OVERVIEW: The Valentine Foundation is a Philadelphia funder of social change for women and girls.
IP TAKE: This is a great funder to get to know for grant seekers who work in any issue area that improves the lives of women and girls in the Greater Philadelphia area. Grants aremodest, but they do prioritize local and small organizations. The foundation awards grants once per year in November.
PROFILE: The Valentine Foundation is a Philadelphia funder of social change for women and girls. It seeks to fund “programs and organizations that effect fundamental social change and result in substantive change in systemic attitudes, practices and policies that prevent women and girls from realizing their full potential.” Phoebe Valentine’s father passed away in 1974 and she inherited a fortune, which she put into a trust. In 1983 at the age of 40, she was diagnosed with cancer, and she established the Valentine Foundation in 1985 with her inheritance money. The foundation is based in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, but focuses much of its grantmaking on Philadelphia. It has been making grants to empower women and girls for over 30 years.
Since its inception, the foundation has given to organizations and programs that empower women and girls to recognize their full potential and change attitudes that discourage them from doing so. This extends to grantmaking in education, health, recreation, leadership, and self-esteem building. More than just reproductive rights, domestic violence, and teen pregnancy, this is a funder that takes a broad approach to women and girls’ issues to focus on economic self-sufficiency and leadership development as well.
In addition to these grants, the foundation also funds local nonprofits through the Fund for Visionary Leadership. This is a separate endowment created in 2005 and managed by the foundation. Its purpose is to strengthen organizations working for women and girls, to make current women leaders more effective, and build the next generation of new leaders. These grants are made to organizations, not individuals.
Most grants range between $7,000 and $10,000, but there is occasionally a $15,000 grant. In a recent year, the foundation awarded $184,200 in grants. Past grantees include include Women Against Abuse, Inc., Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower & Rebuild, and HIAS Pennsylvania. Overall, funding stays in the Greater Philadelphia area or has a national impact with a local connection. This funder does not support capital campaigns, scholarships, or international causes.
Interested grant seekers in this space can apply for general operating support, or for a specific program or project. Both single-year and multi-year grants are awarded for a period of up to three years. There is no limit on the number of consecutive years that you can receive grants. The Valentine Foundation makes yearly grants in November.
The foundation is run by six trustees with nonprofit and philanthropy experience. The trustees review letters of inquiry between June and August and then convene over a two-day meeting in September to discuss proposals for possible funding. Full proposals are then due in October. Grant forms can be accessed on the funder’s website.
A grantseeker’s best point of contact is Executive Director Alexandra V.A. Frazier. Annual reports can be viewed on the funder’s About the Foundation page.
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A Quick Look at the Valentine Foundation’s Philadelphia Giving for Women & Girls
