** See below for new application deadlines

2012 Themes:  We have two themes for 2012:  the first is "impact through sustainable systems change", and the second is that of "high community engagement".  

Currently our grants portfolio consists of three programs:  Strategic, Capacity Building, and Responsive.  Each one is meant to be a different approach to philanthropy, and our objective is that the programs will begin to integrate and complement in unexpected ways.

*  Strategic Grants Program:  The foundation is extremely excited to launch the Strategic Grants Program in 2011.  This program aims to create long-term, measurable, sustainable change in the health of our region. Through this program, Empire Health Foundation will work with community members as well as regional and national experts to identify larger health focus areas in which the Foundation can have a significant impact. Many of the strategic initiatives will be developed with a multi-faceted, community-based approach. The initiatives may last three to seven years with continual evaluation and measurement of success.   Profile:  grants in this program will likely be by invitation or Letter of Intent and range from $25,000 to $100,000 and go to fund network or multi-sector approaches to tackle priority issues such as obesity prevention and mental health.  Click here to learn more about our strategic investments.

*  Capacity Building Program:  The vision of this program is that if we strengthen our community's ability to collaborate, our nonprofit sector as a whole, our specific non profit partners, and our nonprofit leaders, our strategic initiatives will have more impact.  Profile: grants in this program range from $100 to $50,000 and usually represents seed funding to a network or collaborative that improves their ability to work together.  Click here to learn more about our investments in community capacity building.

*  Responsive Grants Program:  This program is intended to help meet the immediate needs of community-based organizations working to improve the health of our seven-county region. Through this program, Empire Health Foundation has been able to support a wide range of programs and organizations that are serving our communities.  Please look for our application announcements each during the spring and fall of each year.  Profile: grants in this program are to unsolicited proposals, $25,000 and under, serving a broad range of urgent needs from prevention to wellness to access.  Click here to learn more about our grant guidelines and timelines.

What's keeping us up at night:

The idea of "catalytic and adaptive philanthropy", that great philanthropy is much more than writing a check and hoping that the grantee/partner achieves the desired impact.  That we as funders need to take responsibility along with our partners for the metrics and impact.  That we need to acknowledge every day that we don't have the answers, and that complex social problems need complex adaptive solutions.  And that adaptive solutions only come from teams that are thinking and acting that way every day.  The level of work and engagement ahead is daunting.

Request for Proposals Released