Call for LOIs (Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice)

Overview

Over the last three decades, NCF has awarded nearly half a billion dollars in funding to support movements, organizations, and individuals pursuing justice for people and the planet. We embrace a “totality of assets” approach to impact, meaning we leverage the full power of our financial and non-financial resources to support our partners’ solutions. We want to learn from, work with, and support organizations that share our commitment to advancing racial, economic, and environmental justice (REEJ).

We support organizations based in the United States, its Territories, and Israel-Palestine. We are particularly interested in work focused on the U.S. South (see below). See more about our Israel-Palestine strategy here.

Racial Justice -- Our vision for racial justice is the removal of structural barriers and hierarchies based on race. It seeks to reimagine political, economic, and social systems in ways that allow all people to thrive, regardless of their racial identity.

Economic Justice -- Economic justice means that everyone has opportunities to participate and thrive in the economy, including those who are marginalized by our current economic systems. The principles of economic justice create a stronger economy because prosperity and equity go hand in hand.

Environmental Justice -- Environmental justice is the right of all people and communities to a clean, healthy, and safe environment. It promotes equal environmental protection under the law and in fact. It empowers all communities to make informed decisions and fully participate civically and economically in the creation of environmental solutions.

Place Based Initiative | Israel-Palestine. -- In June 2024, Nathan Cummings Foundation’s Board of Trustees approved an updated strategy for our place-based work in Israel-Palestine. To align this work with our north star of advancing racial, economic, and environmental justice (REEJ), we decided to expand our geographic area to include the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza, and to use the following pillars [listed here] to guide our efforts.

 If you’re planning to apply, please notify Ashley O’Brion (ASUF) in advance.

We believe that social change takes time and requires long-term investments. We also see immense value in supporting new, innovative, and exploratory work. To reflect this, we have a range of grant types:  

• Venture Grants (up to $100k for one year): These grants are short-term and designed to expedite support to social entrepreneurs with breakthrough, emerging, and innovative solutions. They also serve to mutually explore new relationships and partnerships.  
• Advancement Grants (Up to $250k annually for up to two years): These grants are designed to provide two-year support to project-based work and/or help scale organizations and promising solutions.  
• Enterprise Grants ($250k+ annually for more than two years): These grants are invitation-only and are designed to provide multi-year, unrestricted funding to partners that have deep alignment across our REEJ focus areas and offer the most opportunity to use all our financial and non-financial resources to support their solutions. 

Deadlines/Timeline: Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF) is now welcoming proposals for partnerships via our Letters of Inquiry (LOI) portals year-round. Grant and Program Related Investment proposals can be submitted using the same portal. LOIs will be reviewed, and decisions will be made, on a rolling basis. NCF staff anticipates notifying applicants to learn more about their submissions within 12 weeks of submission.