OVERVIEW: This funder prioritizes Miami, Florida, and administers a variety of philanthropic programs, including grantmaking programs and partnerships. Funding priorities include arts and culture, the LBGTQ+ community, health, community development, economic development, the environment, housing and affordability, human services facilities, and the well-being of children and youth.
IP TAKE: A major funder in Greater Miami, the Miami Foundation works to build a more “resilient Miami,” having invested over half a billion dollars to strengthen the area through partnerships and contributions from more than 1,000 fundholders and 35,000 donors. Across its grantmaking programs, the foundation prioritizes nonprofits that advance equity of marginalized communities, support opportunities for individuals to thrive, and collaborate with community. Aside from grantmaking, the Miami Foundation supports local partners through capacity building and leadership development. Notably, in 2023, the foundation shifted from an annual to a bi-annual open grant application window for its core Community Grants program. This reflects the foundation’s commitment to participatory grantmaking and unrestricted, two-year grants.
Though its giving is largely Miami-based, this funder has given across the United States in smaller amounts. It tends to be a multi-year funder of established organizations, but hundreds of grants each year support new, smaller and mid-sized grantees. This is an accessible and transparent funder, so don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. Note that various individual programs and donor-advised opportunities have their own deadlines, and even their own email addresses and newsletters. This funder supports such a wide variety of work that it is worth reaching out to explore opportunities, so long as your work fits closely with their mission and geographic focus.
PROFILE: Established in 1967, the Miami Foundation is based in Miami, Florida. It seeks to work “with donors to champion their causes and improve local quality of life.” A community foundation with over 1,000 philanthropic funds, the Miami Foundation manages more than $400 million in assets and is a cornerstone of philanthropy for Greater Miami. The Miami Foundation houses the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation, a major donor-advised fund that supports the arts and the environment, among other funding interests.
Community Grants remain the foundation’s signature work, including permanent funds from over 100 donors and donor groups. Funding interests include arts and culture, the LGBTQ+ community, health, housing, community development, journalism and communications, human services facilities and the well-being of children and youth. The Miami Foundation makes grants through its civic leadership, collective impact, and community investment programs, which all have several sub-initiatives and funds that evolve frequently.
The Miami Foundation predominately conducts “trust-based” philanthropy through three major grant programs.
Community Grants offer mission-building general operating support. The grant process was recently simplified to a one phase proposal process. These grants address every interest area this funder invests in, which includes LGBTQ+, youth and the arts.
Capacity Building grants “take many forms” and offer fund development and multi-year funding. The Miami Foundation has several revolving initiatives to help Miami-based nonprofit leaders bring their missions to fruition.
The Safe Communities Program, paused in 2023, invests in crime prevention, violence prevention, youth development, human trafficking and substance abuse. The foundation expects to resume this program in the fall of 2024.
The Miami Foundation also makes grants through Partner Programs.
In addition to the Miami Foundation’s recurring programs, several scholarships, initiatives and funds exist across all of this funder’s interest areas, as outlined below. These opportunities can evolve quickly, so check the foundation’s site often.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
The Miami Foundation awards scholarships to local high school graduates, minority students, students who have overcome great obstacles, and who meet other criteria. It engages local nonprofits through organizational endowments, Give Miami Day, and the Knight Arts Challenge.
In addition to scholarships, the Miami Foundation also makes grants to public and private K-12 schools, as well as universities and colleges in Miami and across the U.S. These grants tend to invest in programmatic support, teacher education, low-income communities, BIPOC students, as well as classroom and education development.
Previous eduction grantees include Miami Dade County Public Schools, Achieve Miami, Overtown Youth Center, Miami Dade College Foundation, Florida International University Foundation, President and Fellows of Harvard College, Asu Foundation for a New American University, MIT, Florida State University, and Florida Memorial University, among many others.
Grants for Human Services, Housing Community Development
The Miami Foundation’s grants for human services, which intersect with housing, public health, well-being, youth, the elderly, families and other community improvement efforts to build a healthier and more resilient Greater Miami. These grants vary widely in scope and size. A focus on supporting BIPOC-led organizations, women, and children is reflected in recent grantmaking. Most related grantmaking occurs through Community Grants, rather than specific initiatives and subprograms dedicated to this area.
Past grantees include Little Haiti Housing Association, Grove Rights and Community Equity, Dade County Street Response and the Miami Rescue Mission.
Grants for LGBTQ
The Miami Foundation’s LGBTQ+ Equity Fund is a philanthropic collaboration led by the Miami Foundation, Our Fund Foundation, and the National LGBTQ Task Force, in “partnership with numerous other allies, champions, and supporters.” The LGBTQ+ Equity Fund’s goal is to be “responsive to the ever-evolving issues that impact the prosperity and health of the LGBTQ community in South Florida. We have awarded $300,000 in general operating support grants to 12 organizations working at the intersection of the areas of highest need in support of our local LGBTQ+ communities.”
The Support for Schools program, an initiative of the LGBTQ+ Equity Fund, supports “GSA clubs and LGBTQ+ student resource centers in public high schools and institutes of higher education serving LBGTQ+ students in Miami-Dade County for use during the 2023-2024 school year.
The Fund has over 12 grantee partners to support collaborative grantmaking to benefit the LGBTQ+ community.
Interested grant seekers may reach out with questions specific to the LGBTQ+ Equity Fund here.
Grantees include Equality Florida, the Alliance for LGBTQ Youth, TransSocial and Safe Schools South Florida.
Grants for Racial Equity
Established in June 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, the Racial Equity Fund is “committed to addressing and eradicating racism in all of its forms in Greater Miami.” This Fund is seeded by hundreds of donations, including “catalytic gifts from the Jorge Pérez Family Foundation and Facebook.”
This area of giving prioritizes organizations that are BIPOC-led while grants reach every corner of the Miami Foundation’s giving, from art to academia, as well as individuals.
This fund had made grants to organizations including Dream Defenders’ Healing and Justice Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters Miami, Gang Alternatives and Mothers Fighting for Justice.
In a statement from its President and CEO, Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, the Miami Foundation strives to conduct much of its grantmaking through a racial equity lens. As a result, beyond dedicated funds set aside for racial equity, the Miami Foundation makes related grants across most of its areas of giving
Grants for Civic Engagement and Economic Development
The Miami Foundation invests in civic leadership and economic opportunity through a variety of opportunities and initiatives that work to use Miami as a learn laboratory to propel citizens in their civic careers. These programs and fellowships include:
Miami Fellows, which is a 15-month leadership program experience that uses Greater Miami as a learning laboratory, inspiring Fellows to engage and give back who are “5 to 15 years into their professional career who have made an impact” on Miami. Register separately for more information about Miami Fellows.
Miami Leaders, established in 2011, works to “develop the leadership skills and management competencies of emerging nonprofit leaders in Greater Miami, enabling them to attend “premier executive education programs in Greater Miami and around the country.”
The Ruth Shack Leadership Award honors an “individual age 40 or under who reflects the qualities embodied by the Foundation’s President Emeritus, Ruth Shack: a passionate champion for Greater Miami, steadfast ethics, unselfish service and a connector of our diverse community.” This opportunity is by nomination only.
Grant initiatives for economic development and work opportunity include Miami Connected and Miami Open for Business. The Miami Foundation’s initiatives change frequently, so check back annually.
The Foundation also likes to invest in organizations that support local entrepreneurship, employment, opportunity, skills development and economic development, among others.
Past grantees include Endeavor Miami, The Allapattah Collaborative CDC, Make the Homeless Smile Miami, Refresh Miami, Dmf Employment Opportunities,
Grants for the Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Relief
The Miami Foundation is a big funder of climate change mitigation in Greater Miami, as well as helping the region become more resilient from climate, sustainability and conservation perspectives. The Foundation also makes grants for local biodiversity, wildlife and habitats.
Initiatives related to these areas include the Biscayne Bay Recovery Fund, Resilient 305, and the Extreme Heat Task Force, as well as Disaster Resilience.
Grants related to disaster relief intersect with disaster preparedness, pre-disaster stabilization and post-disaster recovery. These grants tend to cover damages incurred from hurricanes and climate change-induced calamities.
Past grantees include Tropical Audubon Society, Miami Waterkeeper, the Everglades Foundation and the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
Grants for Journalism, Media and Democracy
Many of the Foundation’s awards in these areas focus on digital media and news, local newspapers, and journalism education, among related issues. Press Forward, an initiative of the Foundation’s, works to catalyze “local news for stronger communities,” which it views as a “national initiative to strengthen communities and democracy by supporting local news over the next five years.”
With several big, national partners here, the Miami Foundation is deeply invested in moving this work forwards.
As part of its dedication to supporting democracy in Miami, this funder also invests in civic participation. Previous grantees include (The) Colorado Independent and Participatory Politics Foundation, among many others.
Past journalism and media grantees in this space include News Revenue Hub, Institute for Investigative Journalism, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Knight and the Miami Herald, to name just a few.
Grants for Criminal Justice and Violence Prevention
This funder’s grants for crime and violence prevention typically occur through its Safe Communities Program, which invests in: crime prevention and deterrence, preventing human trafficking, substance abuse prevention, and at-risk youth. This program is undergoing a transformation and should resume in 2024. Past grantees include the Affirming Youth Foundation, Chainless Change, the Survivors Pathway Corporation and Kristi House, “for its Project GOLD program for sex-trafficked Youth and those at risk of being sex trafficked.”
Grants for Arts Education, Arts and Culture
The Miami Foundation is a major arts funder in Greater Miami. From arts education to museums, this funder has a wide range of investments in the arts, especially in music.
Beyond making related grants through its Community Grants program, it also makes grants for music through Music Access Miami Mini and Momentum Grants, which focuses on youth development. Like other areas of giving, the latter prioritizes BIPOC-led organizations and those which invest in grassroots music organizations “serving youth through music.”
Arts grantees include the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Young Musicians Unite, Arts for Learning Miami and the Miami Music Project.
Important Grant Details:
The Miami Foundation’s grants range from about $5,000 to over $1 million with an average grant size of about $25,000.
This funder prioritizes giving to organizations located in the Greater Miami area; however, it gives all across the United States, particularly in New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California, among other states.
Grantmaking is decentralized, with separate programs and funds running independent grant programs, including many donor-advised funds. Grant guidelines and dates vary significantly by program and initiative and change frequently. Keep up with individual program pages for accurate information and new opportunities.
The Miami Foundation offers capital and infrastructure grants, emergency funds, endowments, equipment, and general support.
For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s individual program pages or its past tax filings.
Direct general questions to the staff at info@miamifoundation.org. The foundation is located at 40 NW 3rd Street, Suite 305, Miami, Florida 33128. Keep up with their news section and blog. Join the mailing list to stay informed about new opportunities.
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