Fostering
Resilience
Grant Round

The Fund for Safe Communities supports tangible, specific, and meaningful actions to address and prevent community violence.* Our Spring 2024 grant round was designed with the insight and recommendations of the fund’s advisory committee, a group composed of emerging leaders who have personal experience with community violence. Through this funding opportunity, we will support programs and activities that offer prevention, intervention, restoration, and resilience-oriented services to people in Minneapolis, with a focus on youth and young adults between the ages of 11 and 30.

The fund will issue between $300,000 and $500,000 for this opportunity. Grants will range from $15,000 to $30,000, and we plan to award 20 to 25 grants.

The grant period for this award will be up to 12 months. Applicants may request general operating or project support.

Here are a few examples of activities we are interested in supporting:

• Activities that promote wellness and help manage stress and trauma.
• Programs and initiatives that ease the re-entry process for those who are justice-involved.
• Services that address the diverse needs of individuals most proximate to violence.
• Sports or physical activity programming that offers fitness and other coaching-based opportunities.
• Mentor-mentee programming that exposes young people to meaningful and productive relationships outside of school and their homes.
• Art, poetry, writing, design, and other creative media that foster meaningful actions to create safer communities.

We also welcome additional ideas about what is needed to prevent community violence and promote wellbeing. It’s important to note that we want to support organizations that are already deeply connected in the community, while investing in new efforts that approach violence prevention using innovative strategies.

Established in 2018, the Fund for Safe Communities supports direct service programs, communication, advocacy, and organizing efforts led by community-based organizations. We prioritize efforts that are led and influenced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and which are grounded in the needs of diverse Minneapolis neighborhoods.

• Prevention: This fund aims to prevent community violence.*
• Systemic Issues: This fund supports organizations and efforts focused on addressing systemic inequities and reforming the criminal justice system.
• Outreach: This fund supports efforts to heal individuals and communities affected by horrific tragedies, including the murder of George Floyd.

*The CDC defines community violence as violence that happens between unrelated individuals, who may or may not know each other, generally outside the home. Examples include assaults or fights among groups and shootings in public places, such as schools and on the streets. Research indicates that youth and young adults (ages 10-34), particularly those in communities of color, are disproportionately impacted.

Applications will be accepted beginning March 27, 2024. All applications must be submitted online. If you have applied for a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation in the past, please note that we are using a new online portal for this funding opportunity. You will need to create an account before submitting your proposal. This is a two-step process: 1) Create an account, 2) Verify your account by email.

You can start preparing your application by downloading this preview document.

The deadline for this grant round is 1 p.m. on April 19, 2024. We do not accept late applications or applications submitted via email.

Submissions will be reviewed by our staff for eligibility, with final decisions made in conjunction with Fund for Safe Communities Advisory Committee members and community grant reviewers. All applicants will be notified of funding decisions by June 10, 2024. The grant period begins June 17, 2024.

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Funding will be awarded to 501(c)(3) nonprofits, public schools and districts, government entities, churches, and organizations with a fiscal agent or sponsor. We will prioritize proposals that impact Minneapolis. However, we will also consider organizations in inner-ring suburbs (Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Golden Valley, New Hope, Richfield, Crystal, Robbinsdale, St. Louis Park, Fridley, and Columbia Heights). New applicants and current and past grantees of the Minneapolis Foundation are eligible for this opportunity.

We recommend reading our Frequently Asked Questions document if you have additional questions.

As you consider applying for this funding opportunity, Sara Lueben and Sam Ndely are available to answer questions about the content of your proposal. Please email both at slueben@mplsfoundation.org and sndely@mplsfoundation.org.

Please direct any technical questions to Takara Henegar, Director of Grants Administration and Operations, Impact at thenegar@mplsfoundation.org or Maria Andrew, Grants Administrator, Impact at mandrew@mplsfoundation.org. You can also call 612-672-8665.