The Empowerment Grants program offers multi-year flexible funding to support community-based initiatives that align with the grantor's revised funding priorities. Managed by PBF (presumably a philanthropic foundation), the program aims to fund projects, programs, or organizational initiatives that demonstrate community enhancement and measurable impact over a two-year grant term.
Grants will be awarded based on an organization's annual operating budget, ensuring that support is appropriately scaled to the organization’s capacity and financial structure. Organizations with annual budgets between $50,000 and $1 million may receive $5,000 to $10,000 per year over two years. Those with budgets between $1 million and $15 million may be awarded $10,000 to $25,000 per year for the same two-year period.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from April 1, 2025, at 9:00 AM EST through April 30, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST. Though rolling, all submissions must fall within this open window. Applications must reflect strong alignment with PBF's newly revised funding priorities and areas of interest, though specific priority areas are not outlined in the excerpt. All funded work must be based within PBF’s geographic footprint.
The grant is described as offering flexible funding, indicating that recipients may apply funds toward general support, programmatic costs, or project-specific needs, depending on their stated use case and alignment with funding goals. Organizations are encouraged to show how their efforts will make a meaningful impact in their communities during the two-year grant period.
Full application guidelines were provided in a downloadable document (updated 2/10/2025), and additional information can be accessed on PBF’s website or through their application portal.
