Funding Opportunities

Description

Policy Campaign Grants provide up to $100,000 in general operating support for timely and urgent issue-based campaigns that advance public policy through voter engagement, civic activation, and community organizing aligned with our desired impacts.

Policy campaign grants are designed to infuse resources into grassroots infrastructure at critical moments in campaign cycles, ensuring movements have the people, tools, and momentum needed to advance transformational justice. This component of Deaconess’ grantmaking strategy is designed to accelerate deep, systemic policy change—moving beyond surface-level reforms and centering leadership from the communities most affected.

Grants may support:

1. Efforts which advance coordinated local or state public policy advocacy and organizing campaigns driving meaningful, systemic change
2. Expansion of organizing capacity to respond to the ever-evolving legislative and electoral landscape
3. Opportunistic or innovative initiatives that are well-positioned to advance policy change (i.e. ballot initiatives, voter expansion, access, and rights, etc.)

Grants will be awarded for one year and may be awarded to collaborative efforts (multiple organizations applying under one application).

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must be located within our eight-county footprint, hold 501(c)(3) or other nonprofit status or have a fiscal sponsor, and propose systems-change work. Statewide initiatives in Missouri or Illinois are eligible, provided the work includes a clear and meaningful emphasis within our eight-county region. Furthermore, funding may support 501(c)(4) organizations for 501(c)(3)-eligible activities.

Request for Proposals

• Request for proposals period opens December 1, 2025.
• Request for proposals period closes January 30, 2026.
• To be considered for a cycle’s review, requests for proposals must be submitted by 11:59 pm on the closing date.

Award

• The total distribution amount that will be awarded is $100,000 for general operating funds.
• Grants will be awarded for one year and are non-renewable.

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Description

Deaconess Foundation’s strategy calls for creating conditions where liberation is the lived reality for seven generations and orienting its resources in pursuit of that goal.

As part of this strategy, Deaconess will use a portion of its investment portfolio to catalyze a local regenerative economy by providing below-market rate loan(s) to nonprofit organizations. The Foundation recognizes that access to financial capital can be a barrier for many nonprofit organizations. In response, Deaconess created an initiative to expand community access to financial capital in the hopes of building local capacity to achieve positive health outcomes.

The Foundation is inviting organization(s) who might need a loan up to $450,000 to apply for financing that will strengthen their programs and further their mission. Unlike a grant, these funds are a loan that will be repaid with interest.

Eligibility Criteria

• An organization must be a non-profit organization that aims to improve conditions for community level well-being.
• Prospective partners may include, but are not limited to, nonprofits pursuing change through coalition and base-building, grassroots advocacy, community organizing or public policy development, community development including community development financial institutions or community development corporations, intermediaries, and non-profits with revolving loan funds.
• Project must impact the Eastern Region of Missouri (St. Louis City, St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, and Jefferson Counties) and Southern Illinois (St. Clair, Madison, and Monroe Counties).

In the past, Deaconess has considered requests for

• revolving loan funds in which money will be re-distributed either to businesses or nonprofits;
• bridge loans so that nonprofits can begin a project while waiting for cash or additional funding; or
• money that will provide a stable amount of cash to meet ongoing operations during times of variable cash flows.

Selection Principles

• A need for a loan and not a grant or a forgivable loan;
• Evidence of how funds would be leveraged to provide both a financial and a social return;
• An identified source of income or asset base for repaying the loan;
• A business plan and assessment of the viability of the program or project;
• Consistency with the Foundation’s values of faith, healing, liberation, and justice
• Diversity in leadership, governance, and a range of stakeholders;

In addition to these concepts, Deaconess Foundation may evaluate applications with a view toward building a loan portfolio that reflects:

• Geographic diversity in the region
• Diversification of social impact
• Diversification of investee type

The request for proposals period is closed.

Description

Movement Transformation Grants will be awarded to organizations that will be invited to be in partnership with Deaconess Foundation. Recipients will receive annual grants over a three-year period for general operating support. These grants provide a stable source of flexible funding for organizational and civic infrastructure expansion, advancement of issue-specific public policies, and/or efforts impacting systems transformation for the improved health and wellness of people in Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois.

As part of trust-based philanthropy practices, Deaconess uses guided and ongoing discussions with our partners to identify progress and areas of support in lieu of an application and reporting process for this grant.

The inaugural cohort was selected in 2023. The next cohort will be selected in 2026.

Award

The total distribution amount that will be awarded ranges from $20,000 to $30,000 per year for general operating funds.

The Deaconess Nursing Scholarship Program honors the nursing heritage of the Deaconess mission by supporting local students with demonstrated financial need. These grants are administered through a partnership with the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis and the St. Louis American Foundation.