Grantmaking
The Geoffrey and Sarah Gund Foundation works to advance human welfare and equity through thoughtful, targeted grantmaking. Our giving is equity-focused and relationship-based, and we make multi-year commitments where they make sense.
Arts & Culture
We believe access to the arts should not depend on who you are or where you live. We fund organizations broadening who takes part in cultural life, with a focus on leadership and resources for communities that have long been underrepresented. We support established institutions deepening their equity work and smaller, community-rooted groups alike.
Education Equity
Every child deserves a strong public education, but access to one remains deeply unequal. We fund organizations that strengthen public schools, expand opportunity for students who have been underserved, and clear the obstacles between young people and a good education. We are drawn to work shaped by the students, families, and educators closest to it, and to groups building the community support that keeps it going.
Health, Children & Families
Stable families and healthy communities depend on systems that meet people's needs, and too often those systems fall short for the people who need them most. We fund work across mental health, health equity, and family stability: organizations providing direct services, advancing policy, and building the support families rely on. We pay particular attention to health disparities rooted in race and income, and to the mental health of children and young people.
Community Development & Economic Justice
Economic opportunity underpins almost everything else we care about. We fund organizations working on affordable housing, workforce development, and economic mobility, with a particular focus on efforts led by the communities they serve. Lasting progress takes both direct investment in people's economic lives and strong local organizations that know their neighborhoods well.
Special Commitments
Alongside our four program areas, the foundation supports a small number of efforts that fall outside them but hold particular meaning for our founders. These grants grow out of longstanding relationships and personal conviction rather than an open funding category, and we are not able to accept inquiries for them.
Geography
The Geoffrey and Sarah Gund Foundation concentrates its grantmaking in four communities: Philadelphia, New York City, Cleveland, and Martha's Vineyard. These are the places our founders lived and worked, and where the foundation's relationships run deepest. Focusing geographically lets us be a real community partner rather than a distant funder, understand local context well, and stay with the work long enough for it to matter.
Philadelphia
New York City
Cleveland
Martha's Vineyard
What we fund
The Geoffrey and Sarah Gund Foundation supports 501(c)(3) public charities working in our four program areas: Arts & Culture, Education Equity, Health, Children & Families, and Community Development and Economic Justice. Our grantmaking is concentrated in Philadelphia, New York City, Cleveland, and Martha's Vineyard.
We fund both general operating support and project or program support. General operating support (unrestricted funding that organizations can use where they need it most) is a cornerstone of how we give. We believe strong organizations need the flexibility to lead their own work, and we try to fund accordingly.
For organizations with which we have established relationships, we often make multi-year commitments. We find that longer-term grants allow partners to plan ahead, attract other funders, and focus on their mission rather than the next application cycle.
What we don't fund
We are unable to fund:
- Individuals. We fund organizations, not people directly.
- Government entities. This includes public schools, municipal agencies, and other government bodies.
- Religious organizations for sectarian purposes. We welcome applications from faith-based organizations providing community services open to all, but we do not fund religious programs or activities.
- Political campaigns, partisan activities, or lobbying. This includes electoral work and direct legislative advocacy.
- Organizations outside our geographic focus. We concentrate our grantmaking in Philadelphia, New York City, Cleveland, and Martha's Vineyard. Rare exceptions exist for longstanding legacy relationships, but we are not able to consider unsolicited requests from outside our core geographies.
If you are unsure whether your organization or project fits these guidelines, the best step is to submit a brief inquiry. We are happy to help you assess fit.
Our process
We are an inquiry-first foundation. Rather than accepting unsolicited full proposals, we ask interested organizations to begin with a brief inquiry submitted through our form. This lets us respond quickly and honestly: if there is a potential fit, we will follow up to learn more. If there is not, we will let you know so you can focus your energy elsewhere.
We review inquiries on a rolling basis throughout the year. There are no fixed deadlines.
Submit an Inquiry →