SFC Charitable Foundation (Singing for Change)
/OVERVIEW: The SFC Charitable Foundation (Singing for Change) supports children and families, and disenfranchised groups. It also funds environmental causes, global development and disaster relief, and community development.
IP TAKE: According to the Foundation itself, Singing for Change operates at “the forefront of social change,” and its work focuses on the disenfranchised, “people who have been marginalized in society.” Funding priorities are broad and cover a lot of ground, so groups in many different areas may see success here. This accessible funder is quite transparent, with a helpful website, complete with grants information and clear guidelines. A key element in getting selected for a grant is community engagement. It is not currently accepting new applications, so grantseekers will want to check the website frequently for updates.
PROFILE: Established in 1995 by the late “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett, the SFC Charitable Foundation (commonly referred to as Singing for Change), seeks to support “organizations that inspire personal growth, community integration and the enhanced awareness that collectively, people can bring about positive change,” and it “promotes work on the forefront of social change - helping people and communities become smarter, safer, stronger, healthier, and whole.” The Foundation primarily funds projects that serve children and families, the environment, and underrepresented and disenfranchised groups. Singing for Chance also supports select global development and disaster relief efforts. A lot of this work takes place in the Southern United States.
Buffett, who died in 2023, was born in 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He grew up in Mobile, Alabama, where he attended Catholic high school. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi and then moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a country singer. After working with a cover band, Buffett landed his first record contract in 1970. That same year, he released his folk-country debut, Down to Earth. Buffett moved to Key West in the early 1970s, signed with ABC/Dunhill and released White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean in 1973. Buffett's sixth album, 1977's Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, contains his enduring hit, “Margaritaville.” Buffett was also owner of the Margaritaville restaurant chain.
Grants for Environment
While Singing for Change does not have clearly defined grantmaking program areas, both the Foundation’s website and 990s show that it broadly prioritizes support for the environment. Its grantees in this space include Growing Places Indy, which works to "cultivate wellness in the community through urban agriculture, food access and awareness and practices for healthy, sustainable living"; Harlem Grown, which "transforms abandoned community lots into accessible gardens in partnership with local public schools and the community"; Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Mobile Baykeeper, and Dominican Organic Agriculture Movement. Some of this grantmaking involves environmental education, including EarthEcho International, which seeks to "empower youth to take action that protects and restores our water planet."
Grants for Global Development, Humanitarian and Disaster Relief
Jimmy Buffett’s music and career closely identified him with the Gulf Coast, particularly Key West, Florida; however, the Foundation’s grantmaking has reached around the world. It is important to note that the Foundation does not accept applications for disaster relief or international projects.
SFC has supported places like Florida Association for Volunteer Action in the Caribbean and the Americas (FAVACA). Singing for Change also funded infrastructure rebuilding in Haiti, and states that it hopes to continue supporting "similar agriculture projects to spur self-sufficiency in areas that need technical assistance and some small grants."
It has also supported globalbike inc., "a grassroots nonprofit that supplies bicycles in third world countries to health care workers in poverty-stricken areas," and several organizations that supported recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. One of these is Just the Right Attitude, which has helped evacuees and displaced homeowners.
The Foundation has also supported Points of Light Institute/HandsOn Network, working toward disaster relief and preparedness. HandsOn Network includes 13 HandsOn Action Centers that serve Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana, all of which have been impacted by oil spill.
Grants for Community Development
Singing for Change casts a wide net for community development causes, and it has supported everything from job training and homelessness to youth services and prison reform. Its grantmaking for these issues is not systematic, however, and its support should not be seen as representing clear funding priorities. Instead, the Foundation’s grantmaking here should be viewed as a deep interest in local communities and disenfranchised groups, ie. those “who have been marginalized in society because of their low levels of skill, education or income, people with disabilities, and people who are homeless.”
Grantees include Young Eisner Scholars; S.A.Y. Detroit, which helps the "poor and homeless of Motor City with shelter, medical care, job training and transitional housing"; Take Stock In Children, which helps low-income youth go to college; and WINGS for Kids, a "social and emotional education program" for youth. It has also supported the Doe Fund’s Ready, Willing & Able program, a residential job training program that “has proven to effectively manage an individual’s return from prison,” and the Insight Garden Program, which “facilitates an innovative curriculum combined with vocational gardening and landscaping training so that people in prison can reconnect to self, community, and the natural world.” The Foundation supports the St. Bart's Music Festival, and Habitat for Humanity of Key West & Lower Florida Keys. Significantly, it supports the American Cancer Society—Buffett died of skin cancer.
Important Grant Details:
According to its website, the foundation focuses its “resources on inclusive, grassroots organizations […] where foundation support can make a significant difference.”
New grantseekers should carefully look over the Grant Guidelines before approaching the Foundation.
Although it is not currently accepting new applications or requests for funding, LOIs are typically accepted from January 1st to March 15th, and full applications are due July 15.
Singing for Change can be contacted via online form here.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
