Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

All applicants will be notified within 12 weeks of their submission whether their application has been selected for further consideration.  

We believe that social change takes time and requires long-term investments. We also see immense value in supporting new, innovative, and exploratory work. To reflect this, we have a range of grant types:  

• Venture Grants (up to $100k for one year): These grants are short-term and designed to expedite support to social entrepreneurs with breakthrough, emerging, and innovative solutions. They also serve to mutually explore new relationships and partnerships.  
• Advancement Grants (Up to $250k annually for up to two years): These grants are designed to provide two-year support to project-based work and/or help scale organizations and promising solutions.  
• Enterprise Grants ($250k+ annually for more than two years): These grants are invitation-only and are designed to provide multi-year, unrestricted funding to partners that have deep alignment across our REEJ focus areas and offer the most opportunity to use all our financial and non-financial resources to support their solutions.  

• 501(c)(4) organizations  
• Individuals  
• NCF maintains a funding area in Israel-Palestine, that portfolio is invitation-only  
• Social or direct service projects that are not a part of a larger advocacy strategy. For example, we do not support direct services (e.g. cash transfer, work development programs, food and education services, housing assistance, etc.).  
• Fundraising events, sponsorships, panel requests, or galas  
• Campus or prison-based programs  
• K-12, extra-curricular, religious, or community arts education programming  
• Religious communities, congregations, and churches  
• Community gardening and tree planting projects  
• Conservation projects  
• Projects addressing diseases, including medical research, personal health, and wellness program

There are two types of funding opportunities: grants and program-related investments (PRIs). Both grant and PRI proposals must align with our interconnected goals of racial, economic, and/or environmental justice (REEJ). Proposals that align and intersect with REEJ and our place-based initiatives, which include the U.S. South, are especially encouraged.    

No. If you are new to the organization, create your own registration with account information about the organization and your contact details. Notify your NCF partner contact of your role with the organization. Our staff will update the active grants pertaining to outstanding activities that relate to your organization, which will allow you to complete grant reports for your organization.

Yes. There are two ways to contact us. If you prefer to communicate in the Applicant Portal instead of a direct email, once logged in, select “SEND A MESSAGE,” then click on “Compose a Message.” A window will appear for you to complete all fields, then click “Send.”

You can also reach us by email if that is preferred. If you have content-related questions regarding the proposed project and questions on the application form, please contact the portfolio lead and copy ga_admin@nathancummings.org. For technical questions about the portal, you may email help@nathancummings.org and copy the portfolio lead.

No. You will not be able to edit any information online after you submit your request or grant report. If you need to add information or edit after your submission, please contact ga_admin@nathancummings.org to assist you.

Yes. You can print the full application or grant report from the “Print” Icon in the REQUESTS or GRANTEE REPORT list view.

Yes. If you know your username, you can reset your password, by clicking “Can’t access your Account?” on the applicant portal homepage to send you an email with instructions on how to reset your password.

Check your original email from Grants Admin – Nathan Cummings Foundation with the subject “Nathan Cummings Foundation Online Portal – Please Verify Your Email Address” to refer to your username. If you’re unable to locate this email, you can contact ga_admin@nathancummings.org for this information.

After clicking on the activation link, set your password for your account. Please do not use the word “password” in the password itself. If other password requirements are not met, the system will provide you with further instructions.

If the link has expired 24 hours from the time you received the email, contact gadmin@nathancummings.org and we will resend a new link to activate your account.

If an error occurs noting “Nickname already exists,” the activation link has already been used, and your account may already be set up. Try to log in with your username and password.

After completing the registration process, you will receive an email with a link to activate your account within 24 hours to complete your account setup with your password. The email includes your username for the Applicant Portal, so please save this email for future reference.

Yes. An account is required to access and submit an online letter of inquiry or proposal. The account also allows you to save and return to a request. If funding is awarded, you will also submit funding requirements via the online account. If you’d like to preview the letters of Inquiry before creating an account, you can view it here: Grants LOI; PRI LOI.

Click on “New User?” to start and complete the registration process.

The online grants management system is foundationConnect which offers the best results using Google Chrome. Firefox and Microsoft Edge could also work however, the portal will NOT work on Internet Explorer. 

To help maintain our database, staff withdraw “In Progress” LOIs if there has been no activity on the LOI in the last three months. If there has been no activity on the LOI in the past six months, the LOI is deleted.

If you think your LOI was withdrawn or deleted in error, please email us at ga_admin@nathancummings.org. 

Questions regarding the submission process should be directed to our asset management department at GA_admin@nathancummings.org. We are not currently able to address questions relating to the content of the submission.

All applicants will be notified within 12 weeks of their submission whether their application has been selected for further consideration.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with the portal open for three out of the four quarters of the year. The portal will be open from October 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 at 4:59 PM ET.

The portal will be closed annually from July 1st to September 30th to allow time for assessment and reflection, reopening on October 1st.

Most of our grants range from about $50,000 – $250,000. We anticipate most PRIs will range from $250,000 to $750,000, typically to be repaid within three to seven years.

NCF’s grant-making budget is $15 million for FY 2026.

Our budget for funding program-related investments (PRIs) in 2026 is approximately $4 million.

Note: We have dedicated $22 million, five percent of the endowment, to be deployed for PRIs in the coming years.

The following are ineligible for financial support:

• 501(c)(4) organizations
• Individuals
• NCF maintains a funding area in Israel-Palestine, that portfolio is invitation-only
• Social or direct service projects that are not a part of a larger advocacy strategy. For example, we do not support direct services (e.g. cash transfer, work development programs, food and education services, housing assistance, etc.).
• Fundraising events, sponsorships, panel requests, or galas
• Campus or prison-based programs
• K-12, extra-curricular, religious, or community arts education programming
• Religious communities, congregations, and churches
• Community gardening and tree planting projects
• Conservation projects
• Projects addressing diseases, including medical research, personal health, and wellness program

NCF will award PRIs using the following criteria:

• Alignment with one or more NCF focus areas (see above)  
• Alignment with NCF’s values, including a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion  
• Ability to return capital according to agreed-upon terms  
• Ability to provide agreed-upon impact data to evaluate progress in NCF focus areas  
• Inability/difficulty obtaining sufficient capital through conventional financial institutions  
• Opportunity for learning that enhances the work of NCF and its partners  
• Opportunity to catalyze action and investment from others  
• Opportunity to demonstrate and amplify successful models and approaches that may be overlooked or underutilized by traditional sources of funding  

We seek to remove barriers and promote opportunities to advance racial, economic, and environmental justice (REEJ). We believe these challenges are complex and require a creative approach that aligns all our resources toward this purpose. Therefore, we established a PRI Initiative and designated 5% of our endowment to provide an array of innovative tools through flexible capital. Through this initiative, we hope to learn, to demonstrate and amplify successful models, to catalyze action and investment from others, and to join a diverse range of partners in pursuit of solutions. 

Just like grants, PRIs must advance the foundation’s mission and accomplish one or more of the foundation’s tax-exempt purposes. Also, like grants, PRIs cannot be used to influence legislation or take part in political campaigns on behalf of candidates. 

Unlike grants, PRIs are made with the expectation that some or all the capital will be returned to the foundation in the future, according to terms that the foundation and the PRI recipient agree to. That said, we do not make PRIs for the purpose of financial gain. Therefore, we may be able to structure financing with more favorable and flexible terms than a traditional financial institution would.  

We will consider PRIs in a variety of forms, including debt and equity instruments. 

NCF supports work in the American South focused on advancing racial, economic, and environmental justice, devoting a minimum of 40% of all assets to the region. While potential partners may apply for funding from Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice focus areas at the national level, NCF invites proposals for partnerships in the following 13 states (AL, AR, GA, KY, MO, OK, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV).1 NCF also is emphasizing regional opportunities to counter-act economic drivers of inequality and injustice; NCF’s initial insights emphasize exploring the links between Inclusive Green Economy, Economic Security, and Racial Wealth Gap focus areas as outlined above. 

We support organizations based in the United States, its Territories, and Israel-Palestine. We are particularly interested in work focused on the U.S. South (see above). See more about our Israel-Palestine strategy here.

We support environmental justice work that: 

Addresses environmental harms: BIPOC and low-income communities are disproportionately harmed by environmental hazards. We support systemic efforts to prevent and repair these environmental disparities and ensure affected communities can meaningfully engage in forging solutions.  

For 2026, we will prioritize work that: 

• Provides frontline communities and stakeholders with actionable data they can use to both inform decision-makers and advance remediation of environmental harms  
• Develops and implements long-term solutions that protect both ecosystems and public health   
• ·Holds polluters financially and/or legally accountable for environmental impacts caused by their operations      

Creates inclusive participation in the green economy: A Green Energy transition is well underway, but the positive economic outcomes are not distributed equitably. We support efforts to ensure that frontline environmental organizations and diverse companies can fully take advantage of the investments, benefits, and opportunities of the Green Economy.

For 2026, we will prioritize work that: 

• Measurably increases jobs, investments, and/or wealth-building opportunities in the Green Energy Transition for companies and individuals from marginalized backgrounds 
• Increases capital to support, replicate, and/or scale solutions led by frontline communities that advance the transition to a green economy  
• Demonstrates and amplifies models of economic inclusion in climate adaptation, mitigation or resilience 

Develops regenerative economic models: We recognize that achieving environmental justice and addressing climate change requires a shift from extractive to regenerative economic models that prioritize the health of our communities and ecosystems. We support social entrepreneurs and innovators who are building regenerative projects and models based on sustainability, ecological restoration, and community wealth-building and resilience.

For 2026, we will prioritize work that: 

• Transitions or restores agricultural, forest or other lands and watersheds damaged by pollution, with an emphasis on actual remediation 
• Increases investments to organizations and social entrepreneurs that help them to scale innovative alternatives to extractive and/or polluting processes, practices, and products.   
• Demonstrates and amplifies effective regenerative economic models and their impact on local economies, ecosystems and public health   
• We anticipate that a majority of funding for new partners will support work happening in or focused on the U.S. South 

We anticipate that a majority of funding for new partners will support work happening in or focused on the U.S. South 

We support economic justice work that: 

Fosters systemic economic security: Economic security is a necessary baseline for people to survive and thrive, especially amidst conditions of rising inequality. We support efforts that systemically mitigate economic precarity and secure a path to a more stable future for poor and low-income people.  Within this focus area, we are focused specifically on increasing worker power and addressing the lack of affordable housing in the United States. We do not anticipate funding economic security work that falls outside of these two areas in 2026.

For 2026 we will prioritize work happening in or focused on the U.S. South that: 

• Increases workers’ power and their ability to negotiate for fair pay and good benefits    
• Addresses the high cost of housing for renters and/or homeowners   
• Expands the uptake of employee ownership and other forms of alternative ownership structures 

Increases access to capital: Generations of discriminatory lending and investment practices have prevented BIPOC and women from accessing the capital required to bring their ideas to the marketplace and profit from them. We support efforts to provide more access to capital for historically excluded entrepreneurs and to cultivate an ecosystem in which they can prosper.  

For 2026 we will prioritize work happening in or focused on the U.S. South that:  

• Increases capital controlled and allocated by women and people of color 
• Expands Black, Indigenous, and other people of color’s ability to secure competitively priced private and public capital, including loans, lines of credit, and investment dollars  
• Shift perceptions of risk and bankability and advances fair underwriting standards  

Please note that successful applications from entrepreneur support organizations will demonstrate clear strategies for expanding access to competitively priced private and public capital for historically marginalized groups in their specific geographic focus area(s). 
We do not anticipate supporting work from individual consultants or business consulting firms working on access to capital.

Combats monopoly power: Monopoly power drives many corrosive problems in our political, economic, and social systems. We support efforts to decrease corporate power and create a level playing field for workers, marginalized communities, and small businesses. Our approach to addressing monopoly power includes but extends beyond a focus on revitalizing antitrust enforcement and undermining the consumer welfare standard.   

For 2026 we will prioritize work happening in or focused on the U.S. South that: 

• Increases competition in key industries (i.e., energy, agriculture, healthcare, and retail ) and dismantles consolidated corporate power   
• Ensures enforcement of regulations that keep corporate power in check    
• Expands state and local action designed to address monopoly power. 

We support racial justice work that:

1) Fosters Civic Engagement
2) Addresses the Racial Wealth Gap
3) Combats Racism & Oppression: 

Fosters Civic Engagement: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and other marginalized communities face long-standing and concerted efforts to restrict and suppress their participation in the public sphere, especially in civic processes. We support efforts to ensure these communities have the access and capacity to participate freely in shaping the policies, practices, and institutions that impact their everyday lives.    

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, work that: 

• Decreases regressive policies aimed at disenfranchising BIPOC communities and limiting civic participation 
• Fosters leadership development for public servants including advocates and elected officials 
• Encourages innovative policy interventions around democratic values 

In 2026, we are particularly interested in hyper-local civic engagement work in the U.S. South in the areas of school board reform, preemption, and voter suppression. 

Addresses the Racial Wealth Gap: Extreme racial wealth inequality persists in the United States, especially among Black communities, as a product of centuries of unjust policies and practices. We support efforts to repair this harm, build wealth, and address the root causes of the racial wealth gap.  

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, work that: 

• Increases assets among those who have been most harmed by the racial wealth gap  
• Grows the number of local, state, and federal policies and institutions that support access to and ownership of assets for BIPOC communities, especially Black communities​  
• Decreases the number of public-private barriers to BIPOC communities building wealth 

In 2026, we are particularly interested in system interventions that help lower barriers to home ownership and business ownership, especially in the U.S. South.  

Combats Racism and Oppression: White supremacy is at the root of our society’s most unequal systems, institutions, and policies. We support efforts to build the infrastructure and capacity necessary to create systems that are free from oppression and allow us all to thrive.  

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, work that: 

• Undermines systemic hurdles to racial justice 
• Supports education/narrative building efforts at the hyper-local, regional, and national levels to advance equity and justice 
• Builds a strong ecosystem of effective organizations that advance and sustain racial justice

In 2026 we are particularly interested in in data transparency and technological interventions in the American South that undermine societal biases and structural inequities. 

There are two types of funding opportunities: grants and program-related investments (PRIs). Both grant and PRI proposals must align with our interconnected goals of racial, economic, and/or environmental justice (REEJ). Proposals that align and intersect with REEJ and our place-based initiatives, which include the U.S. South, are also encouraged.