Lincoln Financial Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Lincoln Financial Foundation makes grants in the areas of work and economic opportunity, housing and homelessness, K-12 education and arts and culture.
IP TAKE: This corporate foundation prioritizes organizations that serve underserved groups in the 11 U.S. cities where its parent company maintains offices. It prioritizes smaller nonprofits that have a strong community impact. Recent areas of interest grantseekers should pay attention to include shelter and case management services for the homeless, elementary reading programs and arts education programs with broad outreach. The foundation committed $2 million to COVID-19 relief in 2020.
This is not an accessible or particularly approachable funder, but prospective grantees operating in any of Lincoln Financial’s 11 target cities may reach out to local management to discuss grantmaking opportunities.
PROFILE: The Lincoln Financial Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Lincoln Financial, a Fortune 250 banking and insurance institution founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana and now headquartered in Pennsylvania. The foundation aims simply to “empower and improve the lives of many” by making grants for work and opportunity, housing and urban development, K-12 education and arts and culture. In 2020, the foundation made a $2 million commitment to support COVID-19 relief in its geographic areas of interest, which include but are not strictly limited to Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; Concord, New Hampshire; Dover, New Hampshire; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Greensboro, North Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; Omaha, Nebraska; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Phoenix, Arizona.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity
The Lincoln Financial Foundation names financial wellness as a grantmaking focus with over $1 million grants given towards this area in a recent year. Grantmaking aims to help people achieve “improved long-term financial wellness by providing financial literacy education and related services for low-income individuals.” In Greensboro, North Carolina, the foundation supports the Interactive Resources Center, which provides homeless and at-risk people with case management, computer access, vocational training and self-sufficiency skills development programs. In Fort Wayne, New Jersey, the East Wayne Street Center used funding to run its vocational education and adult literacy programs, and in Hartford, the foundation has given to Forge City Works, which provides food service job training and develops sustainable social enterprises in the food and hospitality industries. Other grantees include the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center, Hartford’s Our Piece of the Pie, Inc. and the Turnstone Center for Disabled Children and Adults.
Grants for Housing and Community Development
Although it is not specifically named as an area of interest, the Lincoln Financial Foundation regularly supports several organizations involved in emergency, transitional and affordable housing to homeless, recently homeless and at-risk individuals and families. In Connecticut, the foundation supports the Mercy Housing Shelter Corporation, which runs several homeless shelters that also provide counseling and case management services to residents. Another grantee, the Greensboro Housing Coalition, coordinates housing and social services for homeless individuals and families. Other grantees include Hartford’s Interval House, Pathways to Housing of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia’s Project H.O.M.E. and multiple chapters of Habitat for Humanity and the United Way.
Grants for K-12 Education
Lincoln Financial’ education funding focuses on academic achievement in grades K-12. The foundation does not outline specific goals for its education giving but recent areas of interest include out-of-school learning, arts enrichment, elementary literacy education and college readiness. Grantees that provide out-of-school learning opportunities include New Hampshire’s Concord Community Music School, North Carolina’s Greensboro Children’s Museum, Philadelphia’s Rock School for Dance Education and Omaha’s Kids Can Community Center. Literacy grantees include Philadelphia’s Achieve Now, which aims to help all students in Philadelphia to read at or above their grade level, and Read by 4th, another Philadelphia organization that aims to boost reading achievement in elementary school. College readiness grantees include Girls Inc. of Omaha, Philadelphia Futures and the TeamMates Mentoring Program of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Lincoln Financial’s arts and culture grants tend to support smaller arts organizations in the foundation’s geographic areas of interest. Grants are spread about evenly across the visual and performing arts. Recent grantees include Hartford’s Mark Twain House and Museum, Ballet Nebraska, the Carolina Theater of Greensboro, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates.
Important Grant Details:
This funder makes approximately $10 million a year in grants in amounts up to $500,000. The foundation’s average grant size is about $5,000. Its grantees tend to be smaller, community-based organizations with strong reputations, broad reach and with whom the foundation maintains ongoing relationships. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent annual report or its tax filings.
The Lincoln Financial Foundation does not accept applications for funding or provide a direct avenue for getting in touch. Nonprofit organizations working in the foundation’s geographic areas of interest may reach out to management or employees at local operations.
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