Forum Offering Two Rural Philanthropy Grant Opportunities for Forum Members

United Philanthropy Forum is engaged in a multi-year initiative, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to authentically and effectively advance rural racial justice and health equity—particularly in those regions historically disadvantaged by racial, geographic, and economic inequities—by connecting, convening, and catalyzing philanthropy. The initiative strives to catalyze more and more effective philanthropic investment in rural communities—focusing on communities of color and communities of persistent poverty in rural places.

Undergirding this initiative are the Principles for Rural Philanthropic Engagement developed by our PSO Rural Philanthropy Working Group, a group of 15 Forum members who have guided this initiative for the past 18 months. We believe that authentic and effective rural philanthropy challenges preconceptions about rural places and people; acknowledges the historic and continuing marginalization, exclusions and/or disenfranchisement of rural people of color; recognizes the value of place to residents; focuses on building from within; emphasizes locally defined impact over scale; and prioritizes equity, trust-building and co-creation with local partners.

As part of this initiative, the Forum is pleased to offer two grant opportunities to our members:

• Rural Philanthropy Mini-Grants: We are offering small grants to Forum members that are intended to support learning and testing spaces to begin and/or deepen your work with your own members on rural equity. This grant opportunity is open to PSOs with all levels of experience in engaging funders on rural issues, from those with little or no experience in this area to those that are more advanced in this work. We anticipate making up to 20-30 one-year grants in the range of $2,500-­‐$7,500. Activities supported by the mini-grant should be completed by the end of 2023, and mini-grant recipients will be asked to complete a brief survey to report on the completed activities.
• Rural Funder Cohort Grants: We are offering one-year grants of up to $25,000 each to a small group of Forum members to help support their work to convene a consistent cohort of funders so that they can learn together about how to authentically and effectively advance rural racial justice and health equity—particularly in those regions historically disadvantaged by racial, geographic, and economic inequities. This funding is intended to support a PSO’s work with the cohort for a one-year period of time, preferably starting sometime in 1Q 2023 and ending by the end of March 2024.

The grant proposal submission deadline is November 11. Organizations are welcome to apply for both grant opportunities. Grant recipients will be notified by December 12 and receive funds by December 31.

 

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