United Nations Federal Credit Union Foundation

OVERVIEW: The United Nations Federal Credit Union Foundation focuses on reducing women and children’s poverty in developing countries by supporting healthcare, development, and empowerment programs and projects.

IP TAKE: This is an accessible foundation that supports grassroots groups demonstrating measurable goals and impact in their work. Grantseekers should expect some competition from large international NGOs administering projects on behalf of smaller organizations. Read the foundation’s selection criteria to learn if your organization is a good fit here. While this funder is supportive and collaborative, grantmaking is competitive. Its well-informed staff is approachable.

PROFILE: The United Nations Federal Credit Union (UNFCU) Foundation seeks to “sustain the path out of poverty through healthcare and education for women and children.” It was launched in 2015 and is still based in New York. The foundation supports grassroots projects around the world whose work closely aligns with the U.N.’s post-2015 Development Agenda and the U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Though subject to change, the foundation’s priority areas focus on eradicating poverty and hunger, empowering women and youth, increasing access to healthcare, and providing disaster and humanitarian relief. 

Grants for Global Development, Global Health, and Women and Girls

UNFCU makes grants for development programs and projects that support healthcare and education in developing countries with the ultimate goal of ending hunger and poverty, and livelihood training for women. The foundation awarded grants to Hope Abides and the Khaled Hosseini Foundations for their girls’ education programs in India and Afghanistan, respectively. As well, Trickle Up received a grant for its program helping small business programs for women in Guatemala and the United Nations Women’s Guild got a check for its job training program for single mothers in Guatemala. UNFCU awarded additional grants to Keep a Child Alive in support of its program for HIV/AIDS-affected families in sub-Saharan Africa and Village Enterprise for its micro-enterprise development program in Northern Uganda. Grantseekers can read about these and other funded projects in more detail here.

Grants for Disaster Relief and Refugees

Although the foundation does not reveal its grantee list in full, UNFCU’s disaster relief efforts prioritize man-made, humanitarian, and natural disasters alike. In this regard, the foundation works closely—though not exclusively—with U.N. agencies. The International Rescue Committee is a past grantee receiving support for “social integration and economic empowerment programs for refugee and humanitarian immigrant women in the United States.”

Important Grant Details:

The UNFCU Foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications in June of each year for funding requests of $50,000 or less. Selected applicants are notified of their grant eligibility via email in October of that year. View more information about the grants process here.

While the UNFCU supports grassroots projects around the world, a handful of its grants have gone to large U.N. agencies such as UNESCO and the UNFPA. However, it appears those funds have been funneled to small projects and partnerships administered by those larger organizations.

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