Private Grants for Nonprofits

Note: Applications to the Creag Foundation are by invitation only. If you believe that your organization fits our funding criteria, you are welcome to submit a letter of inquiry. 

What We Do

The Creag Foundation is a private grant making foundation established in 2009 in Woodinville, Washington.

We provide grants to 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organizations with innovative approaches to addressing current social problems.

Who We Are

The founders of the Creag Foundation believe that meaningful change can only be achieved through hard work, creativity and passion. They also understand the practical mechanisms that allow charitable organizations to succeed and grow. As a group, Creag Foundation principals are dedicated to helping today’s most innovative programs improve the human condition in a wide variety of ways.

Our Focus

The broad purpose of the Foundation is to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations who are innovators in the field of human services. Our particular focus is on smaller organizations that are just starting out or established organizations that are looking for funding to take their organization in a new direction.

NOTE: We are shifting to a rolling process for identifying and vetting organizations. This will allow us to revisit some of the most promising ideas in our existing pool and see how they are progressing, while also searching for new ideas.

If your organization meets the above criteria and you believe your idea is a fit for The Audacious Project, we encourage you to complete the brief survey. We will review every submission on a rolling basis and the link will stay open all year; over time, we may contact a small number of survey responders to submit an application.

About

Housed at TED, which has a long track record of surfacing ideas worth spreading, and supported by The Bridgespan Group, the project is a unique partnership between some of the most respected organizations in philanthropy and the public. The Audacious Project attempts to address a major frustration faced by the world’s change-makers. Without access to venture capital or stock markets, social entrepreneurs have to pitch donors one-by-one, often a deeply inefficient process for all involved. The Audacious Project aims to: (1) encourage the world’s greatest change-agents to dream bigger than ever before (2) shape their best ideas into viable multi-year plans and (3) present those ideas in a compelling way to potential supporters. Our goal is to make philanthropy more collaborative, more inspiring — and more effective.

Launched in 2018, The Audacious Project has already shown what humanity can accomplish when bold ideas meet real resources. From the thousands of people in the US awaiting trials from home because of The Bail Project’s fast growth, to the hundreds of thousands of smallscale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa enjoying better harvests because of One Acre Fund’s increased capacity, The Audacious Project is empowering social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders to take on the world’s biggest and most urgent challenges.

The Process

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

Each candidate goes through a rigorous ideation and due diligence process, with research and vetting done by teams at both TED and The Bridgespan Group. From the initial spark of an idea to a completed project proposal, the candidates are narrowed down to a group of finalists whose ideas feel truly audacious with a clear and viable path to execution. These finalists are presented privately to groups of donors and unveiled at the annual TED conference. The goal is that each attracts a community of supporters, from both the philanthropic space and the public.

Then the hard work starts. Ideas that are part of The Audacious Project typically have a timeline of three to five years. While public supporters give meaningful donations online, donors typically commit financial support paid annually, provided project milestones are met. We offer regular updates and pass on all supporters' ideas, messages of encouragement and offers of other resources. Several years on, we will celebrate success together — or learn from failure. Either way, we will have participated in a new form of philanthropy.

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.

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.

NOTE: Applications may be submitted at any time during this funding cycle, open from Feb 1 to the deadline above. Please note that applications will only remain active in our system for 90 days, and at the end of this period they will be automatically rejected.

Guidelines

Local Community grants range from a minimum of $250 to a maximum of $5,000. Eligible nonprofit organizations must operate on the local level (or be an affiliate/chapter of a larger organization that operates locally) and directly benefit the service area of the facility from which they are requesting funding.Organizations may only submit a total number of 25 applications and/or receive up to 25 grants within the 2019 grant cycle.

Community Partnership Award

Mission Statement

The Mutual of America Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

The Mutual of America Community Partnership Award annually honors the outstanding contributions that nonprofit organizations, in partnership with public, private and other social sector organizations, make to society.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.