Greater New Orleans Foundation
/OVERVIEW: This funder supports nonprofits in New Orleans and the surrounding 13 parishes in Southeast Louisiana as well. Funding causes include arts, elderly, environment, job training, LGBTQ community, housing, education, health, and social services.
IP TAKE: This community funder has a very wide range of funds that address many local needs. Lots of the funds are currently closed to new grantees. However, some capacity building, brick and mortar projects have rolling deadlines.
PROFILE: The Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) not only funds the city of New Orleans with grants, but also the surrounding parishes of Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, and Washington. It seeks to “help create a resilient, sustainable, vibrant community in which individuals and families flourish and the special character of our region is preserved, celebrated, and supported.” The foundation was established in 1983 by community leaders, and since then it has grown from $4 million in assets to more than $339 million under management today. There are over 700 donor funds at GNOF and is the largest philanthropic organization in Southeast Louisiana.
Grants for Disaster Relief, Education, LGBTQ, Work and Economic Opportunity, Public Health and Access, and Community Development
This funder played a huge role in rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, drawing in more donors than ever before and establishing its $25 million Community Revitalization Fund. It was highly involved after the oil rig explosion in 2010 as well and created the Gulf Coast Spill Fund in response. To prevent other disasters for the 44 percent of residents who live in threatened coastal areas, it created the Coastal 5+1 Initiative to find solutions for economic, coastal planning, and environmental issues.
A list of ever-changing grant opportunities can be found on GNOF’s receive page. Some funds are open by invitation only, while others allow unsolicited inquiries on a rolling basis. Examples of funds at GNOF include the LGBT Fund, Technical Assistance Grants for capacity building efforts, The Environmental Fund, Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans, and the Doris and Peter Hansen Technical Assistance Fund for arts and culture groups. These funds support causes like the arts, the elderly, the environment, job training, the LGBT community, housing, education, health, and social services. And some of them are specific to certain towns and counties in Southeast Louisiana.
This community funder also has a few special initiatives, including its own Impact 100 women’s giving circle chapter. It sponsors Give NOLA Day in May and pop-up happy hour events on Thursdays in August, mostly for emerging philanthropists in the 25-35-year-old demographic.
Important Grant Details
Grant seekers can keep up with what the foundation is doing on its news/our community page.
PEOPLE:
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