Independence Foundation primarily provides unrestricted funding to nonprofits to best help them achieve their missions. Our general operating support offers flexibility to our grantees by allowing funds to be used when and where they’re most needed.

Funding Initiatives:

• Arts & Culture

Programs which connect the arts with non-traditional participants and increase both access to and awareness of the arts, are of special interest. The Foundation awards general operating grants aimed at strengthening organizations by supporting creative work and administrative capacity, based on community involvement, artistic merit, and leadership in the field. With the exception of organizations currently funded, we do not give grants to dance, music, media arts or broadcasting, museums or historical societies.

• Healthcare

Funding within the health care initiative focuses on the following:

• Existing nurse-managed health care centers undertaking capacity building projects to expand and/or improve the provision of primary care and related services

• Programs that support health policies and/or infrastructure for nurse-managed and other safety net providers

• Projects designed to inform health care-related planning

• Clinical, community, and/or educational programs designed to improve the health of older adults

• Human Services

The Foundation supports organizations that provide direct services to people who do not ordinarily have access to them for the most basic of needs.  The current Human Services funding agenda focuses primarily on programs that address the following areas:

• adequate food and food distribution

• affordable housing and access to shelter by homeless persons

• services which support independence for people living with disabilities

• Legal AID

Agencies funded under the Public Interest Legal Aid Initiative address civil legal issues confronting individuals from diverse populations who do not traditionally have adequate access to legal representation, including the indigent, the elderly, the disabled, and the homeless.

• Reentry, Recidivism & Restorative Justice

The Foundation funds community-based organizations doing the following - either by directly assisting individuals, or working to change systems that cause or contribute to the harm addressed:

• Providing supports to families and individuals involved with and affected by the criminal justice system

• Working to reduce the number of people who imminently face incarceration or a return to prison

• Providing resources to formerly incarcerated individuals that help them become integrated and contributing members once they are released back into society

• Working to reduce harm to families and neighborhoods caused by incarceration

Our typical grant for organizations new to our funding is in the $5,000 - $10,000 range.

Our application process begins with the submission of a Letter of Inquiry (LOI).

Letters of Inquiry for all program areas are accepted on a rolling basis and may be submitted throughout the year. 

While we accept LOIs at any time, the best time to submit for possible inclusion in current funding cycles is generally in the beginning of the new year, as our fiscal year follows the calendar year.