Our Grantmaking Approach
We believe the most effective way to move out of poverty is to have a good job and build assets for long-term prosperity. That is why we make grants to organizations that help low income people find and keep living wage jobs, and gain the know-how to build financial stability for their households or small businesses. We focus our grantmaking to benefit people struggling to make ends meet, especially people of color, immigrants, refugees, and Native Americans in eight states.*
We accept grant proposals on an invitation-only basis and would like to learn about your work. Please email the Foundation at grants@nwaf.org, or call us at 888-904-9828.
This year, we will make clusters of grants in the following areas:
Building Assets and Wealth
Increasing assets – a savings account, education, a house, a car – enables families to withstand financial difficulties and plan for the future. For example, we support programs that help individuals and communities access:
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
• Matched savings such as Individual Development Accounts
• Job training
• Financial education and literacy
• Creating new jobs that pay a living wage
• Small business development
• Capital, particularly for the unbanked
• Start or expand services of credit unions
Grants to Native Americans
Native American programs are great opportunities for philanthropic investments. Our grantmaking into Indian Country currently represents a minimum of 40 percent of new grants made in 2013. Innovative approaches we’re supporting include:
• A pilot program to launch Native American employee-owned enterprises in order to create jobs and build the local economy in low-income reservation and urban Native communities
• A pilot program to increase the impact of Native American nonprofit organizations through small grants, project-specific training, advocacy, and peer-center learning
• Bolster the ability of Tribal colleges to contribute to healthy communities through innovative projects
• Social entrepreneurship – creating vibrant local economies through small business development and forging partnerships across private, tribal, and governmental sectors to apply entrepreneurial principles to social challenges such as poverty
An estimated 60 percent of all Native Americans live in urban areas where they have more access to economic opportunities. Grants to benefit urban Native Americans include:
• Supporting nonprofit leadership development, strategic planning, and organizational effectiveness
• Employment and tax services
• Community-based economic development
• Social entrepreneurship
• Personal asset- and wealth-building strategies
Public Policy
People and communities in poverty often find that existing laws and regulations create barriers to getting ahead. The Foundation believes one of the most powerful ways to eliminate those road blocks is to improve public policies that impact building assets and wealth. The following are examples of the work we fund:
• Civic engagement and public policy advocacy
• Asset coalitions
• Community organizing
• Policy dialogues
• Policy analysis
Leveraged Impact
Like most grantmakers, we know that society’s pressing needs and opportunities extend beyond the means of any one funder to address. We also recognize that there is a trove of experience, perspective, energy and ideas among funders and nonprofits working in the field. The Foundation seeks to leverage its resources by working with others. We want to:
• Collaborate with peer funders
• Encourage innovative approaches
• Support open discussions among thought-leaders and advocates, dialog that promotes robust relationships, creative thinking, inventive collaboration, and paradigm-shifting action.
• Sharing lessons from our efforts and from other organizations
*Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon
