Small Grants Program: Operating Grants - Housing

Overview

The Small Grants Program (SGP)

Through the Small Grants Program (SGP), the Foundation supports nonprofits with a streamlined grant application and review process. Grants awarded under this program — operating, program, or capital — must still align with the Foundation’s strategic priorities in the areas of Housing, Health, Jobs, Education, or Aging. The maximum Small Grant amount is $50,000 over two years.

Housing

Stable housing provides a foundation for individuals, children, and families to lead healthy and productive lives. Without a place to call home, individuals and families cannot put themselves on a path to a healthy, stronger future.

Priorities

* Housing With Supportive Services: The Foundation supports nonprofit housing development to accelerate the production of affordable housing that integrates into the broader community and includes services to help people achieve and maintain stability.
* Examples of appropriate projects:
* Permanent supportive housing developments or units serving people who are exiting homelessness.
* Working capital for predevelopment of supportive housing or to build nonprofit developers’ capacity to create more housing, such as expanding their real estate development teams.
* Community-Led Development: The Foundation supports innovative, community-driven efforts that preserve affordable housing for generations. Projects should have the potential for replication or expansion and enable residents to live and thrive in their home communities.
* Examples of appropriate projects:
* Community land trusts primarily in Baltimore and Hawaiʻi that prioritize people experiencing housing instability.
* Models for community ownership or community wealth building to prevent resident displacement.
* Mixed-income housing integrated into the community that is designed by and for individuals who are often marginalized, such as people with disabilities, youth, and residents of rural areas.
* Coordinated Responses to Homelessness: The Foundation supports projects to improve collaboration across public systems and organizations that serve people without housing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Projects should involve individuals who have been homeless to inform planning and implementation.
* Examples of appropriate projects:
* Partnerships to coordinate services across organizations that address homelessness. Projects should demonstrate how the work improves the lives of people served.
* Leadership development and other opportunities for people who have experienced homelessness to participate in planning and decision making about programs designed to serve them.
* Models for sustainable funding of supportive services that help people maintain housing.

Operating Grants

Operating grants fund the overall operating costs of an organization.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* The geographic focus areas are Baltimore, Hawaiʻi, New York City, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and San Francisco, as well as rural areas near these priority communities.
* Organizations are eligible to apply if they:
* are a nonprofit with 501(c)(3), tax-exempt status;
* provide direct services to low-income individuals and communities;
* have two years of 990;
* have two years of audited financial statements or external financial reviews; and
* have at least one year of program outcomes.

Ineligibility

* The Foundation does not fund the following interests/entities:

* Individuals
* Arts and culture
* Postsecondary scholarships
* Debt reduction
* Colleges and universities
* Religious institutions and facilities (including churches, congregations, mosques, synagogues, and temples)
* Think tanks
* Endowments
* Political action groups
* Annual appeals (in most cases)
* Publications
* Academic or health research
* Fundraising events