Jewish Pride Fund 2024 - Request For Proposals

Mission & Values Statement:
The Jewish Pride Fund, a Giving Circle of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, is committed to supporting the intersecting needs, values and interests of the LGBTQIA+ and Jewish communities in the Bay Area and in Israel.

Our vision is to create a world where Jewish LGBTQIA+ voices are heard across Jewish secular and religious society. We believe that if we empower LGBTQIA+ individuals and families that identify with the Jewish community through financial and activist support of deserving organizations, we contribute to the rising power and agency of the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole. We believe that members of the Jewish LGBTQIA+ community have a unique role to play in civil rights, social justice, and religious inclusion.

Proposal Guidelines:

GRANT DESCRIPTION
We recognize the crisis unfolding in Israel has a grave impact in Israel and in the diaspora. As residents of the Bay Area, we have a particular concern for the local LGBTQIA+ Jewish community. As part of our continued commitment to support the LGBTQIA+ community during these unprecedented and challenging times, for this year, we are focusing on proposals concerned with LGBTQIA+ and Jewish resilience in the Bay Area and in Israel. National organizations are welcome to apply if their proposal is focused on direct services for the Bay Area LGBTQIA+ Jewish community. Please read the grant focus section carefully to see if your organization is eligible to apply.

In 2023 the Jewish Pride Fund awarded grants totaling $56,600 to 6 organizations with allocations ranging from $7,600 to $11,000. The available grant funding is projected to be approximately $55,000 in 2024. To manage expectations, please apply for grants between $5,000 - $10,000 each.

For All Applicants:

The Jewish Pride Fund welcomes proposals from organizations focused on fostering resilience, building community and belonging, and providing a sense of safety and security for Jewish members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We will prioritize organizations focusing on:

• Direct support for LGBTQIA+ people in need.
• Direct service of acute basic needs, including food, housing, mental health and trauma recovery, safety and security, and job training or employment for members of the LGBTQIA+ Jewish community.
• Organizations serving Arabs and Jews together to strengthen solidarity, mutual support, and resilience.
• Grants are offered for program support or general operations if the entire organization is dedicated to Jewish LGBTQIA+ work.

FOCUS FOR EACH GEOGRAPHIC AREA

1. Organizations Serving the Bay Area (Open RFP)

The Jewish Pride Fund is inviting organizations serving the Bay Area Jewish LGBTQIA+ community through an Open RFP. Organizations that are either registered 501c3 LBTQIA+ serving or can submit a proposal for a dedicated LGBTQIA+ focused initiative or program operating within a larger Jewish organization.

• Organizations must be focused on creating Jewish LGBTQIA+ resilience, community, social cohesion, connections, and services in the Bay Area.
• Grants between $5,000 - $10,000 each.
• National organizations already operating in, or that have plans to operate in the Bay Area to serve the local Jewish LGBTQIA+ community are welcome to apply. These organizations may have:

1. A satellite office with Bay Area staff;
2. Bay Area programs, initiatives, or retreats operated from a headquarters in another location; or
3. Ongoing significant cohort membership (70%+) based in the Bay Area.     

2. Israel (By Invitation Only)

Organizations based in Israel are invited to apply by invitation-only.

• Only Israeli organizations invited to apply will be considered for funding.
• Applicant organizations will be entirely LGBTQIA+ serving.
• Grants between $5,000 - $10,000 each.    

ELIGIBILITY
Applicants- or their fiscal sponsors- must be tax exempt under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and be based in the United States. The Jewish Pride Fund will NOT fund:

• Capital campaigns
• Endowments
• Partisan political activities
• Organizations that are in conflict with the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund’s Policy and Guidelines on Israel-Related Programming

FUNDING BOTH SERVICES AND SOCIAL CHANGE

The Jewish Pride Fund is open to proposals seeking to address both systemic changes focused on root causes of problems and direct service. Systemic change works to improve the conditions that lead to inequality and brings about long-term change which takes time and can be harder to measure, requiring methodologies to track change over time. Systemic change work is often complex, nuanced, interconnected, and best done in collaborative partnership across organizations, agencies and disciplines. Direct service seeks to ameliorate the symptoms of societal problems, is often measured in more concrete ways and has more immediate results, even as the need for the service is ongoing.     

SUGGESTED SUCCESS MEASURES

The Jewish Pride Fund is interested in applicants who have set metrics and goals for, and use indicators to track, progress in social change or quality of direct services provided.

ADDITIONAL CRIERTIA

• Partnerships and connections to other programs working in your field;
• Strong leadership;
• Financial stability or a plan to become sustainable.

How to Apply:
There is just one application that members of the Jewish Pride Fund will use to learn more about your organization. Please submit this application through the Jewish Community Federation’s portal. Organizations invited to stage two will be asked to schedule a Zoom interview with Jewish Pride Fund members so we can meet you and ask questions directly. Grant allocation decisions will be made by a group vote of the Jewish Pride Fund members in May 2024.    

Timeline
This is a two-stage grant proposal process with the first stage being an application and, if advanced, the second stage will be an interview.

For More Information:
Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Danielle Meshorer, Director of Collaborative Philanthropy to verify the eligibility of your organization to apply and if applying for a specific program, to share your proposal idea and to ask questions.

If you have technical questions about how to apply, please contact Federation Grant Support at grantsupport@sfjcf.org.