As the region’s largest local funder, The Community Foundation is proud to partner with and support thousands of nonprofits working to make our communities more equitable, just, and thriving places to live and work. We are now accepting proposals for grant opportunities from the following funds at The Community Foundation:
Achieving health equity requires more than improving individual health outcomes and expanding access to services. A vision for health equity demands that we directly engage the social determinants of health —societal factors that have been shaped by centuries of laws, public policies, behaviors, and practices that have worked together to produce the disparate outcomes we see today.
The Health Equity Fund will offer grant opportunities for demonstration projects that provide proof of concept and determine potential for scalability. The projects must consist of two or more partner organizations working collaboratively in a new and targeted way to implement economic mobility models that increase strategic economic participation and build community wealth for people and communities with the greatest economic and health disparities.
Grants will be awarded to select partner organizations that meet the following minimum eligibility criteria:
At least two partner organizations must work together to execute the proposed project.
All members of the partnership (defined as the organizations that will receive a grant agreement and funds, if awarded) must have current status as a 501(c)(3) public charity designation. Organizations that have not yet received a 501(c)(3) designation must have a fiscal sponsor (an entity will need to have an EIN or the EIN of their fiscal sponsor in order to access the application in the online portal). The fiscal sponsor must meet all eligibility requirements at the time of submission. For profit entities such as LLCs and sole proprietorships are not eligible to apply for funding.
Each partner organization must not be listed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals or the Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Group lists.
Each partner organization must be both based in and primarily implementing in the District of Columbia.
Each partner organization should approach their work through a racial equity lens.
Each partner organization’s staff and board leadership should reflect the communities served by the organization and have a demonstrated track record of community engagement as demonstrated by the existence of community advisory boards, community listening sessions, community representation on the board of directors, or other measures defined by the organization.
If previous funding has been received from The Community Foundation, each partner organization must be current in reporting to The Community Foundation as specified in the grant agreement.
Organizations who have previously received a Health Equity Fund grant cannot submit an LOI in the same year an initial award was made.
Qualified respondents are invited to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) until March 2026 (or until funds have been exhausted). All respondents are strongly encouraged to watch the recording of the FAQ webinar held on October 10, 2023.
For additional information, please review the LOI Guidelines below, as well as the Health Equity Fund webpage.
Qualified respondents are invited to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) until March 2026 (or until funds have been exhausted).
Qualified respondents are invited to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) until March 2026 (or until funds have been exhausted).
Please email [email protected] with any questions you may have. No phone calls, please.
The David Bradt Nonprofit Education Fund’s purpose is to provide an annual award that will enable a nonprofit leader in the Greater Washington region to attend an intensive executive training program. The David Bradt Nonprofit Leadership Award will grant between $5,000 to $10,000 for leaders to participate in professional development programs that will enhance their leadership, creative thinking, strategy, and management skills. Read our list of pre-vetted programs for examples.
Awardees have up to two years to use the award. The award will be primarily applied to the tuition/fees of the selected program but a portion may be allotted for related travel expenses.
Once selected, the awardee must apply and be accepted to a leadership program. The awardee then will update The Community Foundation on the cost of the program and related travel expenses as well as any other aid awarded by the program itself. As a final step, the David Bradt Nonprofit Education Fund will make a grant to the awardee’s organization which will pay both the tuition and travel costs directly.
Eligible applicants must currently work in a senior leadership role at a nonprofit that directly serves the Greater Washington region. Priority will go to applicants with at least five years of senior leadership experience in the nonprofit sector or equivalent leadership experience from government/business sectors.
The selection committee will not consider applications from organizations with a national or international focus (i.e. organizations which are headquartered in the Greater Washington region, but provide no direct services to local residents).
Knowing that this award can make a deep impact for both the individual awardee and their nonprofit, the steering committee has determined they will not select candidates who work at the same organizations as past award recipients (see the application guidelines for the complete list).
The selection committee will have a two-stage process. The first step is to submit a Letter of Interest using the online form by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 21.
By April 2025, the selection committee will identify finalists who will be invited to submit a more formal application and undergo an interview process. The cohort of awardees will be announced at a reception in the fall of 2025.
QUESTIONS: Should you have any questions, contact Olivia Hsu at [email protected]. No phone calls, please.
Congratulations to our 2024 David Bradt Leadership Award recipients: Rachna Singal Krishnan, CEO & Executive Director of The Women’s Center, Hugo Mogollon, Executive Director of FRESHFARM, and Tiffany Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Martha’s Table.
