Funding Opportunities from Foundation Relations and Corporate Philanthropy

Matrix is pleased to partner with the UC Berkeley Office of Foundation Relations and Corporate Philanthropy in sharing resources to assist researchers in their corporate and foundation giving. Visit the FRCP’s website for an up-to-date list of current funding opportunities. You can also join FRCP’s mailing list to receive monthly communications with new funding opportunities.

Wellcome Climate and Mental Health Award

Deadline: 1/21/2025

This award will fund projects to advance our understanding of the biological, psychological and/or social mechanisms through which heat affects anxiety, depression and psychosis in the most impacted groups globally. Successful applications will identify relevant climate-resilient and/or mental health interventions with a realistic potential for real-world application. Funding: £1 – 3M per project (over 3-5 years).

Google Research Scholar Program

Deadline: 1/27/2025

The program aims to support early-career professors who are pursuing research in fields relevant to Google. The Research Scholar Program provides unrestricted gifts to support research at institutions around the world, and is focused on funding world-class research conducted by early-career professors. It is our hope that this program will help develop collaborations with new professors and encourage the formation of long-term relationships.  Funding amount: $60k.

Atlas Network Resisting Illiberalism Fund

Deadline: 2/1/2025, 6/1/2025

The world is witnessing an authoritarian populist surge. The Resisting Illiberalism Grant program is not only to protect civil and economic rights, but also to counter a global movement that actively reject these values. The Atlas Network invites partners working to counter authoritarianism and the rise of illiberal statist sentiment. Competitive proposals include educational efforts or awareness campaigns, and they must demonstrate sophisticated, wide-reaching strategies to counter illiberal statist ideas and policies. Funding amount: $40k.

V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation Nature-Centrism as a Lens for Organizational Behavior and Decision-Making

Deadline: 2/3/2025

This call for proposals focuses on nature-centric decision making, in which nature’s inherent value becomes a central principle and informs institutions’ practices across their activities. VKRF seeks to identify grantees who are ready to make the recognition of interbeing, interdependence, and interconnectedness central to their strategy development, decision making, and day-to-day operations. Funding amount: Up to $6M will be awarded to 12- 15 projects.

Human Animal Bond Research Health Outcomes of Pet Ownership

Deadline: 2/13/2025

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) is issuing a call for research proposals from institutions and organizations across the globe to investigate the health outcomes of pet ownership and/or animal-assisted interventions (AAI), both for the people and the animals involved. Proposals should have a strong theoretical framework and focus on innovative approaches to studying the positive effects of companion animals on human health. HABRI is interested in funding a wide range of studies focused on the human-animal bond. Funding amount: Up to 6 grants of up to $49k (over 20 months).

Lever for Change: The Trust in American Institutions Challenge

Deadline: 2/19/2025

According to Lever for Change, data shows that public trust in public schools, government bodies, the media, and the medical system has declined significantly since 2015. This challenge seeks transformative solutions that are poised to reverse recent trends and significantly increase public trust in core institutions in the United States in the next five years. Applicants best fit for this opportunity will use key leverage points to renew, rebuild, and/or establish trust in core institutions for Americans across the country. Funding amount: $1- $9M.

Simons Foundation: “Symmetry: A Call for Artists, Scientists and Arts Organizations”

Deadline: 2/20/2025

This program is intended to support inquiry and exploration that expands how both artists and scientists think and conduct research, with arts organizations acting as hosts and facilitators. In 2025, the program will support up to 15 collaborative teams, each composed of an artist, a scientist and a curator or arts producer, to join our next iteration of the Triangle Program, leading with a period of ideation around the theme of “symmetry.” Funding amount: $30k.

Sociological Initiatives Foundation Research Grant

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation supports social change by linking research to social action. It funds research projects that investigate laws, policies, institutions, regulations, and normative practices that may limit equality in the U.S. It gives priority to projects that seek to address racism, xenophobia, classism, gender bias, exploitation, or the violation of human rights and freedoms. It also supports research that furthers language learning and behavior and its intersection with social and policy questions. Funding: $15K- $20K (over 2 years)

William T. Grant Foundation Institutional Challenge Grant

The Institutional Challenge Grant supports university-based research institutes, schools, and centers in building sustained research-practice partnerships with public agencies or nonprofit organizations in order to reduce inequality in youth outcomes.  Funding: Up to $650k (over three years)

Andrew Mellon Foundation: Humanities in Place: Monuments Project

Deadline: Rolling

The Monuments Project is a signature initiative to reimagine and rebuild commemorative spaces and transform the way history is told in the United States. The project seeks to ensure that future generations inherit a memorial landscape that venerates and reflects the vast, rich complexity of the American experience, and tells a fuller, more inclusive story of our history and our many different forbearers. Funding: Up to $250M

Arnold Ventures: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)

Deadline: Rolling applications

Arnold Ventures is accepting letters of interest for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) focused on testing criminal justice programs and practices. The ultimate goal of this effort is to build credible evidence about “what works” to improve criminal justice outcomes and, in particular, grow the number of criminal justice interventions rigorously shown to better people’s lives. Funding: No amount limitations.

Impact Fund: Social, Environmental and Economic justice programs

Deadline: Rolling applications

The Impact Fund awards recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits, private attorneys, and/or small law firms who seek to advance justice in the areas of civil and human rights, environmental justice, and/or poverty law. Funding amount: $10K – $50K.

Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation

Deadline: Two funding cycles annually: June 10th, November 30th

The program aims to create a more equitable and humane justice system. Current funding priorities include multi-pronged approaches to eliminate the use of solitary confinement, including supporting a national campaign that provides resources to state and local coalitions. No amount limitations.

Rosenberg Foundation: LOI Submissions

Deadline: Rolling Applications

The Rosenberg Foundation currently makes grants in four priority areas – Leading Edge Fund, Justice and Public Safety, Immigrant Rights and Immigrant Workers’ Rights, and Civil Rights and Civic Participation. The foundation works closely with social justice advocates, policy makers and other thought leaders throughout the state to identify the strategies that will best help us achieve positive impact in California within each program. As such, most of our grantee partners are identified and contacted by foundation staff first. In addition, we frequently invest in emerging initiatives and organizations, and are committed to long-term relationships with our grant partners. Application Procedure: Letter of Inquiries accepted by email to Grants Manager, Linda Moll. Budget: Grants are typically in the $10K-$50K range.

Impact Fund: Social, Environmental and Economic justice programs

Deadline: Rolling Applications

The Impact Fund awards recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits, private attorneys, and/or small law firms who seek to advance justice in the areas of civil and human rights, environmental justice, and/or poverty law. Funding amount: $10K-$50K

Internet Society Foundation: Future & Sustainability of the Internet

Deadline: Rolling Applications

Through the program grants are available for research focused in one of two categories: (1) Greening the Internet and (2) the Internet Economy.

Arnold Ventures: Moving the Needle Initiative

Deadline: Rolling Applications

This initiative seeks to demonstrate the power of evidence-based programs to “Move the Needle” on major U.S. social problems. No amount limitations.

Unchartered: Economic Inequality Initiative

Deadline: None

Unchartered is dedicated to elevating solutions that increase wealth in the near term while building towards addressing the root causes themselves. In support of this mission, they are launching the Economic Inequality initiative to support eight early-stage social entrepreneurs, movement builders, and nonprofit innovators who are tackling wealth inequality in the U.S. Applications accepted via website. Budget: up to $25K.

Smith-Richardson Foundation:
Domestic Policy
International Security & Foreign Policy

Deadline: Rolling Applications

The mission of the Smith Richardson Foundation is to contribute to important public debates and to address serious public policy challenges facing the United States. The Foundation seeks to help ensure the vitality of our social, economic, and governmental institutions. It also seeks to assist with the development of effective policies to compete internationally and to advance U.S. interests and values abroad.

  • Budget: No limitations
  • Application Procedure: The Foundation has a two-stage application process. Initial inquiries should be submitted by mail in the form of the concept paper. Interested applicants may contact Sylvia Bierhuis for pre-application counseling.

Public Welfare Foundation: Adult Criminal Justice Program

Deadline: Rolling applications

The program aims to create a more equitable and humane justice system. Current funding priorities include multi-pronged approaches to eliminate the use of solitary confinement, including supporting a national campaign that provides resources to state and local coalitions. No amount limitations.

Charles Koch Foundation: Trade Policy Research

Deadline: Rolling

The foundation invites proposals for research and related projects aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice and contributing to contemporary debates around important trade-policy issues. Areas of priority include: National Industrial Policy, Getting Our Approach to Trade with China Right, and Free Trade and Flourishing.

Andrew Mellon Foundation: Humanities in Place Monuments Project

Deadline: Rolling

The Monuments Project is a signature initiative to reimagine and rebuild commemorative spaces and transform the way history is told in the United States. The project seeks to ensure that future generations inherit a memorial landscape that venerates and reflects the vast, rich complexity of the American experience, and tells a fuller, more inclusive story of our history and our many different forbearers. Funding level: up to $250M (over five years).

Arnold Ventures: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)

Deadline: Rolling        

Arnold Ventures is accepting letters of interest for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) focused on testing criminal justice programs and practices. The ultimate goal of this effort is to build credible evidence about “what works” to improve criminal justice outcomes and, in particular, grow the number of criminal justice interventions rigorously shown to better people’s lives. No amount limitations