Ameriprise Financial
/OVERVIEW: Ameriprise Financial commits to grantmaking that creates “positive change” in communities across the U.S. This includes not only meeting “basic needs” but also supporting “community vitality.”
IP TAKE: This funder’s accepts applications for its community grants program via an online portal and appears to be fairly accessible. Grantmaking has expanded geographically in recent years, but remains broadly focused on basic needs and community development. Larger and medium-sized organizations with personal connections to the company are likely to have better luck here; networking with employees and management will be key for getting on Ameriprise’s grantmaking radar.
PROFILE: Founded in 1894, Ameriprise Financial, the U.S. financial services company, seeks to “create brilliant moments in [its] communities and help people thrive” by giving back to the communities in which it operates, or as it states on its website, “where we live and work.”
Ameriprise Financial conducts philanthropy through its community grantmaking, which has two principle areas of focus: Meeting Basic Needs and Supporting Community Vitality. The latter, Community Vitality, features two program areas: Community Development and Cultural Enrichment. Its grantmaking page remains relatively sparse and does not offer wider grantmaking strategies save for appointing some guidelines for funding.
Grants for Housing and Community Development
Ameriprise’s Basic Needs grantmaking invests in programs that help local residents “find their next meal, a place to sleep or a job that provides a livable wage.” This includes funding for emergency shelter, transitional housing, “housing-first models, and achieving and maintaining home ownership,” as well as hunger-related initiatives such as food banks and “hunger-relief programs targeted to meet the special needs of children, ethnic populations or veterans.” Community Vitality grants also support neighborhood revitalization and economic development. Past related grantees include People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), Chapman Partnership in Miami, and Chicago’s Housing Opportunities for Women.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
Ameriprise’s Basic Needs grantmaking supports programs that help local residents “find their next meal, a place to sleep or a job that provides a livable wage.” This includes funding for adult self-sufficiency programs that teach about “basic hard and soft skills that help adults achieve economic and family stability,” “basic financial and budgeting skills,” “employability and wages, including work readiness and job transitions,” and help provide employment for disabled adults. Community Vitality funding also supports small businesses and economic development. Past grantees include Fresh Start Women’s Foundation and Opportunity Enterprises.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Ameriprise Financial’s Community Vitality program area has a Cultural Enrichment component that supports grants for art education, access to art and culture for underserved populations, and “diverse artists and performances that spark topical community conversations.” This does not include sponsorship of “performances, festivals, exhibits, or individual artists.” Ameriprise funds broadly in this area and does not seem to have a specific strategy, but its grants tend to fall in the following three areas.
Mention how it appears that arts and culture funding mostly focuses on three areas of giving and lacks a specific strategy, which permits for a broad funding approach (rather than listing past grantees here).
Grants for Theater
Theater programs that have received Ameriprise Financial grants in the past include The Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, DC) to subsidize the community's only free, full-scale theatre production, and Intiman Theatre (Seattle, WA) to create new outreach programs and connect with “nontraditional audiences” for its production of “Abe Lincoln in Illinois.” Most of Ameriprise’s grantees center around Minneapolis, including the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company, Stages Theatre Company, and Theater Latte Da.
Grants for Music
Music organizations that have received Ameriprise Financial grants include The Florida Orchestra (Tampa Bay), MacPhail Center for Music (Minneapolis), Minnesota Opera Company (Minneapolis), Minnesota Orchestral Association (Minneapolis), the National Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorale of Montgomery County (MD), the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association (OR), and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (MN).
Grants for Dance
Past dance grantees include Ballet Metropolitan (Columbus, OH), Ballet Works (Minneapolis), Complexions Contemporary Ballet (New York), and the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts (Minneapolis). Ameriprise does not support performances, festivals, exhibits, or individual artists.
Grants for Disaster Relief
As part of its Community Vitality grantmaking, Ameriprise provides funding to the American Red Cross and International Response Fund. Ameriprise does not target specific regions or accept applications for this aspect of its giving.
Important Grant Details:
Ameriprise imposes geographic restrictions on its grantmaking: it strongly prioritizes organizations operating within 30 miles of Boston, Chicago, Green Bay (WI), Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland (OR), or Providence (RI). While the foundation funds grants to organizations beyond these areas, applicants must create a project that aligns with Ameriprise Financial’s giving mission in order to secure such funding.
Additionally, grant seekers should remember that Ameriprise Financial prioritizes “applications where there is active volunteer engagement of Ameriprise advisors and employees.” Ameriprise Financial grant application deadlines are mid-January and mid-May of each year. Grant seekers can contact Ameriprise with questions at communityrelations@ampf.com.
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