Community Power Grantmaking
The Request for Proposals (RFP) for our 2025 Community Power Grantmaking Program is now open.
What We Fund
iF’s vision of self-determination for Black people and people of the global majority calls for us to deepen our commitment to racial justice. The American status quo cannot be maintained if self-determination is the goal. Accordingly, moving forward, we will fund innovation (I), disruption (D), and systemic change(s) of the status quo, now coined iF’s IDs.
In this era of backlash and the rollback of policies and practices designed to address historical harms, iF will double down on its commitment to dismantle the systems that produce and perpetuate the inequitable treatment of Black people and people of the global majority.
This is a shift. A necessary shift to actualize our vision. At this moment, when philanthropy is called to provide greater and longer-term resources, we are prioritizing funding efforts most strongly aligned with our IDs—Innovation, Disruption and systems change. You can read more about iF’s IDs here.
iF will continue to implement a participatory grantmaking approach. Community members from Washington, DC , Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, MD and Northern Virginia will continue to play a role in deciding on the grants that will support nonprofit organizations undertaking community organizing and engagement and advocacy. iF staff members will also join the committee as non-voting members to support facilitation, notetaking and other needs.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) for our 2025 Community Power Grantmaking Program is now open.
If you’re interested in joining us at our 2025 RFP Information Session on April 15, 2025 at 10AM to 11AM you can RSVP here.
Who We Fund – 2023 Community Power Grants
ASIAN AMERICAN LEAD $30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
BLACK DIRT FARM COLLECTIVE
$40,000(two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
BLACK SWAN ACADEMY
$40,000(two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
BREAD FOR THE CITY
$40,000(two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To support its advocacy on housing.
CENTREVILLE IMMIGRATION FORUM
$30,000(two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
COLLECTIVE ACTION FOR SAFE SPACES
$40,000(two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
COMMUNITY MINISTRY OF PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
$30,000(two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION CENTER OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
DC GIRLS’ COALITION
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year) To provide general operating support.
EAST OF THE RIVER MUTUAL AID
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year) To provide general operating support.
FAIR BUDGET COALITION
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE BOUND
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
HARRIET’S WILDEST DREAMS
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
HOUSING ASSOCIATION OF NONPROFIT DEVELOPERS
$40,000(two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To support its advocacy on affordable and equitable housing.
IDENTITY, INC.
$40,000(two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
LA CLINICA DEL PUEBLO
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To advocate for health equity and language justice for the Latinx and other immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C. region
LEGAL AID JUSTICE CENTER
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
MADRE TIERRA
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
MARYLAND ASSOCIATION OF RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES AND YOUTH
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
MARYLAND LATINOS UNIDOS
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
MOSAIC
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
MUSLIM COUNTERPUBLICS LAB
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
NATIONAL COALITION OF 100 BLACK WOMEN – NORTHERN VIRGINIA
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
OUR MINDS MATTER
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
PEACE FOR DC
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
PROGRESSIVE MARYLAND
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
SERVE YOUR CITY/WARD 6 MUTUAL AID
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
TENANTS AND WORKERS UNITED
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
THE CAPITAL MARKET
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
TRABAJADORES UNIDOS DE WASHINGTON, DC
$40,000(two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
To support general operating support.
UNDOCUBLACK NETWORK
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
VIRGINIA COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide project support for the capacity building of residents of a housing cooperative.
VIRGINIA COALITION OF LATINO ORGANIZATIONS
$30,000 (two-year grant; $15,000 per year)
To provide general operating support.
Capacity Building & Healing Justice Grants
2023 Grants
TRANS-LATINX DMV
$20,000
To provide support for its capacity building needs.
CAKE SOCIETY CO.
$20,000
To provide support for its capacity building needs.
BREAD FOR THE CITY
$15,000
To provide support for the creation of a healing space for Black and brown men.
VIRGINIA ORGANIZING
$15,000
To provide support for the healing justice activities of Madre Tierra a collective of Latinx and Indigenous women in Virginia.
“Foundation support for Black communities has declined during the late 1990s and through 2006,” according to the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) and Hill-SnowdonFoundation’s Case for Funding Black-led Social Change. Underinvestment in Black-led organizations is often caused by anti-Black racism, false narratives about their effectiveness and worthiness, and other biases. According to the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity’s Mismatched: Philanthropy’s Response to the Call for Racial Justice, “After Ferguson in 2014, in spite of increased attention to the role and impact of Black organizers and the growing Black Lives Matter movement, funding for racial justice organizing in Black communities was lower in 2018 than it was in 2015 (both in terms of total dollar amount and percentage of all funding for Black communities).” Additionally, preliminary data concerning overall funding for racial equity work in 2020 suggests that majority of the increase did not reach Black organizers and organizers of color. Resourcing Black-led organizations and communities is necessary to support the infrastructure for Black institutional and political power to ensure a more just world for all.
The initiative to support Black-led organizations in Virginia is being funded by the Meyer Foundation, Weissberg Foundation and iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is being undertaken in partnership with the Virginia Power Building Funders.
The participatory grantmaking committee that decided on the grants was composed of Black community members in Virginia with lived experiences of racial inequities who are rooted in their communities. We would like to thank the following committee members who participated in this initiative: Jacqueline Anderson, Mikki Charles, Q. Cogdell, N. McKeller Crosby and Karen Woodbery.
AFRICAN COMMUNITIES TOGETHER
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Empowers African immigrants to fight for their civil rights and opportunity for a better life for their families in the U.S. and worldwide.
AFRIKANA INSTITUTE
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Dedicated to storytelling through cinematic works of people of color with a special focus on the global Black narrative.
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Brings accessible healing centered practices to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities and advocates to advance individual and community health and well-being.
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Focuses on the promotion on and placement of culturally affirming literature in order to improve literacy rates, build community, and heal traumas inflicted by systemic racism within the African-American community.
CONCERNED CITIZENS NETWORK OF ALEXANDRIA
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Works collaboratively with community stakeholders to engage and educate community members to work for systemic change and to dismantle racial inequity in the areas of education, housing, economics and health.
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Empowers self-identifying Black girls in Central Virginia to visualize their bright futures and potential through discovery, development, innovation, and social change in their communities.
OFFENDER AID AND RESTORATION OF ARLINGTON
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Advocates and provides support services to individuals and their families in Northern Virginia who are impacted by the criminal legal system.
SOUTH RICHMOND ADULT DAY CARE CENTER
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Provides services and advocates to enhance the health and quality of life of older adults and adults with disabilities.
ST. LUKE LEGACY CENTER FOUNDATION
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Provides services and advocates for the needs of the Black community in Richmond.
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Organizes young people to successfully transition into adulthood using an intersectional approach to building systems of care and support.
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Drives restorative truth telling and redemptive story telling by capturing the pivotal role of Richmond, Virginia in particular Jackson Ward - the nation’s first historically registered Black urban neighborhood.
$40,000 (two-year grant; $20,000 per year)
Organizes community members in historically marginalized communities to realize their vision for their neighborhoods and advocates with institutions to respond effectively and equitably.
Grantseeker FAQ
-
You can read the Request for Proposals (RFP) for our 2025 Community Power Grantmaking Program. It is available in English and in Spanish.
You can apply for the grant through our online application system here until Monday, June 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. You will be prompted to take an eligibility quiz before applying in the system. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria you will not be able to apply.
The iF team will be hosting an information session to provide more details about the RFP application process and iF’s IDs, and to answer any questions. This session will take place virtually on Tuesday, April 15th, 2025, from 10 to 11 AM EST.
Interested organizations can RSVP through the link provided here.
-
iF has implemented a participatory grantmaking approach to our community power grantmaking program. Participatory grantmaking involves “ced(ing) decision-making power about funding decisions – including the strategy and criteria behind those decisions – to the very communities that a foundation aims to serve.”
The participatory grantmaking committee will decide on the grants. The committee will be composed of community members from across the region who have lived experience of racial inequities and are engaged in organizing and advocacy.
iF staff members will also join the committee as non-voting members to support facilitation, notetaking and other needs.
-
We fund community and nonprofit organizations that are most strongly aligned with our IDs in the District of Columbia, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in Maryland, and Northern Virginia.
-
This narrative should include a description of how the organization advances racial justice through Innovation, Disruption and/or systems change, as defined by iF’s IDs, to achieve iF’s vision of Black people and people of the global majority’s self-determination. It is similar to a letter of inquiry.
-
Submit the following which are not included in the one-page narrative:
Diversity matrix
Summary of the organization budget for the current year, with key income and expense line items.
Detailed project budget, if applicable.
Tax Determination Letter
-
The foundation will award ten grants of $75,000 yearly for three years.
-
The foundation provides general operating support.
-
Our grantee partners have tax-exempt status under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code or have fiscal sponsors.
-
The foundation will request an interim grant conversation before the end of each year of the three-year grant. More information on the reporting process will be included in the grant agreement. Grantee partners are not required to submit a written report. The final report will also be a conversation.