The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts is inviting new grant applications for its Activation Fund and its Health Care and Health Promotion Synergy Initiative (“Synergy Initiative”) in 2019. Letters of Intent to the Foundation’s Activation Fund are due April 24, and letters of Intent to the Synergy Initiative are due July 10.
The Activation Fund supports discrete, one-year projects in Central Massachusetts that demonstrate creative and innovative approaches to addressing community health concerns and that move an organization to its next level of capacity and effectiveness, which can be sustained beyond the term of the grant. The Synergy Initiative provides three to five years of funding for collaborative projects that target health issues in Central Massachusetts with integrated, comprehensive strategies.
For information about the guidelines for each of these funding opportunities to assess the fit of a proposed project with either the Activation Fund or Synergy Initiative, click below.
Contact: Daniel P. Germain
Phone: 508.438.0009 x4
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Mat-Su Health Foundation (Wasilla, AK)
The Mat-Su Health Foundation now accepts applications for Healthy Impact and Discovery grants year-round. Previously, these programs accepted applications only twice annually.
Healthy Impact grants fund projects over $15,000, which improve the health and wellness of people living in the Mat-Su Borough. Discovery Grants fund projects over $15,000, which address recommendations found in specific MSHF-sponsored research. The goal of the Discovery Grant program is to fund innovative responses to systems, programmatic and policy-level challenges in Mat-Su Health Foundation focus areas. The projects must respond to the specific recommendations in the reports.
The Mat-Su Health Foundation also offers Target Wellness grants for requests below $15,000; that program already accepts applications year-round.
Contact: Robin Minard
Phone: 907.352.2892
Email: rminard@healthymatsu.org
New York State Health Foundation (New York, NY)
Funding is now available through a New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) Request for Proposals (RFP): Sponsoring Conference Participation in Support of Healthy Communities, Consumer Empowerment, and Veterans’ Health. Many organizations across the State are doing smart, innovative work that is relevant to NYSHealth’s priority areas of Building Healthy Communities and Empowering Health Care Consumers and its focus area on Veterans’ Health. These organizations should be elevating their work and informing key stakeholders at conferences and other convenings in New York and nationally. Yet, because of a lack of resources, they are often unable to do so. Through this RFP, NYSHealth will sponsor community-based organizations, health departments, and other low-resource organizations to attend and present at local, state, and national conferences related to these funding areas. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.
Email: info@nyshealth.org
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Retirement Research Foundation (Chicago, IL)
The Retirement Research Foundation’s (RRF) next proposal application deadline is May 1, 2019. The Retirement Research Foundation is one of the nation’s first private foundations devoted exclusively to aging and retirement issues. Throughout its history, RRF has awarded more than $200 million for innovative projects that benefit older Americans. Through its responsive grants program, RRF supports: advocacy, direct service, education, and training programs for professionals working with elders and research to seek causes and solutions to significant problems of older adults.
Proposals for direct service projects are considered from organizations based in seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, or Florida. Advocacy, training, and research projects, all with national relevance, are considered from organizations located anywhere in the United States.
Contact: Irene Frye
Phone: 773.714.8080
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Rx Foundation (Brookfield, CT)
The Rx Foundation announced a new grant program that aims to boost the capacity and infrastructure of state-level nonprofit organizations to champion issues that promote social justice through better health and better health care, and build enduring networks that can sustain advocacy and citizen-engagement on issues that impact health and health care in their communities. Based on a commitment to health equity, and the belief that every person should have access to affordable, high-quality health care, the Building Capacity for Health Advocacy grants program is open to qualified applicants nationwide.
Letters of inquiry will be accepted through August 1, 2019. The Rx Foundation will invite a full proposal from applicants with a high-scoring letter of inquiry. Grant awards will be made at several times throughout 2019.
The Rx Foundation seeks to build partnerships with organizations that will function as hubs for building advocacy and citizen-engagement capacity and infrastructure among networks and coalitions of non-profit organizations statewide. A hub organization must have a clear vision for impacting health and health care in the context of its state, a pragmatic plan for strengthening technical skills and infrastructure, and an effective team on the ground to lead the work with nonprofit partners.
The Rx Foundation recognizes that a wide variety of factors impact health and health care, and seeks to create capacity that will sustain advocacy and citizen-engagement efforts as priorities evolve. These factors include equal access to coverage and care, health equity, social and economic needs, links between environmental determinants and health disparities, racial justice, and income inequality.
Grants will be awarded for one to three years and range from $50,000 to $150,000 annually. Hub organizations are permitted to budget up to 10 percent of the total grant as internal general operating support. Hub organizations are encouraged to allocate a portion of the budget as general operating support field grants to nonprofit partners that engage with the hub in the capacity-building work.
Capacity-building and technical assistance priorities under this grant program include:
- Power Analysis and Strategic Impact Planning: Developing an understanding of the current landscape and a detailed strategy and plan for achievable health-policy change that improves lives.
- Leadership Development: Training and development not only of staff and board leadership, but also of constituency-based leadership, to create champions for social justice through better health and better health care.
- Training: Hosting or participating in training to understand policy-making systems (e.g., legislative process, local government) and to build advocacy skills (e.g., power-mapping, phone banking), including advocacy training for direct-service organizations.
- Communications: Training, strategy, and resource development in communications, including peer-to-peer, traditional media, and social media.
- Data & Technology Resources: Improving access to and utilization of databases, data analysis, digital organizing, and other technology tools/strategies.
- Civic Engagement: Building, improving, and expanding grassroots organizing and other constituent- and community-engagement strategies.
- Coalition Building: Building, or improving and expanding on existing partnerships to articulate shared goals, develop and execute consistent communications strategies, set attainable milestones, and track performance.
The capacity building and technical assistance portion of the grants are not intended to cover recurring general expenses. This grant program does not support event sponsorship or capital campaigns.
Please submit any questions you have about the grant opportunity, process, and instructions via email to buildingcapacity@rxfoundation.org. For updates, click here.
Contact: Jennie Riley
Email: jriley@rxfoundation.org