Major Grants Program is sponsored by Helen J. Serini Foundation. This grant program prioritizes general operating/unrestricted support for innovative interventions that remove or address the root causes of systemic barriers to health, safety, shelter, and opportunity in the communities where the foundation works and lives.

The foundation supports systems change across various issue areas.

Grant Guidelines — The Helen J. Serini Foundation If you're interested in applying for a grant, please review the areas of focus, funding methods, and eligibility requirements below, as well as our major grants process and timeline or small grants process before submitting an application.

Submissions that do not fall within our stated areas of focus and preferred funding methods, and/or do not follow our grant application instructions, will not be reviewed.

All organizations seeking funding, regardless of amount requested, are required to meet the following criteria: Provide services in and/or be based in one of our geographic areas of focus (Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and/or Frederick County, Maryland, with some statewide work considered) Provide evidence of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3), OR, in the case of international grantees, provide similar proof of tax exemption to the satisfaction of the Executive Director; Provide up-to-date contact details for regular communications; Adhere to the principles of the Foundation and the Foundation's mission statement.

The Helen J. Serini Foundation will not make grants to the following: Organizations that engage in discriminatory hiring, benefit or service practices based on race, color, nationality or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, veteran status or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal or state law.

Political Action Committees (PAC) or lobbying efforts (exclusive of research) Religious institutions that have not submitted a 1023 form and/or received their 501(c)(3) status, or organizations/programs that require a specific religious affilitation for receipt of services. Reimbursement for prior expenses Before proceeding, please review Our Mission for more information on the types of programs we support and areas of focus.

You may also review our Grant History & Philosophy to see examples of previous grants made, as well as basic information on typical grant sizes and types. The Foundation supports innovative interventions that remove or address root causes of systemic barriers to health, safety, shelter, and opportunity in the communities where we work and live.

Our support of direct service, emergency needs, or similar programs is rare, and usually occurs in instances where that service is used to inform systemic work, or if an organization can demonstrate that such a program, if implemented universally, would have systemic impact.

Individually, board and family members may support direct services and emergency needs organizations, but the foundation’s collective giving focuses on root causes and systems change work as outlined above. In any call for grant applications, we are particularly seeking organizations whose work: Demonstrates a spirit of collaboration, partnership, and alliance building.

We believe that no work happens in a vacuum, and relationships are crucial to effecting change. Engages community and constituents in its decision making. Those closest to the problems are also those closest to the solutions.

Embodies principles of equity and inclusion in both work and governance. Equity is not a one-and-done program, but an ongoing commitment to examination, learning, unlearning, and willingness to change. We are especially seeking organizations led and/or founded by BIPOC individuals, and/or with diverse boards.

When considering whether or not to apply, consider the following questions: Does this work improve or restructure systems of poverty by changing policies, practices, or beliefs that hold people in cycles of poverty? If this is a request for direct service support, does this direct service inform or complement work to improve or restructure systems? If the answer to either question is no, we are unlikely to consider support.

Geographic Areas of Focus For all of our grant programs, we accept submissions from organizations that are operationally based in, or that provide services and support to, the communities where our board members and advisors live and work. This includes Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, and Frederick County, and some statewide work across Maryland.

In effect, this geographic focus affords us with better opportunities to provide a more personal level of support to our grantees, beyond just grant dollars, and to cultivate positive relationships and share resources amongst other local nonprofit associations and organizations in these regions.

Major Grants : We provide unrestricted/general operating grants for amounts between $5,000-$20,000/year for organizations whose overall mission aligns with that of the foundation. Because of our commitment to multi-year grants, we are not currently anticipating an open grants process in the coming years.

Small Grants : We have historically provided smaller grants in amounts between $1,000-$5,000 for specific projects: professional/leadership development; offsetting harm/costs of a fiscal sponsor entity; and/or for support of a specific Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative.

We anticipate this grant program will re-open annually each year sometime in the second quarter; once open, grants are accepted on a rolling basis until budget is depleted for the year. Current and recent grant partners are encouraged to reach out if you have a professional development ask in mind. We are flexible in our funding methods.

While we most commonly make direct grants, we are open to Program-Related Investments (PRI), loans, bridge funding, and other creative funding mechanisms. For more information or questions specific to your needs, please be in touch . Because we believe that you know your own project, fiscal, and other calendars better than anyone else, we’ll ask you to set your own grant start and end dates in your grant application.

For short-term projects, this may be as short as a day or a week or a month. For long-term or ongoing projects, you may opt to use a calendar year or fiscal year. Note that if approved, grant reporting will be tied to these start and end dates, so pick a timeframe that makes sense for the work you’re doing.

Grant periods for new awardees are capped at one year. Multi-year funding requests are considered on an invitation-only basis, and only grant partners who have received at least one year of funding from us in the past are eligible for these invitations. You can preview the type of application & reporting questions we ask for here .

The Helen J. Serini Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. Determination letter.