California Infrastructure Grants

This funding opportunity provides financial support and resources to help immigrants and individuals with limited English proficiency in California start or grow small businesses that address social challenges in their communities.

The Community Foundation for Monterey County offers grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to support initiatives that increase awareness, promote acceptance, and improve the quality of life for the LGBTQ+ community in Monterey County, CA, with a focus on arts and culture, education, civil rights, health, mental health, organizational capacity building, and programs for youth and seniors.

This program provides financial support to property owners and businesses in downtown Bishop to improve building aesthetics, restore historic features, and stimulate economic growth through private investments.

This funding opportunity supports the development of affordable multi-family housing in San Diego County for low-income households, prioritizing projects that serve extremely low-income individuals and families, particularly in transit-oriented areas.

The various grant programs are structured to address systemic community challenges, reflecting a core alignment with the foundations’ missions to drive change, promote equity, and foster vibrant communities. The Community Foundation (Des Moines) offers three key competitive grants: Leadership, Capacity Building, and Strategic Alignment, all rooted in community plan alignment and focused on inclusive engagement and impact. Leadership Grants are designed to catalyze systems change by investing in solutions that challenge existing systems and address root causes, not just projects. Similarly, the San Antonio Area Foundation employs trust-based philanthropic principles, offering general operating and multi-year support to help non-profits focus on their missions and achieve stability as a direct means to closing opportunity gaps. The grant-making strategies are defined by specific priorities that target key community issues, often reflecting a multi-sectoral and cross-cutting approach. The Minneapolis Foundation’s grants, for instance, focus on priorities like creating an equitable education system (Reimagine Education) and being nimble in response to emerging community needs (OneMPLS), previously addressing issues like affordable housing and pandemic relief. The San Antonio Area Foundation structures its work around four pillars: Cultural Vibrancy, Livable and Resilient Communities, Aging Adults Success, and Youth Success, with activities like building capacity for under-resourced arts groups or supporting programs to strengthen safety nets for older adults. This demonstrates a comprehensive approach where investments aim to address a diverse range of interconnected human, animal, and environmental health issues. Target beneficiaries and high-level impact goals are diverse yet universally focused on empowering vulnerable populations and transforming systems. Beneficiaries include schools, students, small businesses, older adults, youth, and non-profits across various sectors. For instance, the ACDP in Liberia aims to meet the real needs of the most vulnerable rural populations, reducing poverty while strengthening human capital and resilience. Its specific goal is to significantly improve conditions for residents of targeted rural and urban communities through environmentally sustainable and equitable access to basic services by 2025. Other goals include advancing criminal justice reform through the Fund for Safe Communities, and promoting conservation education for K-12 students via specialty grants like the Explore the Ozarks Fund. A strong emphasis is placed on generating clear, measurable results that align with the strategic theory of change—that focused investments lead to demonstrable community benefits. Outcomes are expected to be specific and measurable, often guided by the SMART mnemonic (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound). These expected outcomes describe the consequences and results of the work, detailing the change in participants or the programmatic/operational level. For example, expected results include achieving greater stability for non-profit partners through multi-year support, or, in the public health sphere, strengthening the institutionalization of a functional One Health approach in Liberia to address Public Health events and develop joint policy guidance on prevention, detection, response, and recovery.

This funding opportunity provides financial support for projects that develop fast public electric vehicle charging stations in California, particularly benefiting underserved communities and promoting clean transportation.

The LA County Department of Arts and Culture is offering a two-year Organizational Grant Program for Los Angeles County nonprofit arts organizations to fund projects that increase accessibility, sustainability, and capacity in arts programming, with eligibility criteria including tax-exempt status, a primary mission in arts programming, and a minimum of two years of programming history in the county.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofit organizations in Santa Barbara for social services, infrastructure improvements, and economic development projects that assist low- and moderate-income residents.

The City of Jurupa Valley's Community Service Grant Program aims to support local organizations that demonstrate effectiveness in fundraising and volunteer service for community programs, with a focus on fostering self-sufficiency. The program provides mini-grant funding for projects that benefit residents within Jurupa Valley, encouraging organizations to develop stable private funding sources and discouraging over-reliance on City financial assistance for ongoing operations. This aligns with the City Council's goal to support robust community programs while promoting sustainable financial practices among local non-profits. The target beneficiaries of this grant program are the residents of Jurupa Valley, who will benefit from social welfare, educational, charitable, athletic, cultural, or recreational programs. Non-profits awarded grants, up to $5,000 each, are expected to implement projects or programs that directly serve and improve the general community. The overarching impact goal is to enhance the quality of life and well-being for Jurupa Valley residents through diverse and beneficial community initiatives, ultimately strengthening the social fabric of the city. The program prioritizes organizations with current 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status that engage in activities for a public purpose within Jurupa Valley. Funding is specifically prohibited for certain uses, including salaries, scholarships, debt satisfaction, religious or political purposes, and mass mailings that violate the Political Reform Act. Eligibility also excludes organizations where City Council members are on the board, those involved in lawsuits against the City, or those engaging in prohibited or adverse activities to the community's health and safety. These restrictions ensure that grants are directed towards transparent, community-focused, and legally compliant initiatives. Expected outcomes include the successful implementation of various community-benefiting programs and projects, leading to tangible improvements in the social, educational, and cultural landscape of Jurupa Valley. While specific measurable results are not detailed, the emphasis on organizations demonstrating effectiveness in fundraising and volunteer services suggests an expectation of program sustainability and community engagement. The City Council's strategic priority, as adopted in Resolution No. 2014-48, is to support programs that benefit residents and promote the City, ensuring that all funding contributes to a public purpose.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofits and government agencies for projects that help prevent homelessness and ensure housing stability for seniors in North County San Diego.

This funding provides financial support to social service organizations in Carlsbad to improve housing and services for low-income residents and those with special needs.

The City of San Carlos is offering a Childcare Grant Program, providing funding between $10,000 to $100,000 for local childcare centers, family childcare homes, and non-profit centers to fund capital improvement projects aimed at increasing childcare spaces, particularly for infants and children with special needs, with applications due by October 18, 2024.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofit and government organizations that serve low-income residents in Hayward through various community improvement projects and services.

This grant provides financial support to San José-based nonprofit arts and cultural organizations that promote community engagement and contribute to the city's cultural vitality through diverse artistic programming.

This grant provides funding to organizations working to improve environmental justice and community resilience in underserved areas of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Hawaii by addressing issues like air quality, water contamination, and public health disparities.

The 2024 Beautification Awards, offered by the City of Livermore, aim to enhance and increase the aesthetic attraction of Livermore. This program is designed to recognize community members' efforts in promoting creativity, community pride, and economic vitality through improvements to their properties. The awards align with the city's broader mission of fostering a visually appealing and vibrant community. The target beneficiaries of this program are property owners within the corporate limits of the City of Livermore who undertake projects to improve their outdoor spaces. The impact goals include beautifying the city, encouraging community engagement in local aesthetics, and boosting local economic vitality through enhanced visual appeal. The program implicitly promotes a theory of change where local beautification efforts directly lead to increased community pride and economic benefits. The program prioritizes various types of projects, including residential site improvements, retail or commercial upgrades, water-wise or native plant landscapes, historical renovations, and other structural renovations, restorations, and new builds with noteworthy landscape design. Projects must be visible from a public street or trail, have the consent of the owner, and not have won in the previous five years. Self-nominations are encouraged. Award selection criteria focus on how a project visually enhances the property, how the home or business incorporates design, maintenance, color, organization, and creativity to complement and enrich the visual appeal of the existing community, and how the structure, architectural design, and landscaping are combined for maximum visual effect. The expected outcomes are a more aesthetically pleasing Livermore and increased community pride, with measurable results being the number and quality of beautification projects undertaken and recognized.

The Kings County Association of Governments in California is offering a non-competitive grant of over $1 million through the REAP 2.0 Local Suballocation Grant Program to support projects that accelerate infill development, affirm furthering fair housing, and reduce vehicle miles traveled, with eligible applicants including local governments, housing authorities, school districts, and more.

This grant provides funding to individual artists and nonprofit arts organizations in Eastern Los Angeles County to support innovative arts projects that meet community cultural needs.

This program provides financial assistance to local businesses and property owners in North Sacramento to improve storefronts, purchase equipment, and restore vacant buildings, particularly those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This program provides technical assistance and funding to support affordable housing development efforts for federally recognized tribes and Native-led organizations in California.