Grant Opportunities

Our Themes

While the Foundation’s interest historically has focused on strengthening the communities of Yellow Springs, Ohio and St. Cloud, Minnesota, the Foundation has shifted its interests moving forward. Beginning in 2020 the Foundation’s grantmaking is centered on the following themes: social equity, global warming, and end-of-life issues.

Undergirding all our themes is a Morgan family legacy of social justice, trying to make the world fairer and more inclusive. We strive to improve upon our own diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and reflect positive progress in how we operate. We expect the same of our grantee partners, while recognizing that each organization has its own unique history and goals. Our grants are awarded based on the merit of proposed projects within each theme, but also with consideration given to the composition of a nonprofit’s board and staff, as well as how the organization operates, reflecting equity concerns.

Some of the Foundation’s grant guidelines apply to all three themes and are enumerated immediately below. However, each of the three themes also has a distinct set of parameters, processes and timetable, which are described in the relevant theme section later in this document.

To honor the family legacy in the Yellow Springs community, the Foundation has pledged three-year support for 2023-2025 through a fund in the Yellow Springs Community Foundation (contact the Yellow Springs Community Foundation for details on how to apply). In addition, other communities and organizations that are supported by board and family members may receive grants from time to time.

Common Guidelines

Applicable to Social Equity, Global Warming, and End of Life Themes

The Foundation will accept requests for a variety of grant types, including:

- - Program, Project, Capital, Start-Up and Operating Grants: We welcome grant requests to support innovative program initiatives, short-term projects, capital requests, start-up or operating needs.
  - Capacity Building: Grant resources are available to invest in efforts to enhance the management and governance performance of charitable organizations that are addressing our themes of social equity in St. Cloud, global warming in Minnesota and end of life issues in Minnesota.
  - Advocacy: While the Foundation is prohibited from lobbying, we will consider funding permissible advocacy activities such as public education campaigns on a given topic, nonpartisan analysis study or research, training for nonprofits on how to engage effectively in advocacy, educating public policy makers on various issues, and nonpartisan election-related activity.

The Foundation welcomes collaboration with other grantmakers and favors grantseekers with multiple sources of support. Historically, we generally don’t consider requests for less than $10,000. The Foundation is willing to consider multi-year grant requests that do not exceed three years.

Limitations on Grantmaking

The Morgan Family Foundation awards the vast majority of its grants to charitable, nonprofit organizations that are recognized by the IRS as 501(c)(3) public charities. Occasionally grants may be made to units of government. If a charitable project is being undertaken by an entity that does not have 501(c)(3) status, please contact the Foundation for eligibility. Generally, the Foundation will not:

- - make grants to individuals or for the benefit of pre-selected individuals
  - provide funds to lobby legislation or influence public elections
  - support animal rights or animal welfare causes
  - promote any particular religious doctrine
  - serve as replacement funding for public programs
  - finance medical research.

Theme:
Social Equity

Social equity is central to our purpose, as we seek a just society in which all individuals have ample opportunities to thrive and outcomes are not determined by one’s heritage, physical characteristics, beliefs, residence or inclusion in any particular group. Social inequities directly challenge many different groups of people and in many different sectors of our society, and we all suffer when some are excluded from their full potential.

The scope of this grant program is limited to advancing social equity in St. Cloud, Minnesota and/or the immediate vicinity. We aim to reduce unfair disparities for disadvantaged communities and at-risk populations in St. Cloud, Minnesota and make positive change in attitudes, practices and policies that lead to equitable outcomes for those communities. This includes, but is not limited to, disparities and inequities of race, class, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, immigrant status, and ability.

Areas of particular interest include education, financial mobility, mental health and bodily autonomy and are further described below:

Combating educational disparities by addressing root causes and providing equitable opportunities for student success.
Supporting financial literacy, economic mobility, and homeownership to empower underserved communities and create generational wealth.
Reducing health disparities, focusing on mental health in early childhood and adolescence.
Promoting awareness and exercise of individuals’ rights to make informed choices about their bodies and health.

To address this theme, the Foundation awards grants through two open, competitive grant application cycles.

How to Apply: Social Equity

Grant applications are considered twice a year, at the May and November board meetings.

Steps in Grant Process	Winter/Spring Cycle 2025	Summer/Fall Cycle 2025
Grantseeker submits letter of inquiry by	January 10	July 1
Foundation invites or declines full proposal by	February 12	August 4
Grantseeker submits full proposal by	March 12	September 8
Foundation notifies applicants of grant decisions by	June 4	December 1

Grantseekers should first review the grant guidelines to determine if their approach and funding needs are consistent with the Foundation’s interests. Organizations which believe that there may be mutual interests then complete a letter of inquiry (LOI) through our online grant system, GivingData.

Nonprofit organizations are welcome to contact the Foundation with questions or to discuss their ideas with Foundation staff at any time, even before submitting a letter of inquiry. Foundation staff often network with nonprofits to share information about the Foundation’s program interests and to learn about organizations working in those areas.

Foundation staff will contact each applicant, usually within four weeks following the letter of inquiry deadline, to either invite or decline a full application, which is also submitted online through GivingData. An invitation to submit a full application is no guarantee of a grant. It is an indication that the Foundation wants to hear more about the proposal because it appears to meet the basic requirements for funding. As time allows, the Foundation is also willing to visit and answer questions regarding a draft proposal before it is finalized.

Once a full application is submitted, the Foundation’s Social Equity Program Officer may contact the applicant with questions and schedule a site visit, if deemed necessary. Applicants will be notified of the grant decision within three weeks of the board meeting. Grant awards may include a reduction in the amount of funding, a full or partial matching challenge, a modified payment schedule, or other stipulations. Any restrictions will be described in the grant agreement, which will also specify a reporting schedule. Proposals that are funded generally have report requirements, including both narrative and financial information. Grantee reports may be used as a learning tool to help other organizations and guide future Foundation funding.

Theme:
Global Warming

Over a long period of time global warming, and the related climate changes, are an existential threat to the survival of the human species. In the short term, global warming will cause a reduction in the quality of life for humankind, taking a particularly heavy toll on our most vulnerable communities. The Foundation’s commitment to improving equity extends to our global warming theme as well.

The scope of this grant program is centered on mitigating global warming throughout Minnesota. We aim to support activities that will lead to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the increased sequestration of carbon in the state of Minnesota and the immediate vicinity. Adaptation efforts are important but are not the program’s priority. While the geographic focus for this program is statewide, the Foundation has a particular interest in greater Minnesota (outside of the Twin Cities metropolitan area).

The Foundation favors the following strategies when deciding how to invest its global warming grant resources:

- - Advocacy work that has a positive impact on state and local laws, advances legal cases, and influences decisions at the public utilities commission and at electric co-op boards.
  - Grassroots efforts to build strong, diverse coalitions that lead to capacity building, organizing, and actualization of climate strategies.
  - Communication initiatives, projects, and campaigns that engage communities and individuals, support and recognize leadership, and broaden the perspectives through which the climate crisis is viewed.

Areas of interest for our grantmaking include, but are not limited to, efforts that:

- - Support deployment of renewable energy, energy efficiency, regenerative agriculture practices, sustainable forestry, and electric vehicles.
  - Prevent further public and private investment in infrastructure that secures commitments to the continued burning of fossil fuels.
  - Build capacity of and/or support the participation and leadership of diverse communities across Minnesota, including rural communities, farmers, youth, faith-based communities, Indigenous communities, and marginalized communities.
  - Improve understanding of how Minnesotans from rural communities, as well as communities of color, Indigenous people, immigrants, and refugees perceive issues related to global warming.

As the Foundation learns more about global warming in Minnesota, we may change our scope, focus, preferred strategies and interest areas for future grant cycles.

To address our global warming theme, the Foundation awards grants through an invitation-only process, which is conducted on a rolling basis and generally is concluded within about four months. These invitations to submit funding requests are based on personal knowledge of Foundation board, subcommittee and staff members, as well as research and networking by the Foundation throughout the year.

Nonprofit organizations are welcome to contact the Foundation with questions or to discuss their ideas with Foundation staff at any time. Foundation staff often network with nonprofits to share information about the Foundation’s program interests and to learn about organizations working in those areas.

Organizations which are invited to submit applications do so through our online grant application system GivingData, with specific deadlines and other request parameters conveyed by the Foundation’s Global Warming Program Officer. As time allows, the Foundation is also willing to visit and answer questions regarding a draft proposal before it is finalized. Once the request is submitted, the Program Officer may contact the applicant with questions and schedule a site visit, if deemed necessary.

Applicants will be notified of the grant decision within three weeks of the Foundation’s board meeting. Grant awards may include a reduction in the amount of funding, a full or partial matching challenge, a modified payment schedule, or other stipulations. Any restrictions will be described in the grant agreement, which will also specify a reporting schedule. Proposals that are funded generally have report requirements, including both narrative and financial information. Grantee reports may be used as a learning tool to help other organizations and guide future Foundation funding.

Theme:
End of Life

At least two generations of the Morgan family have actively tackled end-of-life issues. Honoring that history, we have defined this theme broadly to include but not be limited to, advance care planning, medical issues around end-of-life, care of the elderly, and faith and spirituality surrounding end-of-life issues. The Foundation’s commitment to improving equity extends to our end of life theme as well.

Our end of life grantmaking is focused on encouraging advance care planning in Minnesota. The aim of this grant program is to support individuals in achieving end-of-life experiences aligned with their personal goals and wishes. We have a particular interest in initiatives to educate, motivate and assist individuals in this process. The Foundation seeks to support activities intended to shift the current paradigm around death and dying such that advance care planning becomes the norm, not the exception.

Our end of life grant focus will likely shift to other specified topics in future years, but no decisions have yet been made.

To address our end of life theme, the Foundation awards grants through an invitation-only process that generally is concluded within about four months. These invitations to submit funding requests are based on personal knowledge of Foundation board, subcommittee and staff members, as well as research and networking by the Foundation throughout the year. We encourage collaboration among nonprofit organizations to extend or improve the impact of their work in advance care planning.

Nonprofit organizations are welcome to contact the Foundation with questions or to discuss their ideas with Foundation staff at any time. Foundation staff often network with nonprofits to share information about the Foundation’s program interests and to learn about organizations working in those areas.

Organizations which are invited to submit applications do so through our online grant application system GivingData, with specific deadlines and other request parameters conveyed by the Foundation’s End of Life Program Officer. As time allows, the Foundation is also willing to visit and answer questions regarding a draft proposal before it is finalized. Once the request is submitted, the Program Officer may contact the applicant with questions and schedule a site visit, if deemed necessary.

Applicants will be notified of the grant decision within three weeks of the Foundation’s board meeting. Grant awards may include a reduction in the amount of funding, a full or partial matching challenge, a modified payment schedule, or other stipulations. Any restrictions will be described in the grant agreement, which will also specify a reporting schedule. Proposals that are funded generally have report requirements, including both narrative and financial information. Grantee reports may be used as a learning tool to help other organizations and guide future Foundation funding.

For a printer-friendly version of our Grant Guidelines, click here.

Updated 2/27/25

Three Grant Programs

Grant Guidelines for 2025

Our Themes

Common Guidelines

Theme:
Social Equity

Theme:
Global Warming

Theme:
End of Life

Three Grant Programs

Grant Guidelines for 2025

Our Themes

Common Guidelines

Theme: Social Equity

Theme: Global Warming

Theme: End of Life

Theme:
Social Equity

Theme:
Global Warming

Theme:
End of Life