The Ford Family Foundation: Larger Funding Requests Grant

The Ford Family Foundation offers larger funding requests over $20,000 for projects aligned with their funding priorities, including family support, education, and community development. Their grants aim to strengthen family connections, enhance educational opportunities for rural children, and foster thriving communities. Eligible organizations must primarily benefit rural residents in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. The Foundation emphasizes community support and prohibits funding for discriminatory practices or debt retirement.

For requests that exceed $20,000, applications should be aligned with our funding priorities. We fund programs, operations and capital projects.
Grants aligned with our Family impact area help strengthen connections between a parent or other primary caregiver and a child.
Current grant funding examples
Children’s mental health supportsParenting support programsDomestic violence programs and shelters for families with childrenChild abuse prevention and intervention programsSupports for children in foster careMaternal-child health programsTwo-generation family literacy programsFamily financial education and accessEarned Income Tax Credit access and utilizationScholarships for parents to complete their college educationStatewide networks and systems reform to support all of the above
Education
Grants aligned with our Education impact area aim to ensure that rural children have the supports and opportunities they need to succeed in their education. Our emphasis is on early childhood education, helping children start strong in their early grades, and preparing students for the transition from high school to postsecondary education or a career.
Current grant funding examples
Child care and early childhood educationEarly literacy programsFamily engagement in their children’s educationPrograms that support social-emotional learningYouth development and summer learning programsPrograms supporting students of color and marginalized populationsCollege and/or career preparation programsScholarships for aspiring low-income rural and urban students to attend and complete collegePrograms to support low-income, first-generation rural student success beyond high school
Community
Grants aligned with our Community impact area support conditions that help children and families thrive in rural communities. This includes focusing on their local economies, social capital, community visioning and planning capacity, and public gathering spaces.
Current grant funding examples
Community building and engagement effortsCommunity centers and convening spacesCommunity social service centers (Where direct youth programming is provided)Arts and culture centersLibrariesRural health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers)Disaster resiliency planning and fire hallsCommunity economic development planning, feasibility studiesCommunity supports for entrepreneurs, including start-ups, business retention, and youth and women entrepreneursBusiness development services
Applying for a capital project?
We offer support for large capital projects (usually up to $250,000) aligned with our impact areas. Capital grants can fund up to one-third of a project’s total budget. Successful applications include significant community support in the form of local or regional dollars. Fifty percent of the budget should be raised before applying. This process can take three to six months.
Capital projects aligned with our Community impact area are limited to the following:
Community centers and gathering spacesSocial services centers (when direct youth programming is provided)LibrariesChildren’s museums or children’s exhibitionsSmall business incubatorsFire hallsRural health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers)Art and cultural centers
In addition, we support capital projects aligned with our Family and Education impact areas.

Eligibility

The Ford Family Foundation supports a wide range of organizations, with most of our grants awarded to 501(c)(3) nonprofits, governmental agencies and tribal nations.Our grantees are largely based in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, but we occasionally fund organizations from other states if the beneficiaries of their work are the people or communities in our region and their initiatives align with our funding priorities.The geographic focus of the proposed project should be largely (60% or more) for the benefit of residents of rural Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. We define “rural” as communities with populations of 35,000 or less and not adjacent to (or part of) an urban or metropolitan area of 50,000 or more.The organization should be up to date in filing final reports for any previous grants from the Foundation.If the organization has received funding from the Foundation within the previous 12 months, please check with the Foundation’s staff before applying again for support.

Ineligibility

We do not make grants to individuals (except through programs where recipients are chosen by a grantee institution).We do not make grants to organizations that discriminate on the basis of race, ability, gender, religion or any other protected status.We do not fund debt retirement, reserve accounts or endowments or to help defray deficits.We do not support efforts to carry out propaganda, proselytize, influence elections or affect legislation.Examples of what we don’t fundAdult-only mental health or substance abuse treatmentHousing, transportation or other basic community infrastructure like water treatment, sewage or lightingGeneral K-12 workforce and professional developmentMedical facilities when connected to a larger profit-based systemMuseums without a focus on children or strong outreach programsRoutine K-12 school curriculum developmentDebt retirement or operating deficitsEndowments or reserve fundsPropagandizing or influencing elections or legislation