The Southwest Community Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that serve residents of Southwest DC (20024). It seeks out and invests in solutions to sustain and improve the quality of life for Southwest DC residents. A new grant round will be announced in 2024.

Community Grant Opportunity

Established in 2015, The Southwest Community Foundation fosters ways to strengthen the volunteer and not-for-profit sectors of the Near Southwest community. Serving as a formal, impartial, nonpartisan vehicle, it directs philanthropic monies where they are most needed and best deployed. The Foundation accepts funds and donations intended for the benefit of residents of Near Southwest, defined as the area bounded by 14th Street SW, Independence Avenue, South Capitol Street, and the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. This area includes residents of all ages, races, and incomes, in public housing, market-rate rental units, and single-family homes.  

For further information, stay in touch with Southwest Community Foundation | Improving Life in Southwest DC (sw-community-Foundation.org).

Tips for Successful GRANT Applications

In order to ensure your grant proposal receives the best consideration possible, here are some suggestions from the Foundation you may find useful in preparing your grant application. 

• • • • Proofread your grant application!
      • Make sure the grant amount requested on the first page of the application matches the grant amount indicated in the budget section.
      • Check your math in the budget section to make sure that all the budget detail amounts add up to the budget summary.
      • The budget justification should include all cost elements of the proposed budget and how the figures were derived.
      • Remember the application reviewers may not be familiar with your proposed project, so you will need to describe the historic resource if warranted. This will ensure the Foundation can understand why it is important.
      • Clearly state what it is you want to accomplish with grant funding – a reviewer should be able to read your application and know what you are proposing.
      • There must be a connection between the proposed budget and the project; every budget item should be discussed in the narrative section(s) of the application so the reviewers can fully understand why items are necessary.
      • A longer response is not necessarily better.
      • Remember to answer every part of each question.
      • If possible, use good photographs to illustrate your project.
      • Submit ahead of the deadline if you can, to ensure your application meets the deadline.