As the region’s largest local funder, The Community Foundation is proud to partner with and support thousands of nonprofits working to make our communities more equitable, just, and thriving places to live and work. We are now accepting proposals for grant opportunities from the following funds at The Community Foundation:
Across the Greater Washington region, nonprofits are navigating significant challenges, from shifts in federal funding to increasing demand for services, while continuing to provide essential services to our communities. These organizations cannot afford to pause their work, and our communities cannot afford to lose these vital services.
In times of crisis, the Greater Washington Community Foundation serves as a community convener, advocate, and philanthropic first responder to ensure our region is prepared and equipped to effectively respond to challenges. The Greater Washington Community Foundation along with our regional philanthropic partners are coordinating to meet this moment with concrete action. Together we launched the Community Resilience Initiative to ensure the region’s critical nonprofit organizations can continue to meet urgent needs, advocate effectively, and sustain impact for the communities we all serve.
The Community Foundation is now accepting applications for Bridge Grants to provide targeted support to help nonprofit organizations maintain their critical work while navigating operational challenges. Due to the high volume of pending applications and funding requests applications must be completed by Friday, August 8 at 5pm.
We're accepting applications for Bridge Grants in two critical areas:
Supporting nonprofits that have experienced substantial funding losses since January 2025.
Providing resources for organizations to engage in scenario planning and explore strategic options such as a merger, winddown, or strategic alliance.
501(c)(3) Status: Organization must have 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or a fiscal sponsor.
Geographic Presence: Organization must have a presence in and serve the Greater Washington region (Washington, DC; Prince George’s County; Montgomery County; Arlington County; Fairfax County; Fairfax; Alexandria; Falls Church).
Organization cannot be listed on OFAC or Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate group list and must be in compliance with reporting if it has received a grant through the community foundation.
Grant awards and amounts will be determined based upon organizational need, potential impact, and available funding. Operating, program, and capital grants can be awarded via this RFP for a period of up to 24 months from the award date - with the possibility of extension based on circumstances.
We anticipate that most grants awarded under Category 1 will be under $100,000 and most grants under Category 2 will be under $50,000.
Applicants should fill out an eligibility form after reading the full RFP. After completing the eligibility form, eligible applicants will be provided with application submission instructions.
Due to the high volume of pending applications and funding requests applications must be completed by Friday, August 8 at 5pm.
See the link below for answers to Frequently Asked Questions about this funding opportunity.
For questions regarding this grant opportunity, please contact [email protected].
The Sharing Montgomery Fund of the Greater Washington Community Foundation supports high-impact nonprofits serving Montgomery County’s low-income residents. Sharing grants have helped nonprofit partners respond to the community’s needs and work in partnership toward our shared vision of a more equitable, just, and thriving Montgomery County.
As part of The Community Foundation’s 10-year strategic plan, the Sharing Montgomery Fund aims to address urgent community needs, advance economic justice, and, ultimately, close the wealth gap, which undermines the health and stability of our entire community. Therefore, Sharing Montgomery’s grantmaking priorities for this cycle include:
Basic needs for our low-income neighbors (e.g., access to resources for health and mental health, food security, affordable housing, childcare and education, and interventions which help families transition from crisis to recovery).
Economic mobility resources that enable people to chart a pathway out of poverty (e.g., access to education, training, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, etc.).
Individual and Community Wealth Building opportunities which empower people with the financial and social capital needed to build wealth so they can weather crises and pursue their dreams.
Sharing Montgomery has a two-stage application process. To minimize administrative burden for potential applicants, The Community Foundation has opened an initial Letter of Interest (LOI) application for stage one, using a simplified form that enables nonprofits in the county to share information about their work. Staff will contact those selected to submit a full proposal by October 2025. Additionally, the staff may reach out at any time of year if we encounter another grant opportunity that may be a good fit.
Sharing Montgomery grants will provide flexible general operating support for work serving Montgomery County’s low-income residents. Nonprofits may apply those resources wherever the need is greatest to advance their missions. (Note: Grants to regional organizations will be earmarked to support efforts in the county.)
The Community Foundation will host an informational webinar for applicants on Monday, July 14 (Link to Register Below).
For the FY26 cycle, Sharing Montgomery will award up to 30 one-time grants ranging from $5,000 - $10,000.
With facilitation by Community Foundation staff, the Sharing Grant Committee will also identify a cohort of 2-3 organizations that will receive multi-year grant commitments. The one-time grants will support nonprofits’ work this coming year, while the flexible multi-year grants are designed to help nonprofits advance their long-term goals for themselves and the communities they serve.
Reach out to Eliza Tolbert-Howard, Development Officer, at [email protected].
Interested organizations must complete all the fields in the application form by 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
By early October, The Community Foundation will follow up to inform nonprofits that have been selected to submit a full proposal for funding.
The Community Foundation hosted a brief informational webinar for applicants on Monday, July 14 at 2 p.m.
The Sharing Prince George’s Fund of the Greater Washington Community Foundation supports high-impact nonprofits serving Prince George’s County’s low-income residents. Sharing grants have helped nonprofit partners respond to the community’s needs and work in partnership toward our shared vision of a more equitable, just, and thriving Prince George’s County.
As part of The Community Foundation’s 10-year strategic plan, the Sharing Prince George’s Fund aims to address urgent community needs, advance economic justice, and, ultimately, close the wealth gap, which undermines the health and stability of our entire community. Therefore, Sharing Prince George’s grantmaking priorities for this cycle include:
• Basic needs such as access to resources for health and mental health, food security, affordable housing, childcare and education, and interventions that help families transition from crisis to recovery.
• Economic mobility programs that enable people to chart a pathway out of poverty through access to higher education, training, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and more.
• Individual and Community Wealth Building opportunities which empower people with the financial and social capital needed to build wealth so they can weather crises and pursue their dreams.
For the FY26 cycle, Sharing Prince George’s will award up to 10 one-time grants ranging from $5,000 - $25,000.
With facilitation by Community Foundation staff, the Sharing Grant Committee will also identify a cohort of 2-3 organizations that will receive multi-year grant commitments.
The one-time grants will support nonprofits’ work this coming year, while the flexible multi-year grants are designed to help nonprofits advance their long-term goals for themselves and the communities they serve.
Interested organizations must complete all the fields in the Letter of Interest application form by 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
By October, The Community Foundation will follow up to inform the selected nonprofits if they are invited to submit a full proposal for funding.
Reach out to Eliza Tolbert-Howard, Development Officer, at [email protected].
The DIVAs Giving Circle is comprised of Montgomery County women who seek to enable youth to have life-changing experiences through the arts.
Each year, the DIVAs Giving Circle develops guidelines for its giving, evaluates youth/arts grant opportunities, and seeks to support promising arts programming for youth through a competitive review process facilitated by The Community Foundation’s professional staff.
For the 2025 cycle, the DIVAs are particularly interested in enabling under-resourced children and youth (K-12) from Montgomery County, MD to access art programs which promote mental health, wellbeing, and resilience, and/or elevate youth voices within our community. They are particularly interested in breaking down barriers to the arts for those who have limited access due to family income, distance, and/or other challenges.
The DIVAs will consider applications from 501(c)3 public charities which fall into one of the following categories:
Arts organizations
Youth-focused nonprofits that seek to partner with professional artists and/or established arts organizations
Safety-net organizations that serve children/youth and seek to partner with professional artists and/or established arts organizations
Proposals may support activities after school, on weekends, or over the 2026 summer. The DIVAs are especially interested in supporting hands-on artistic activities that tap creativity rather than one-time and passive experiences.
Grants to arts organizations may support/enhance current programming or seed new partnerships. Grants to youth-focused or safety-net organizations may support formal collaborations or sponsor children to participate in specific art programs (i.e., a youth-led organization could incorporate an arts component into its regular programs, a safety-net provider could host an artist/art organization at its site, and/or these organizations could sponsor youth clients to pursue a specific program or camp).
Most grants will range from $5,000 - $10,000.
Contact Olivia Hsu, Development Associate, at [email protected] with any questions you may have. No phone calls please.
Interested organizations must complete the application form no later than 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 11, 2025.
In the fall, The Community Foundation will follow up with any questions from the DIVAs members and/or information about how to submit a formal proposal.
