WCA Foundation
2025 Project Investments
Grant Round

The WCA Foundation, a Signature Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation, is pleased to announce its 2025 Project Investment grant round. WCA will accept grant applications from November 19, 2024 through 1 p.m. on December 19, 2024.

The WCA Foundation is a volunteer-led grantmaking organization whose mission is “Women changing the lives of women.” Its members, all local women, are committed to learning about and responding to the most urgent needs of women in communities across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. They contribute their time, talent, and care to advance the foundation’s mission and engage in participatory grantmaking.

The WCA Foundation seeks proposals from nonprofit organizations based in the Twin Cities metro area for projects or programs that advance its members’ shared commitment to a world where all women thrive. WCA will consider requests for projects or programs delivering direct services that address the fundamental needs of women in the focus areas of health, economic stability, shelter, safety, and education. Requests should be for initiatives that provide targeted support for adult women (ages 18+).

These grant guidelines reflect the WCA Foundation’s Strategic Framework and its dedication to partnering with nonprofits to facilitate community-directed solutions.

In this grant round, the WCA Foundation will award between $515,000 and $685,000. Grants will range from $10,000 to $30,000 and will be awarded to roughly 20 to 25 organizations.

This funding opportunity is open to 501(c)(3) nonprofits with public charity tax determinations. Grant applicants must maintain direct responsibility for the work for which they are requesting funds. (Requests from fiscal agents or fiscal sponsors will not be considered.)

Applicant organizations must be based in the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area—Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties—and primarily serve clients from this area.

WCA will not fund charitable activities that promote a religion or require participation in a religion as a condition for receiving services. However, grants may be made to faith-based organizations for non-religious purposes, if other eligibility criteria are met.

WCA will not make grants to organizations requesting funds for either pro-life or pro-choice projects.

Organizations may submit only one request per grant cycle.

Note to current grantees: Organizations that received 2024 Project Investment grants are eligible to request funding. Recipients of 2024-2025 grants through WCA’s multi-year general operating pilot program are not eligible to request funding.

The WCA Foundation has supported a diverse range of organizations in recent years. More information about previous grant rounds is available here: Projects 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, and Fall 2021.

We will begin accepting applications on November 19, 2024. All applications must be submitted by 1 p.m. on December 19, 2024. We do not accept late or emailed applications. Incomplete applications, including those with missing or incorrect required documents, will not move forward for funding consideration. All applicants will be notified of funding decisions by May 30, 2025.

All applications must be submitted online. If you are applying for a grant from WCA Foundation for the first time, you will need to set up an account in the Minneapolis Foundation’s online portal, GranteeView.

We strongly encourage each individual grant writer to create their own account. (Multiple accounts can be linked to the same organization.) Please do not share individual accounts. Taking these steps will help ensure that your organization receives timely notification of funding decisions.

Before completing the online application, we recommend that you download this Application Preview Worksheet and use it to draft responses.

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Watch this recorded info session for helpful details about this grant opportunity, including the guidelines and eligibility criteria, the application review process and timeline, and tips for using our online application and uploading required documents.

If you have specific questions about your proposal that are not answered in the info session, please email Julia Ruther at jruther@mplsfoundation.org. During the application period, you may also schedule a 15-minute call with Julia. Sign up for a time here.

If you experience technical problems or need help accessing our online portal, please contact our Grants Administration team at grantsadministration@mplsfoundation.org or 612-672-8665. Please allow one to two business days for responses from our staff.