Perry County Grants for Nonprofits

The Lawrence Foundation is a private family foundation focused on making grants to support environmental, human services and other causes.

The Lawrence Foundation was established in mid-2000. We make both program and operating grants and do not have any geographical restrictions on our grants. Nonprofit organizations that qualify for public charity status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or other similar organizations are eligible for grants from The Lawrence Foundation.  

Grant Amount and Types

Grants typically range between $5,000 - $10,000. In some limited cases we may make larger grants, but that is typically after we have gotten to know your organization over a period of time. We also generally don’t make multi-year grants, although we may fund the same organization on a year by year basis over a period of years.

General operating or program/project grant requests within our areas of interests are accepted. In general, regardless of whether a grant request is for general operating or program/project expenses, all of our grants will be issued as unrestricted grants.

The Foundation is dedicated to providing financial assistance to organizations committed to improving our world. Solutions to the problems of today's world still lie in the values of innovation, practicality, hard work, and compassion.

The Foundation considers applications for grants in the following areas:

• Education
• Social Service
• Health care
• Civic and cultural
• Environmental

The categories above are not intended to limit the interest of the Foundation from considering other worthwhile projects. In general, the Foundation guidelines are broad to give us flexibility in providing grants.

The majority of our grants are made in the U.S. However, like Dr. Scholl, we recognize the need for a global outlook. Non-U.S. grants are given to organizations where directors have knowledge of the grantee.

Helping the Disadvantaged Become Self-Reliant

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

Global Impact Cash Grants

Cisco welcomes applications for Global Impact Cash Grants from community partners around the world who share our vision and offer an innovative approach to a critical social challenge.

We identify, incubate, and develop innovative solutions with the most impact. Global Impact Cash Grants go to nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that address a significant social problem. We’re looking for programs that fit within our investment areas, serve the underserved, and leverage technology to improve the reach and efficiency of services. We accept applications year-round from eligible organizations. An initial information form is used to determine whether your organization will be invited to complete a full application.

Social Investment Areas

At Cisco, we make social investments in three areas where we believe our technology and our people can make the biggest impact—education, economic empowerment, and crisis response, the last of which incorporates shelter, water, food, and disaster relief. Together, these investment areas help people overcome barriers of poverty and inequality, and make a lasting difference by fostering strong global communities.

Education Investments

Our strategy is to inclusively invest in technology-based solutions that increase equitable access to education while improving student performance, engagement, and career exploration. We support K-12 solutions that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as well as literacy. We also consider programs that teach environmental sustainability, eliminate barriers to accessing climate change education, and invite student engagement globally to positively affect the environment.

What we look for:

• Innovative early grade solutions using the internet and technology to bridge the barriers preventing access to education for underserved students globally.
• Solutions that positively affect student attendance, attitudes, and behavior while inspiring action by students to improve learning outcomes, whether they participate in person, online, or in blended learning environments. 
• Solutions with high potential to replicate and scale globally, thereby increasing the availability of evidence-based solutions that support student-centricity, teacher capacity in the classroom, and increased parental participation to help students learn and develop.

Economic Empowerment

Our strategy is to invest in early stage, tech-enabled solutions that provide equitable access to the knowledge, skills, and resources that people need to support themselves and their families toward resilience, independence, and economic security.

Our goal is to support solutions that benefit individuals and families, and that contribute to local community growth and economic development in a sustainable economy.

We target our support in three interconnected areas:

• Skills development to help job seekers secure dignified employment and long-term career pathways in technology or other sectors, including environmental sustainability/green jobs.
• Inclusive entrepreneurship with small businesses as engines of local growth as well as high growth potential start-ups as large-scale job creators nationally and internationally, in technology or other sectors, including environment sustainability/green businesses.
• Banking the unbanked through relevant and affordable financial products and capacity building services.

Cisco Crisis Response

We seek to help overcome the cycle of poverty and dependence and achieve a more sustainable future through strategic investments. We back organizations that successfully address critical needs of underserved communities, because those who have their basic needs met are better equipped to learn and thrive.

What we look for:

• Innovative solutions that increase the capacity of grantees to deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently
• Design and implementation of web-based tools that increase the availability of, or improve access to, products and services that are necessary for people to survive and thrive
• Programs that increase access to clean water, food, shelter, or disaster relief and promote a more sustainable future for all
  • By policy, relief campaigns respond to significant natural disaster and humanitarian crises as opposed to those caused by human conflict. Also by policy, our investments in this area do not include healthcare solutions.

Climate Impact

Our strategy is to invest US$100 million in Cisco Foundation funds over the next decade to help reverse the impact of climate change, working toward a sustainable and regenerative future for all.

The commitment includes both grant and impact investment funding for early-stage climate innovation. Both categories of support will be focused on bold climate solutions, and the grants side will also concentrate on community education and activation. Grants will go to exceptionally aligned nonprofit organizations, while impact investments will go to highly promising for-profit solutions through the private sector and climate impact funds.

Funding comes from the Cisco Foundation and will focus on:

• Identifying bold and innovative solutions that:
  • Draw down the carbon already in the atmosphere
  • Regenerate depleted ecosystems and broadly support the transition to a regenerative future
• Developing curricular initiatives to spur community engagement that can lead to measurable behavioral change and collective action

We will prioritize organizations that can achieve, measure, and report outcomes such as:

• Reduction, capture, and/or sequestering of greenhouse gas and carbon emissions
• Increased energy efficiency and improved mapping and management of natural resources, such as ecosystem restoration, forest treatments, reforestation, and afforestation that also will help repair our water cycles
• Transition to inclusive, just, coliberatory, and regenerative operating models, ways of being, and ways of organizing economies
• Creation of, and increase in, access to green jobs and job training
• Changes in community and individual behavior that lead to carbon footprint reduction, community climate resilience, and localized roadmaps to a sustainable shared climate future for all

Centene Charitable Foundation

Successful corporate citizenship happens when companies invest in the local organizations that know their communities best. The Centene Foundation works with our local partners on initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person and community development.

Vision

Centene’s purpose is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. The Centene Foundation is an essential part of how we pursue this purpose. We achieve measurable impact for the communities we serve through partnerships and philanthropy efforts that invest in initiatives with holistic approaches to dismantling barriers to health.

Areas of Focus

Reflecting Centene’s commitment to the needs of those who rely on government-sponsored health care and to addressing social determinants of health and health equity, preference will be given to initiatives in three distinct areas of focus.

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

Pennsylvania Grant Opportunities

The PPL Foundation empowers communities by supporting student success from cradle to career; advancing diversity, equity and inclusion; and promoting the development of vibrant and sustainable communities.

The PPL Foundation’s grant programs provide grants up to $50,000 to support education, workforce development and community revitalization initiatives.

Empowering Communities Grants

Enriching the overall vitality of the community through programs that protect the environment and improve people’s lives, these grants support programs focused on:

• Environmental stewardship and education
• Economic development
• Workplace development

Mission

The DanPaul Foundation will use its resources to help train teachers and parents in early childhood development, protect children from abuse and neglect, stimulate children's personal social responsibilities, and offer them opportunities for enrichment and growth.

The Foundation will also encourage children to be concerned and informed about the environment and the underprivileged, particularly with regard to clean air and water, and adequate housing and nutrition for all.

Beliefs

The DanPaul Foundation believes that children should have ample opportunities for enrichment in their lives, and thus strives to provide many different ways to enrich and expand children's minds through direct programs and monetary support to organizations doing similar work.

We have provided or currently provide grants related to the following program areas:

• Workshops, Conferences, + Seminars: We strive to offer educational workshops, conferences, and seminars for parents and teachers on topics related to early childhood development.
• Student Scholarships: We aim to help students attending post-secondary education institutions by providing need-based and academic scholarships.
• Scientific Endeavors: We desire to advance scientific endeavors which seek to improve the quality of life for everyone in the world.
• Clean Air + Water: We hope to pass on knowledge and practical life skills to youth regarding their personal responsibility to the environment, teaching them about issues surrounding clean air and water.
• Child Advocacy: We believe in protecting children from abuse and neglect and particularly love to support programs that provide education and assistance to children as well as organizations advocating or caring for vulnerable children.
• Homelessness: We want to encourage young people to take a personal interest in seeing that adequate housing and proper nutrition, especially for the underprivileged and homeless, are available.
• Poverty + Neglect: We seek to help those in poverty as well as educate youth about their responsibility to consider the underprivileged and take care of those most in need of life's basic essentials like adequate housing and proper nutrition.
• Refugee Enrichment: We wish to help refugee youth by supporting programs that provide them enrichment and help them transition to life in a new country.

The DanPaul Foundation provides grants to 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organizations as defined by the IRS. The Foundation is interested in providing funding to programs that directly serve the health, education, development, and welfare of the world's youth.

Grants range from a few hundred dollars up to $15,000 per calendar year.

The mission of The Kids Trust Fund is to help young children of abuse grow up in a happy, safe, and exciting environment. The Kids Trust Fund was created in 2005 by and in memory of Gary L. Houck, Jr. At the age of 29, Gary became a victim of suicide. Gary’s wish was to create a fund that would provide support and services to young children who are living with physical or emotional abuse, or neglect. The Kids Trust Fund is a fund of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities.

Funding Priorities

The Kids Trust Fund invites established nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations to submit proposals to support child-focused programs and services that are within the confines of existing programs and services that your agency currently provides.

Eligible activities may include:

• Therapeutic recreational, fun activities for children of abuse;
• Early intervention services;
• Support groups for individuals or families;
• Mental, emotional, or behavioral health services.

We are interested in supporting innovative activities that directly benefit children of abuse and their families. Proposals should:

• Be innovative and not duplicate existing programs and services
• Empower children of abuse
• Be collaborative in nature
• Have the potential to become long-term solutions to existing abuse issues involving youth
• Demonstrate measurable and achievable outcomes

Perry County Community Foundation

The Perry County Community Foundation (PCCF), a regional foundation of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC), conducts an annual competitive grantmaking program for nonprofit organizations serving Perry county. PCCF seeks to fund programs and services that have the potential for the greatest impact on the quality of life and positive outcomes for individuals and families living in Perry County. Through its grantmaking, PCCF invests in innovative, collaborative approaches and solutions to community problems and supports projects that demonstrate achievable outcomes, the potential for replication as a model program, and plans for sustainability beyond the grant term.

Our Funding Priorities 

PCCF’s traditional funding areas include:

• Arts & culture
• Community development
• Education
• Environment
• Health & human services

Applicant organizations are expected to be aligned with at least one of these funding priorities.

Our Funding Categories 

Grant awards in the funding priority emphasis areas are segmented into two categories:

Program Grants

• Grants for continuing improvements to proven projects that can demonstrate a high level of broad impact;
• Pilot projects (e.g., trying something on a small scale to see if it works);
• Expansion of existing programs that reach a new target population or geographic area;
• Strategic alliances with like agencies or non-traditional partners; or
• To meet an emerging community need.

Capacity Building Grants

Grants for projects that strengthen the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission. Projects should focus on building infrastructure to support an organization’s long-term growth and development, including but not limited to:

• Technical assistance; 
• Organizational capacity building;
• Technology infrastructure and equipment upgrades;
• Board/staff development;
• Strategic planning;
• Training; and
• Start-up and general operating support for grassroots agencies.

You may only submit one application per round for consideration.

Size of Grants 

The maximum grant award is $3,500.

PCCF is unable to fund 100% of any project.

The Martin M. Sacks Memorial Fund, a fund of the The Foundation for Enhancing Communities, was established in 1984 in memory of Martin M. Sacks, a well-known accountant and handball devotee. Mr. Sacks was committed to supporting nonprofit organizations that provide programs and services for the disadvantaged and underserved, particularly youth.

Funding Priorities

The Martin M. Sacks Memorial Fund invites established 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to submit proposals to support youth and family oriented programs and services that are consistent with the mission of your agency. Grants are awarded to eligible nonprofit organizations serving the south central PA counties of Cumberland, Dauphin, and/or Perry Counties. Preference will be given to programs and/or services that are provided to or within Harrisburg and the immediate surrounding areas. The term of the grant is one year. The committee seeks to support innovative activities that directly benefit at-risk children, youth, and their families.

Eligible activities may include (but are not limited to):

• Services for homeless women and their children; 
• Therapeutic counseling services;
• Domestic violence and abuse services;
• Support groups for individuals or families;
• Physical, emotional or behavioral health services;
• Sports and recreation programs;
• After-school programs;
• Services for children/youth with special needs.

Proposals should:

• Be innovative and not duplicate existing programs and services; 
• Empower the disadvantaged and underserved;
• Be collaborative in nature;
• Demonstrate measurable and achievable outcomes.

Background

 The Emerging Philanthropist Program (EPP) seeks to engage Central PA’s emerging business and community leaders with the great possibilities that lie within philanthropic endeavors in Harrisburg.

The program helps emerging philanthropists answer such questions as: What does it mean to be philanthropic?; How do I understand the needs of our community?; and What can I do to make an impact? Additionally, The Emerging Philanthropist Program provides resources and educational opportunities for Harrisburg’s developing leaders who wish to be actively engaged in giving back to their community. In May of each year, the EPP program will announce the funding priority to be used to guide its grantmaking.

Funding Priorities 

In 2023, the EPP program seeks grant proposals from nonprofit organizations providing health and human services programs focused on food security in Franklin, Lebanon, Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry and Northern York Counties. Please note that select applicants will be asked to complete an interview and/or a site visit with participants of the EPP program as part of the grant review process. 

PNC Foundation

Strengthening and enriching the lives of our neighbors in communities where we live and work.

Vision & Mission

For decades, we have provided resources to seed ideas, foster development initiatives and encourage leadership in nonprofit organizations where imagination and determination are at work enhancing people's lives everyday.

The PNC Foundation's priority is to form partnerships with community-based nonprofit organizations in order to enhance educational opportunities, with an emphasis on early childhood education, and to promote the growth of communities through economic development initiatives.

Foundation Grant

The PNC Foundation supports a variety of nonprofit organizations with a special emphasis on those that work to achieve sustainability and touch a diverse population, in particular, those that support early childhood education and/or economic development.

Education

The PNC Foundation supports educational programs for children and youth, particularly early childhood education initiatives that meet the criteria established through PNC Grow Up Great. Specifically, PNC Grow Up Great grants must:

• Support early education initiatives that benefit children from birth to age five; and
• Serve a majority of children (>50%) from low- to moderate-income families; and
• Adhere to all other standard PNC Foundation guidelines, as outlined on the PNC Foundation website, applicant eligibility quiz, as well as the Foundation policies and procedures; and
• Include one or a combination of the following:
  • direct services/programs for children in their classroom or community;
  • professional development/workforce development for early childhood educators;
  • family and/or community engagement in children’s early learning
• Additional considerations:
  • The grant focus should include math, science, reading, vocabulary development, the arts, financial education, or social/emotional development.
  • The grant recipient, or collaborative partner, should have early childhood education as an area of focus. If the organization’s focus is beyond birth to age five, the specific grant must be earmarked for birth to age five.
  • Incorporate opportunities for PNC volunteers in classroom or non-classroom-based activities.

Economic Development

Economic development organizations, including those which enhance the quality of life through neighborhood revitalization, cultural enrichment and human services are given support. Priority is given to community development initiatives that strategically promote the growth of low-and moderate-income communities and/or provide services to these communities.

• Affordable Housing
  • The PNC Foundation understands the critical need for affordable housing for low-and moderate-income individuals.
  • We are committed to providing support to nonprofit organizations that:
    • give counseling and services to help these individuals maintain their housing stock;
    • offer transitional housing units and programs; and/or
    • offer credit counseling assistance to individuals, helping them to prepare for homeownership.
• Community Development
  • Because small businesses are often critical components of community growth and help foster business development, the PNC Foundation provides support to nonprofit organizations that
    • offer technical assistance to, or loan programs for, small businesses located in low-and moderate-income areas or
    • support small businesses that employ low-and moderate-income individuals.
• Community Services
  • Support is given to social services organizations that benefit the health, education, quality of life or provide essential services for low-and moderate-income individuals and families.
  • The PNC Foundation supports job training programs and organizations that provide essential services for their families.
• Arts & Culture
  • Support is given for cultural enrichment programs benefitting the community.
• Revitalization & Stabilization of Low-and Moderate-Income Areas
  • The PNC Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that serve low-and moderate-income neighborhoods by improving living and working conditions.
  • Support is given to organizations that help stabilize communities, eliminate blight and attract and retain businesses and residents to the community.

Our Mission

The Hansen Family Foundation provides opportunities to domestic, international, secular, and non-secular organizations that support the American way of life, which is defined by the principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Causes

Children

The Hansen Family Foundation supports causes dedicated to helping children both home as well as abroad. Learn More

Education

The Hansen Family Foundation believes that a decent education should be made available to everyone, young or old, the world over. Learn More

Animals

The Hansen Family Foundation believes in helping those who cannot speak on their own behalf. Learn More

Environmental

The Hansen Family Foundation is dedicated to preserving the world we all share. Learn More

Humanitarian

The Hansen Family Foundation views the plight of our fellow man as an opportunity to actively engage and effect change. Learn More

Arts & Culture

The Hansen Family Foundation supports all forms of artistic and cultural endeavors. Learn More

Arts for All Partnership Grant

Established in 2015, The Arts for All Partnership is a partnership between the Cultural Enrichment Fund and the Greater Harrisburg Foundation, a regional foundation of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities. This unique collaborative funding initiative aims to improve the efficiency of arts grant funding and increase the overall impact of grant funding for arts programming in our communities.

Funding Priorities

Applications will be accepted from any nonprofit organization in the Capital Region conducting a program designed to integrate cultural appreciation in the everyday lives of underserved audiences.

The Arts for All Partnership is most interested in proposals that will increase access to the arts in the Capital Region through:

• Free public performances for families
• Ticket subsidy programs that fill houses
• Innovative programs that engage and build young audiences
• Educational outreach programs

Equipment may be requested if its acquisition would result in the achievement of a significant efficiency, is required to initiate a new program, or would greatly enhance an existing program.

Size of Grants

The maximum grant award is $5,000. In 2018 grant awards ranged from $1,000-$5,000. The Arts for All Partnership cannot fund 100% of any project.

Community Grants

State Farm is committed to helping build safer, stronger and better-educated communities.

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We are committed to auto and home safety programs and activities that help people manage the risks of everyday life.
• We invest in education, economic empowerment and community development projects, programs and services that help people realize their dreams.
• We help maintain the vibrancy of our communities by assisting nonprofits that support community revitalization.

Good Neighbor Citizenship company grants focus on safety, community development and education.

Focus Areas

Safety Grants

We strive to keep our customers and communities safe. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Auto safety — improving driver, passenger, vehicle or roadway safety
• Home safety — shielding homes from fires, crime or natural disasters
• Disaster preparedness and mitigation
• Disaster recovery

Community Development

We support nonprofits that invest and develop stronger neighborhoods. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Affordable housing — home construction and repair
• Commercial/small business development
• Job training
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Financial literacy
• Sustainable housing and transportation
• Food insecurity

Education

Our education funding is directed toward initiatives that support the following programs:

• Higher education
• K-12 academic performance
• K-12 STEM
• Pathways for college and career success

John Crain Kunkel Foundation Grant

Mission

The John Crain Kunkel Foundation sees equal value in all lives. And so we are dedicated to improving the quality of life for all individuals within the State of Pennsylvania.

In furtherance of that goal, the John Crain Kunkel Foundation supports religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and primarily within Dauphin, Cumberland, Lebanon, Perry, and Juniata Counties.

Grants will be considered to charities and institutions outside Pennsylvania, such as Yale University, so long as they serve in part an area, persons, or communities within the Commonwealth.

There is an often quoted parable that tells of two people fishing downstream who are startled to see a person floating down the river, struggling for life. Working together, the fisher folk pull the person to safety but shortly after they notice another person crying for help. Again, they pull the person to safety. Other community members hear what is happening and rush to help. As the fisher folk tire, volunteers take their place, and the community works together all day and all night to safely pull more and more people from the river. The next morning the community members have a new idea—we need to go upstream and find out why so many people are falling in the water. Upon walking upstream, the community members find that people are drawn to the edge of a cliff to look at the river and its beauty. Unfortunately, there is no safe way to do this and many of them fall. The community members return and report the number of people who have fallen into the river due to the lack of a protective barrier on the cliff. In response, the community builds a wall behind which people may safely view the water. Some still fall, but there are far fewer.

Funding Priorities

• The Greater Harrisburg Community Foundation (GHCF) UPstream grant opportunity seeks to improve our area communities by supporting existing or new “upstream” systems, interventions, programs, or projects that attempt to create positive social change by addressing a problem at its source rather than managing its “downstream” symptoms.
• This grant opportunity is open to singular or collective nonprofit organizations whose proposals will serve the GHCF service area of Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon, and/or Perry Counties and the Dillsburg Area of Northern York County.
• GHCF UPstream is available to organizations of all sizes, budgets, and reaches.
• The number of grant awards will be dependent upon the quantity of qualified applicants and funds sought.

GHCF UPstream welcomes creative and strategic solutions that seek to address the source of systemic issues within the communities you serve. Applicants may seek support for ANY “upstream” project, program, or intervention that best meets the needs of the population to be served. Examples of upstream projects include, but are not limited to: access to quality education, access to a safe and healthy environment; life skills training; materials that increase accessibility or improve an individual’s self-sufficiency; availability of reliable and safe transportation that improves an individual or group’s ability to grow, learn, or address a key need; animal spay/neuter clinics; early health screenings; job training and placement; support of basic needs that work to support an individual or group’s ability to grow, learn, or address a key need. The principal focus of GHCF UPstream is the support of any grant application that best presents upstream solutions to any area of community need. In addition, GHCF is empowered by a range of special funds which serve to collectively strengthen our area communities through shared themes and also welcomes upstream applications that address:

• Education: Early childhood education; education & development programs for children & youth; educational programs serving adults
• Environment & Parks: Environmental stewardship; horticulture & the arts; health & environment; park beautification & improvement
• Health & Wellness: Health & human services; programs and projects focusing upon: cancer awareness and/or research, dental care for those in need, HIV & AIDS, individuals with debilitating or terminal illness, Individuals with intellectual disabilities, prevention of head and/or spinal cord injury, purchasing of devices that improve accessibility
• Homelessness & Hunger: Programs & projects addressing homelessness & hunger
• Mental Health: Counseling for children with terminally ill family members; guidance, counseling, or programming that includes guidance and/or counseling for youths; programs and projects that address mental health
• Seniors: Programs & projects serving older adults
• Communities of Focus: Programs and projects that benefit residents of Millersburg, a borough of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Disaster relief & human services that serve the communities of Lebanon City, PA and Cressona, PA. Projects to enhance Camp Hill Borough parks provided by youth organizations such as Scout programs or other youth organizations; programs & projects that focus upon or nurture access to early childhood education within Camp Hill.
• Please note: each community of focus is supported by special funds and parameters established by caring community members and is specific to the respective community.

Attention Prospective Arts Applicants! – The Greater Harrisburg Community Foundation recognizes the artistic, cultural, and economic value of the arts and is pleased to offer funding opportunities for the arts through The Arts for All Partnership, a collaboration between the Greater Harrisburg Community Foundation and the Cultural Enrichment Fund. This unique collaborative funding initiative aims to improve the efficiency of arts grant funding and increase the overall impact of grant funding for arts programming in our communities. Prospective grant applicants whose project is centered upon the arts and access to the arts, will be best served by seeking funding support through The Arts for All Partnership rather than GHCF Upstream.

Size of Grants

GHCF UPstream seeks both large and small proposals. The amount of funds sought should be reflective of the size of your project and the work to be accomplished. Grant awards will range from $500 – $10,000; in 2019 awards ranged from $1,500-$10,000. The maximum grant for any proposal is $10,000. Grants are awarded for one year. 

About

The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative catalyzing social impact on a grand scale. Every year we select and nurture a group of big, bold solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges, and with the support of an inspiring group of donors and supporters, come together to get them launched.

Housed at TED, the nonprofit with a long track record of surfacing ideas worth spreading, and with support from leading social impact advisor The Bridgespan Group, the funding collective is comprised of several respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy.

Our goal is to match bold ideas with catalytic resources.

• We encourage the world’s inspirational changemakers to dream bigger than ever before.
• Help shape their best ideas into viable multi-year plans.
• Present those solutions in a compelling way to potential supporters.

The Process

Every year, The Audacious Project works with proven change-makers to surface their best, boldest ideas for tackling global problems.

Sourcing & review

Projects are sourced from public applications and a global network of partners and donors. They are narrowed down to a group of finalists whose ideas are representative of a broad range of geographies and issue areas while elevating leaders with proximity to the communities they serve.

Idea shaping & investment support

Each finalist project goes through a rigorous ideation, due diligence, and investment support process, to ensure their proposal is achievable and compelling.

Funding & launch

Finalist projects are presented privately to groups of donors and are then publicly unveiled at TED. Funded projects then pursue their plans and share regular updates on key milestones reached with donors and the public.

Is Your Idea Audacious?

• Are you a changemaker with a bold vision?
• Are you a non-profit with an experienced team equipped to receive large scale philanthropic support?
• Is your idea a proven concept that aspires to create a better world?
• We look for ideas that cover a wide range of issues, from global health and climate change, to social justice and education.

What Makes An Idea Audacious?

Inspire

• Transformative vision
  • Your idea should capture a bold vision for tackling one of the world's most urgent topics.
• Creating a better world
  • It is your opportunity to take a giant leap forward; you may be tempted to think incrementally, but remember for it to be bold, your idea should offer significant, enduring impact.
  • This vision should bring us much closer to your version of an ideal world in a matter of years rather than generations.
• Innovative and original
  • There should be a unique aspect or creative element to your approach that challenges convention or status quo or changes the narrative for the greater good.

Convince

• Proven concept
  • There should be evidence that the idea will have impact based on a track record of past success, a demand from those that would be affected, and justified confidence that results can be sustained in the future.
• A bold vision that has clear outcomes
  • There should be a sense of where you will be at the end of a multi-year funding term and the strategy, resources and timeline required to achieve it. We want to hear about the changes that would take place because of your idea, not just the components that go into implementing it.

• Established support
  • You and your capable and confident team have the backing of a nonprofit, NGO, or institution (or is part of a collaboration between multiple such entities). This organization should be able to receive philanthropic funds and have the core infrastructure necessary to support the work. (Note: Past projects have had an annual operating budget of $1 million or more.)

Please refer to FAQ for additional guidelines.

Ameriprise Financial Grantmaking

At Ameriprise Financial, giving back is deeply rooted in our culture. We’ve initiated positive change in the communities where we live and work for more than 120 years. We believe our community involvement enables us to actively live our values. Through grant making, volunteerism and employee and financial advisor gift matching programs, we support a diverse group of over 6,000 nonprofits across the country.

Focus Areas

Awarding grant dollars to nonprofits is one way we strengthen our communities and help individuals on a path to financial independence. To ensure we're meeting the needs of our communities and making an even greater collective impact, we focus on three key giving areas when awarding grants.

Volunteer engagement is a priority across all focus areas:

The engagement of Ameriprise employees and financial advisors is a critical component of our philanthropy. Whether it’s serving on a nonprofit board, engaging friends, clients and community members in volunteering or providing skills-based support, our relationships with nonprofits go deep. For this reason, we give priority across all focus areas to applications where there is active volunteer engagement of Ameriprise advisors and employees. 

Meeting Basic Needs

At Ameriprise Financial, we help clients achieve financial security and peace of mind. That’s satisfying, meaningful work. We also help the people in our neighborhoods who struggle to meet basic needs such as where their next meal comes from, where they’ll sleep tonight or how they’ll find a higher wage job. We’re here to help them through the three platforms of our Meeting Basic Needs focus area.

Consideration is given to applications addressing the following: 

• Hunger
• Food banks, food shelves and food pantries, daily meal programs or meal services for the homebound
• Hunger-relief programs targeted to meet the special needs of children, ethnic populations or veterans
• Food programs run by nonprofits where hunger is not their sole focus, for example a youth meal program at the YWCA or a backpack program run by a Boys & Girls Club
• Shelter
• Emergency shelter, including youth homelessness
• Transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and efforts to end chronic homelessness
• Housing-first models (programs quickly providing housing and then addressing needed services)
• Achieving and maintaining home ownership, repair and maintenance efforts helping keep seniors, veterans and other populations in their homes 
• Adult Self-Sufficiency: Programs serving adults age 21 and older that help address the following areas:
• Basic hard and soft skills that help adults achieve economic and family stability
• Basic financial and budgeting skills
• Increase employability and wages, including work readiness and job transitions
• Employment of disabled adults

Supporting Community Vitality

We believe communities should be strong, healthy and resilient. We want livable places for all, where neighbors look out for one another, cultural events are well-attended and people pull together in times of crisis and joy. We work to create economic vitality and cultural enrichment through the following areas of focus.

Consideration is given to applications addressing the following: 

• Community Development
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Economic development
• Strengthening and supporting small businesses and nonprofits through technical expertise
• Cultural Enrichment
• Arts education
• Access for underserved populations
• Diverse artists and performances that spark topical community conversations 

Volunteer Driven Causes: Ameriprise employees and financial advisors are outstanding volunteers who serve in teams and also as individuals bringing personal skill-sets to nonprofits. Volunteering is part of the culture at Ameriprise and we are proud to support communities through contributions of both service and financial resources. 

Funding for Volunteer-Driven Causes is determined by current Ameriprise volunteerism. In general, funding is in proportion to the size of the Ameriprise volunteer team supporting a nonprofit. A team may include employees, financial advisors and/or staff or a combination of any Ameriprise volunteers. 

Greater Harrisburg Foundation’s (GHF) Benjamin Franklin Trust Fund

Benjamin Franklin’s legacy lives on at The Foundation for Enhancing Community (TFEC) through the Greater Harrisburg Foundation’s (GHF) Benjamin Franklin Trust Fund. In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote his last will and testament. In his will, Franklin directed that after 200 years, half of the accumulated funds of his estate go to the State of Pennsylvania to be used for whatever the public officials felt was necessary. The State Legislature split the money among most of the community foundations across the state, of which The Foundation for Enhancing Communities was included. Counties which do not have a community foundation are, for the purposes of the Benjamin Franklin Trust Fund, covered by an adjacent county with a community foundation. For purposes of grantmaking from the Benjamin Franklin Trust Fund of the Greater Harrisburg Foundation, a regional foundation of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities, the Fund serves Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lebanon, Mifflin, and Perry Counties, and the Dillsburg area of York County.

Funding Priorities

The GHF Benjamin Franklin Trust Fund grant opportunity seeks to support programs and services that work to increase knowledge and/or quality of life or that inspire positive outcomes for individuals and families living in the service area of Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Mifflin, Lebanon, and Perry Counties, and/or the Dillsburg area of York County.

Grant Size

In honor of the period during which Franklin lived, the maximum grant is $1,700. Grants are awarded for one year. The GHF Benjamin Franklin Trust Fund will not fund 100% of any project.

Our Mission

The Tony Robbins Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of people often forgotten.

We’re dedicated to creating positive changes in the lives of youth, seniors, the hungry, homeless and the imprisoned population, all who need a boost envisioning a happier and deeply satisfying way of life. Our passionate staff, generous donors and caring group of international volunteers provide the vision, inspiration, and resources needed to empower these important members of our society.

Grants

Dedicated to meeting challenges within the global community, creating solutions and taking action, The Tony Robbins Foundation provides monetary donations to various organizations around the world. Funding requests are evaluated on an ongoing basis. We look for organizations that align with our mission to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of those often forgotten.

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

Grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Louis J. Appell, Jr., Preservation Fund for Central Pennsylvania are designed to encourage preservation at the local level by providing money for the maintenance and preservation of historic places in Central Pennsylvania (see “Eligible Applicants” for specific geographical boundaries). These grants enable local groups to respond proactively to a preservation challenge by providing funding for bricks and mortar preservation and technical assistance, while building public awareness of the value of preserving Central Pennsylvania’s unique heritage.

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

Pennsylvania Grant Opportunities

The PPL Foundation empowers communities by supporting student success from cradle to career; advancing diversity, equity and inclusion; and promoting the development of vibrant and sustainable communities.

The PPL Foundation’s grant programs provide grants up to $50,000 to support education, workforce development and community revitalization initiatives.

Energizing Education Grants

Supporting equitable and engaging high-quality educational opportunities for all students, these grants fund programs focused on:

• STEM (with a focus on programs that inspires students to pursue careers in the energy industry)
• Literacy and summer learning
• College and career readiness

Pennsylvania Grant Opportunities

The PPL Foundation empowers communities by supporting student success from cradle to career; advancing diversity, equity and inclusion; and promoting the development of vibrant and sustainable communities.

The PPL Foundation’s grant programs provide grants up to $50,000 to support education, workforce development and community revitalization initiatives.

Powering Equity Grants

Advancing diversity, equity and inclusion through programs that move racial and social justice forward such as:

• Diversity Education and advocacy programs
• Programs focused on protecting underrepresented residents (ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and veterans)

University Center at Harrisburg Grant Fund

The University Center at Harrisburg Grant Fund seeks to award grants to non-profit organizations for specific programs and projects in the area of skill development and workforce development. Applicant must be a qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit organization or an accredited educational entity and must serve individuals at locations within Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, Franklin, Lebanon, and northern York Counties.

Funding Priorities

The University Center at Harrisburg Grant Fund seeks to fund nonprofit organizations providing services in the area of skill development and workforce development.