NOTE: The next round of grant requests will be considered after October 1, 2008. Please contact Cedric Brown prior to starting the online application process.
How to Apply
Funding Interests
The Mitchell Kapor Foundation recognizes the dual importance of working directly with communities and institutions to address quality of life issues and to shape suitable public policies. We fund organizations for general support, as well as for providing services to focus populations, advocating for systemic changes, or both. We also are open to helping organizations to build their capacity to deliver their services.
We will consider grant requests between $25,000 and $50,000 for appropriately stable organizations.
We’re not afraid to take a risk on unconventional or untried approaches to tackling social problems, and are definitely interested in community organizations that haven’t had traditional access to support from foundations and donors. If this is the case with your organization, please feel free to contact us to discuss your project or program’s needs.
Criteria
In alignment with the spirit of our vision, the work of our grantee organizations should either shift paradigms by reaching beyond the status quo to present issues and solutions in fresh and innovative ways, or increase the reach of effective work through scaling and expanding programs or projects.
Given our demographic focus, Foundation-supported grant projects should primarily impact people of color. For our purposes, this means that 60% or more of the program’s target population identify as Black/African American, Asian/Pacific American, Latino/Hispanic American, Native American, or mixed heritage. We’ll also consider work that points out and dismantles white privilege, helping to build equitable relationships across race/ethnicity.
We recognize that social change is not created piecemeal or in isolation; Foundation-supported work should clearly contribute to a greater social movement toward equity and fairness for all.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for a grant from the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, an organization must have I.R.S. 501(c)(3) status and be classified as “not a private foundation” under Section 509 (a), or have a similarly qualified fiscal sponsor.
Organizations applying for Green Access grants must be located in or have projects that serve residents in one of the counties of the San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma or Solano. National organizations with a Bay Area chapter meet these criteria.
Organizations applying for Project 2008 grants can be located and working anywhere in the United States.
The Foundation never funds individuals for personal projects, and rarely funds:
- Organizations that are not qualified charities with I.R.S. 501(c)(3) status or that do not have a similarly qualified fiscal sponsor. Supporting organizations generally do not qualify for our grants.
- Academic research not related to or supportive of other ongoing Foundation interests, or that does not have practical applications which help our target populations.
- Special-event fundraising activities.
- Programs that do not address our interest areas.
Review Process
We accept and review grant requests on a rolling basis throughout the year. We strive to be responsive to requests, so we will try to notify all grant applicants by email within three weeks of receiving the request.
For work that we’re interested in potentially supporting, we will contact your organization via email to invite you to submit additional information. We usually follow up with a phone call or site visit before making a recommendation to our Board.
Our trustees meet quarterly to consider grant recommendations. If your organization has a time-sensitive request, please let us know, as it is possible to get provisional approval. Please contact us to discuss time-sensitive needs.
Submit a Request
We have a paper-free process, so you can submit your grant request using our online application.
The first few questions of online process will ask you about eligibility. You'll also need to create an account with a user name and password. Once you're logged in, you can begin the online application. You may want to write out the answers first, then cut and paste them into the appropriate fields.
If at any point you have questions about the online application, please contact us or online support at Cybergrants.
NOTE: The next round of grant requests will be considered after October 1, 2008. Please contact Cedric Brown prior to starting the online application process.