religious observance a condition of receiving food, shelter, or other resourcesAnnual campaignsSpecial eventsOrganizations based outside the United StatesLocal animal shelters or animal rights organizations located outside of KS and MO