Lacewing Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Lacewing Foundation conducts grantmaking through a gender lens. Funding invests in global development, health, food and nutrition, education and clean water.
IP TAKE: While Lacewing tends to support its current grantees over multiple years, it also appears receptive to new projects and ideas as they relate to its grantmaking priorities. Grantseekers should contact the organization’s representatives to establish a relationship.
Grants typically support smaller and grassroots organizations that work to improve health and education for women and children around the world. This is a harder nut to crack because recent tax filings indicate that this funder tends to invest in grantees over multiple years. As a result, new grantseekers may have to do more legwork to secure funding from this crowded space. However, the foundation has become more accessible and now accepts proposals through its website. Note that the foundation operates with a small staff, so don’t expect quick responses, if at all, which is common with smaller organizations. This is an otherwise open-minded funder that is deeply invested in helping grantees develop and scale.
PROFILE: Formerly known as the Mary J. Williams Foundation, Lacewing Foundation is a small organization based in Rockland, Delaware that was established in 2004. Its name, derived from the lacewing insects, which improve their habitats, reflects the organization’s desire to “[i]mprove health for women and children” by giving them the tools necessary to create opportunities for empowerment through education and health. Lacewing awards modest-sized grants to global groups that work to improve women and children’s access to education and health around the world.
Overall, the foundation conducts grantmaking through a gender lens focused on global education, health, and development. The foundation’s website remains a bit sparse, so insight into its grant strategies are limited.
Grants for Global Development and Human Rights
The majority of Lacewing’s global development grants support organizations that work in least-developed countries and focus on the education, human rights and access to clean water for women and children. International development grants focus on education and serve women and children living in rural areas around the world. Believing that education informs financial independence and self-esteem, education grants remain broad in order to consider an array of possible projects in this space. Global grants focused on water address access to potable water via wells so that women and children in developing nations have more time to focus on their educations, family, starting a business and growing more nutritious food. Human rights grants center on violence prevention – in particular, human trafficking, sex trafficking and slavery. Past grantees in these spaces include the Rwanda Foundation, Central Asia Institute, and the Ophelia Project.
Grants for Global Health, Food and Agriculture
In keeping with all of its grantmaking, the Lacewing Foundation conducts grants for global health through a gender lens, focusing on women and children. Health causes address access to basic healthcare, women’s reproductive health, funding for doctors visits, hunger, as well as sustainable food and agriculture. Past grantees in this space include Grounds for Health and the Orange County Foodbank, among others.
Important Grant Details:
Grants typically range from $5,000 to $15,000. Lacewing does not award many grants each year. For more information about the types of organizations receiving Lacewing support, browse its website, which includes detailed information regarding current grantees. While the foundation does not note geographic restrictions, it appears to prioritize groups that work in Africa or Latin and Central America. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s projects page.
This funder accepts applications for funding. To apply, complete the brief form on the foundation’s application page. General inquiries may be submitted via its contact page.
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