What We Fund
The Partnership for Better Health is committed to building an equitable, just, and inclusive community investment process and to supporting our local nonprofit community. Aligned with our values of Equity, Advocacy, Collaboration, Stewardship and Innovation, the Partnership for Better Health provides funding opportunities to support projects that improve the health of individuals and communities by focusing on social determinants of health and health equity. The foundation seeks nonprofit partners with the capacity to address these crucial issues through their work.
- Social Determinants of Health are the structural factors and conditions that affect everyone’s health. People’s homes, schools, jobs and neighborhoods significantly influence health outcomes. Social determinants of health include socioeconomic status, the environment, neighborhood safety, social support networks, and access to resources to meet daily needs, such as safe housing and healthy foods. Where people live, learn, work and play matters. The Partnership seeks to create strong social and physical environments that promote health for all.
- Health equity exists when all people have fair and just access, opportunity, and resources to achieve their highest potential for health. To reach health equity, communities must take collective action to address policies, systems, and structures that influence health.
Funding Opportunities:
General Operating Grants for Organizations Leading in Equity Work
- Flexible funding for existing grantees that can be used at their discretion to advance health equity in its missional efforts.
- Grant size: $10,000 – $50,000/year
Project Grants to Address Root Issues
- Funding for a specific project to address the root causes of one or more social determinants of health among an underserved or marginalized population.
- Grant size: $5,000.01 – $100,000/year
Spark Grants
- Funding to support opportunities to meet a community need in a responsive manner.
- Grant size: up to $5,000/year
Deadlines:
- Apply by August 1 – Decision by November 15
- Apply by December 1 – Decision by March 15
- Apply by March 1- Decision by June 15
Additional funding opportunities through Requests for Proposals or Application may be announced with different deadlines.
Evaluation Criteria:
For every grant application, the Partnership for Better Health will evaluate
- Strong alignment with the foundation’s priorities:
- Addressing one or more of the social determinants of health.
- Advancing health equity by addressing systems and conditions that create inequities.
- Using effective and/or innovative strategies in creating positive health outcomes.
- Fostering collaboration focused on health justice.
- Advancing systems change solutions (systemic strategies that are designed to improve all aspects of how a set of organizations, institutions or systems work).
- Centering people with lived experience in the planning, leadership and implementation of the work—these are people with firsthand experience of the health challenges and inequities being addressed.
- Utilizing policy advocacy strategies that build the power of marginalized communities toward systems change.
- Significance of the need being addressed;
- Capacity of the applicant to accomplish its goals and objectives and its closeness to the issue being addressed; and
- Appropriate budget.