About Us:
The Lohengrin Foundation's mission is to advance equity, opportunity, and justice to eradicate systemic barriers, and promote vibrant, safe, and thriving communities.
We partner with and invest in organizations that guide transformational programs, advocacy, and policy initiatives to drive social impact and systems change.
We believe that the root causes and systems of oppression are structural, interconnected, and compounded by historical and systemic patterns of exclusion, racism, and inequity. Therefore, we apply a racial and intersectional equity and justice lens to our practices and grantmaking. Our grantmaking approach is also data-informed, guided by community input, and incorporates the principles of Trust-Based Philanthropy.
Purpose:
The Movement Building and Systems Change (MBSC) Grant Program supports nonprofits and community-based organizations that engage in organizing, power building, advocacy and structural change initiatives to transform power and resource distribution systems to advance equitable, vibrant, safe, and thriving communities.
This grant program explicitly seeks to fund organizations engaging in organizing, power building, policy, and advocacy efforts that address the issue areas of educational equity, arts education access and funding, community safety, and criminal justice reform. Because we recognize that these issues may not always be addressed in a siloed fashion, we encourage organizations to seek funding who are working to address them through an intersectional approach or in conjunction with other community-identified goals.
We seek to support organizations who build and mobilize communities of those most impacted or with direct proximity to the challenges and issue areas they are working to address. Given the focus areas of this Request for Proposals (RFP), organizations who directly engage youth, parents, returning citizens, and justice-informed individuals and leaders are encouraged to apply.
We also seek organizations connected to other community groups collaborating for systemic change. Additional priority will be given to groups working on intersectional, intergenerational, and racial solidarity efforts.
Goals:
The goal of the MBSC grant program is to partner with organizations that utilize the methods below directly or through a combination of direct activities and partnerships to advance systems change through efforts that involve:
- Community-driven and asset-based engagement, solution development, and problem solving.
- Power building through a combination of healing practices, trainings, base and community building activities, including civic and leadership development opportunities.
- In-depth political, issue, and systems analysis to address the direct issues and underlying historical, racial and systemic inequities.
- Collective action including public accountability and civic engagement.
- Unifying and collaborative efforts through coalitions, partnerships and strategic alliances within and across issue areas and sectors.
- Expanding beyond traditional movement building approaches to include social media, the arts, narrative change work and alternative system development and planning.
- Measuring progress and implications for impact at the individual, community, cultural, and systems levels with opportunities for routine reflection, redirection, and adaptation as needed to meet the evolving community and political landscape.
Through these integrated movement building approaches, organizational partners will be able to demonstrate the potential or proven ability to influence and foster change at the individual, community, cultural, and systems levels that leads to greater resource allocation and equitable and community-driven policy and systemic reforms in education, arts education, community safety, and criminal justice. We believe the increased influence on policymaking and systems design will lead to local and state policies that are more just and foster opportunities for local, state, and federal policy influence and long-term opportunities for educational, economic, and social mobility.
Grantmaking Criteria:
Organizations' applications will be evaluated based on the criteria below.
- Organizational capacity and fiscal health
- Organizational incorporation of those most impacted or in close proximity to issues through roles and decision-making, leadership, and solutions development
- Organizational commitment to racial equity and justice
- BIPOC leadership at the board, staff, or community levels
- Proposal alignment with strategic goals and targeted issue areas
- Potential for impact at the individual, community, and systems levels
- Issue and system analysis to address the direct issues and underlying historical, racial, and systemic inequities
- Active and relevant partnerships or engagement in coalitions, or strategic alliances
- Incorporation of non-traditional movement building approaches to include social and new media, the arts, or innovation to system development and planning
Grant Amounts and Terms:
This is a three-year grant. Its annual renewal will be based on activities taken during the previous 12 months, completion of terms in the grant agreement, and availability of funds.
Annual grant amounts per organization can go up to $50,000 per year.
Eligible Applicants:
We fund registered 501(c)3 organizations in good standing or groups fiscally sponsored by a registered 501(c)3 organization.
We fund organizations serving Chicago, Boston, and Boston's gateway cities.
Application Attachments:
The following attachments should be prepared to ensure completion of the application.
Required:
- Campaign / Program / Project Budget
- An organizational and relevant campaign, program or project budget that includes income (projected overall income and detailed sources) and expenses.
Additional Attachments:
- We welcome program details, reports, or other data related to outcomes of the program, campaign, or project you seek funding for. This can be included as attachments of testimonials, assessment tools, evaluations, or reports.
- Any other documents that you feel are relevant to the project or program that would be helpful to share in our consideration.
Submission Process:
- Complete the Lohengrin Foundation's Movement Building and Systems Change Grant Application by 11:59 p.m. CT November 1, 2024.
After the Grant is Awarded:
Selected organizations are expected to participate in a mid-year check-in conversation and submit an annual narrative and financial report.
Organizations are requested to follow any additional requirements found in the grant agreement.
If an application is not selected, applicants have 30 days after the decision to request feedback from Foundation staff.
Foundation Contact:
If you have questions about the Movement Building and Systems Change Grant Program, please email Aaron Johnson, the Program and Community Engagement Officer, at mbsc@lohengrinfdn.org.