VCF: Samara Fund Grants

VCF: Samara Fund Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Vermont Community Foundation
Amount: Up to US $5,000
Last Updated: October 23, 2025

Summary

The Samara Fund Grants, offered by the Vermont Community Foundation, focus on supporting LGBTQ+ led initiatives in Vermont. With awards typically ranging from $750 to $1,000, the fund prioritizes projects that promote empowerment, health, and safety for the LGBTQ+ community. Core values include anti-racism, transparency, and accessibility. The fund is committed to funding ideas that engage diverse groups, including BIPOC and trans individuals, ultimately fostering positive change across the state.

Overview

About the Vermont Community Foundation The Vermont Community Foundation was established in 1986 as a permanent source of support for the state. We are a family of hundreds of funds and foundations created by Vermonters to serve their charitable goals. We provide the advice, investment vehicles, and back-office expertise to make your giving easy and inspiring. Together, our funds and programs put more than $60 million a year to work in Vermont and beyond, through grants and investments. Our Mission Better Together: Inspiring giving and bringing together people and resources to make a difference in Vermont. The Samara Fund The Samara Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation is a group of Queer and Trans Vermonters committed to a vision of transformational grants and scholarships to the people and groups throughout Vermont who demonstrate their dedication to the empowerment, health, and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV positive (LGBTQ+) people. How Much Are The Awards? The awards vary by year but typically range between $750 and $1,000.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. What We Fund The Samara Fund will grant funds to LGBTQ+ led projects and organizations in Vermont this year. We've taken time to pause, reflect, and queer up how we approach every aspect of our work as a fund over the last year. We are emerging from our process clear that our purpose is to fund people, ideas, and small groups for the LGBTQ+ community in Vermont. Core values guide our work. We are:Anti-racist and anti-oppressive by practicing intersectionality, power-shifting, and transformative justice both internally and externally. This includes being proudly trans-inclusive in every level of our work. Transparent with our community and funders about how we work. Queering fundraising and redistributing wealth for a bigger impact on the Vermont LGBTQ+ community. Prioritizing accessibility, gratitude, and accountability while queering our work to make it fun, connective, and sustainable.Our values guide how we fund. We offer five distinct types of funding:General organizational support Project-specific support to organizations Emergent (unplanned) needs for organizations Sponsorship of queer events Scholarships for LGBTQ+ high school students committed to positive change for LGBTQ+ people who seek to enroll at a four-year college or university, a career or technical college, or a vocational programWe are eager to return to funding LGBTQ+ community-centered projects across the state and look forward to reconnecting with our community.

Ineligibility

Samara does not make grants toindividualsreligious organizations for religious purposespolitical campaignsfor-profit corporations or businessescapital campaignsdeficits or funding shortfallswork that has already been donemore than one grant in the same calendar year