Citizens Charitable Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Citizens Charitable Foundation funds programs that fight hunger, teach money management, strengthen communities, and support veterans causes. It also makes grants that prioritize Rhode Island and New England.
IP TAKE: This is an accessible corporate funder with an online application, but its grantmaking may be geographically limited.
PROFILE: The Citizens Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Citizens Bank, a Rhode Island-based financial institution operating throughout the Northeast United States. The foundation’s work supports “organizations that are making a difference locally by enhancing quality of life and economic vitality in the communities” the bank serves. Its current giving areas support programs that fight hunger, teach money management, and strengthen communities.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
Citizens Bank’s financial literacy grants come from a commitment to support programs that help “individuals, families, and small businesses improve their financial acumen.” The foundation partners with Junior Achievement to support the organizations Teens & Personal Finance Survey, Career Success program, and Job Shadow program. Grants to strengthen communities support programs related to “affordable housing,” “economic development,” “job training,” “small business development,” and “neighborhood revitalization.”
Grants for Housing, Homelessness, and Community Development
Citizens Bank’s grants to strengthen communities support programs related to “affordable housing,” “economic development,” “job training,” “small business development,” and “neighborhood revitalization.” The foundation’s Champions in Action initiative is designed to “reward nonprofit organizations in our communities.” It changes its theme each year, so grant seekers should make sure to read their site often. Since 2002 it has awarded over $9 million in unrestricted funds to 332 “champions,” such as Western Pennsylvania’s Youth Enrichment Services and New Hampshire’s Boys and Girls Club of Manchester.
Grants for Food Systems
Citizens makes grants to support programs and organizations that fight hunger and reduce food insecurity within communities where Citizens Bank has a presence. It partners with “with local food banks and other local nonprofits to provide meals to children during the summer months when school is not in session, provide funding for leased trucks to ensure food banks have the transportation capacity to meet needs across their service areas, and bring fresh produce mobile markets to members of [local] communities without access to a grocery store.” In 2019, the foundation provided the equivalent of 12 million meals through Feeding America and local food banks and food programs to those in need.
Grants for Military and Veterans
The foundation supports Veterans and the military “to provide support to military veterans through internal and external programs designed to aid those who served” in the US military. Past grantees include partnerships with organizations such as Military Warriors Support Foundation “to provide military families with mortgage free homes.” Other grantees include Hiring Our Heroes and Four Block.
Grants for Rhode Island and Massachusetts
The foundation is based in Riverside, Rhode Island; its local grantmaking prioritizes programs fighting hunger, reducing food insecurity, teaching money management, and strengthening communities. The bank encourages employees and colleagues to volunteer in their home communities as well. The foundation also prioritizes groups that create a good impression of the bank, get bank employees to participate, provide unique and memorable experiences, and enhance relationships with existing bank customers. It supports causes that benefit the communities where it operates more generally and that potentially bring in new bank business. Citizens Bank does not sponsor operating deficits, political or religious causes, foundations and trusts, or fraternal or veterans’ associations. These exclusions apply for both community grants and event sponsorships.
Grants range from $1,000 to $60,000. Past grantees include the Department of Neighborhood Development, Chorus of Westerly, and the Sexual Assault and Trauma Center.
Grants for COVID-19
Citizens has made a $5 million commitment to provide support in the form of grants and other forms of funding to the communities in which it operates during the coronavirus pandemic. Most of Citizens’ COVID-19 funding benefits small businesses, but it does support other types of local relief needs as well.
Important Grant Details:
Grants generally range from $10,000 to $50,000. Citizens does not provide detailed information on its grantmaking habits. These grants prioritize programs that support low- or moderate-income populations, and address a specific unmet need or issue. Programs should also be for one year in duration and demonstrate a plan for long-term sustainability and potential to be replicated.
Citizens accepts applications throughout the year. New applicants must first complete an eligibility quiz. Note that while Citizens prioritizes organizations operating in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, it is currently focusing the majority of its giving in New York and New Jersey.
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