Grant-Making Initiatives
In concert with our grantmaking work around Nurturing Strong Beginnings, Building Economic Opportunity, Advancing Community Wealth and Amplifying Community Leadership, a portion of the Foundation’s grantmaking funds are distributed through programs or initiatives that seek to address a well-defined issue, need or area of the community. These programs are created when the Foundation, often in partnership with other funders, sets aside resources to address specific, pressing issues, frequently over a multi-year period. The funding criteria and application processes vary by program and funds are often, but not always, distributed through competitive requests for proposals.
Currently open opportunities are featured here and on the Boston Foundation homepage.
Safety Net Grants
Offered twice per year (in spring and fall), the Safety Net Grants program provides $50,000 general operating support grants to social service organizations that respond to essential needs for marginalized communities and vulnerable residents in Greater Boston. These essential needs are defined as resources that restore health, wellness, safety and belonging for individuals or families in crisis.
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Asian Community Fund
The Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation was established to increase the visibility of the Asian American community and expand resources for nonprofits that serve disadvantaged Asian Americans.
Equality Fund
The Equality Fund at the Boston Foundation was created in 2012 as an endowed fund to support Greater Boston nonprofit organizations that serve and strengthen the LGBTQ+ community.
Latino Equity Fund
The Latino Equity Fund partners closely with nonprofits, funders, government leaders, and the private sector, leveraging the strengths of the Latino community to educate stakeholders about issues and surface the most effective solutions to achieve systemic change.
Live Arts Boston
Live Arts Boston, provides more than $1 million in grants and professional support available for performing and visual artists, creators, and cultural practitioners in the Boston area, and a particular commitment to highlight and uplift BIPOC and immigrant artists.
Brother Thomas Fellows
The biennial Brother Thomas Fellowship program provides $15,000 unrestricted grants to support and celebrate a diverse group of Greater Boston artists working at a high level of excellence in a range of disciplines.
Shout Syndicate Fund
The Shout Syndicate was formed in 2017 as a vehicle to develop new funders and supporters for Boston’s creative youth development ecology through the local for-profit performing arts sector and national field.
Free for All Endowment Fund
The mission of the Free for All Endowment Fund at the Boston Foundation is to ensure that everyone from the Boston region—children, adults, families—will have regular and permanent access to the rich world of classical, orchestral music and related cultural events.
Next Steps for Boston Dance
With a mission to strengthen the field of dance in Greater Boston, Next Steps for Boston Dance provides grants and multi-layered support for Greater Boston’s choreographers and Circus Artists.
Bruce J. Anderson Foundation
The Bruce J. Anderson Foundation provides grants for programs, direct services and new initiatives in the fields of mental health, environmental protection, historic and archival preservation, and the arts in Cape Ann and the Nashoba Valley.