The Target Foundation is proud to announce Hometown Program to strengthen nonprofit organizations that address the specific systemic and structural barriers facing communities of color in the Twin Cities metro area.
Donor Name: The Merchants Fund
State: Minnesota
Counties: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/02/2023
Size of the Grant: $25,000-$200,000
Details:
Funding Priorities
The Foundation will concentrate its investment in making grants in four priority areas:
Entrepreneurship and Small Business
- The Foundation supports Black, Indigenous and other entrepreneurs of color and small businesses through investments that address current ecosystem gaps, drive inclusive practices and create access to knowledge, services, networks and capital for entrepreneurs at all stages.
- Examples include:
- Training and technical assistance.
- Financial services/loans/grants.
- Network building.
Workforce Development
- The Foundation supports employment and technical training opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed to ensure the workforce development system operates effectively and connects job seekers and workers with the skills they need to secure job placement and succeed long-term.
- Examples include:
- Career pathways.
- Job training and skills development.
- The Foundation supports efforts that increase housing availability, stability and access — creating pathways to greater opportunity.
- Examples include:
- Affordable housing.
- Fair and just housing (eviction prevention, tenant rights).
- Sustainable homeownership.
Asset Building
- The Foundation supports organizations that improve the asset-building opportunities available to historically disinvested communities, especially those that are engaged in work to increase financial inclusion, wealth-building and overall financial health.
- Examples include:
- Financial education.
- Financial supports and services.
Outcome
In their hometown program area, the Target Foundation envisions
- A strong frontline of Black, Indigenous, and people of color-racial equity that enables shared prosperity and opportunity for all. To achieve this vision, the Foundation believes that our hometown region needs:led direct service organizations that are well-resourced, connected and able to serve the most marginalized communities, lifting them out of poverty and into economic vitality.
- Well-coordinated and well-resourced multi-sector networks, coalitions and alliances that are catalyzing economic development in the Twin Cities’ poorest neighborhoods, while displacing no one and leaving no one behind.
They want to impact
- Black communities, Indigenous communities and other communities of color.
- Historically disinvested communities.
- Individuals with low income.
Funding Information
Estimated grant size will range from $25,000-$200,000.
Key considerations
Organizations focused on systemic, social change must be empowered to deliver — over a prolonged period of time — meaningful, measurable and financially sustainable results for the people or missions they exist to serve.
To achieve this, the Foundation will prioritize support for organizations engaged in the following kinds of efforts:
- Strengthening networks, coalitions and movements.
- Driven by the understanding that social change is complex and is not solely in the purview of the nonprofit sector or the mission of a single organization, collaborative networks of organizations within a field as well as across sectors that are aligned around a common agenda are an important condition of success.
- Pursuing systems change through advocacy, policy and communications.
- Given the scale of challenges relative to any foundation’s resources, efforts to effect social change need to address policies at the local, state and federal levels that will inevitably affect the region. This requires reliable data, effective messaging, engaged and empowered residents, and strong advocates.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be considered eligible for support, applicants must be registered U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in good standing.
- Grants are made only to organizations based in Minnesota, with priority given to organizations based in the Twin Cities seven-county metro area.
- In addition, to extend the reach of the Foundation’s work, they will prioritize organizations with annual budgets of less than $5 million.
Exclusions
The Foundation does not support:
- Grants to individuals.
- Religious organizations for religious purposes.
- Sponsorships or fundraising events.
- Direct political lobbying.
- Endowments or capital requests.
- Government entities.
For more information, visit Hometown Program.
