The Freeman Challenges Matching Grant

The Freeman Challenges, offered by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, are designed to help nonprofit organizations serving the Greater New Orleans thirteen-parish region establish either a permanent endowment or a board-restricted cash reserve. These challenges are funded by the Richard West Freeman family to encourage long-term financial stability, resilience, and independence among regional nonprofits. The program is composed of two separate challenge opportunities: the Endowment Challenge and the Board-Restricted Reserve Challenge. Applicants may choose one challenge per cycle and must attend the “Are You Ready for an Endowment?” workshop, which is mandatory and must occur within the same calendar year of the application. The challenges open on September 2, 2025, and close on October 2, 2025. Participating organizations will be subject to a site visit in November, followed by funding decisions in December. Once selected, organizations have twelve months to complete their fundraising goals in order to receive a matching grant. The Endowment Challenge matches one dollar for every two dollars raised by the applicant organization, with three tiers available: a $25,000 match for $50,000 raised; a $50,000 match for $100,000 raised; or a $75,000 match for $150,000 raised. The Board-Restricted Reserve Challenge also offers a 2:1 match, with tiers of $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000 in matching funds for organizations that raise $10,000, $20,000, or $30,000 respectively. Only organizations that meet their full fundraising goal within the 12-month timeframe will receive the matching grant. Eligible applicants must be 501(c)(3) public charities in good standing with the IRS and must have been in operation for at least five years. Organizations must be headquartered in one of the thirteen parishes served by the Greater New Orleans Foundation: Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, or Washington. Additional eligibility conditions include having board approval to house the fund at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, demonstrating readiness for an endowment or reserve campaign, and agreeing not to count funds raised for other matching grants toward the Freeman Challenge goal. Organizations that have previously completed an endowment or reserve challenge may not apply for the same challenge type again. However, they may apply for the alternate challenge in a future cycle. Applications that are declined must wait at least one cycle before reapplying for the same challenge. Interested organizations are encouraged to contact Devon Turner at devon@gnof.org to join the mailing list for future updates or to inquire about the workshops and application process.