Reimagining Our Grant Program
Find the latest updates about our community-informed process to redesign F. R. Bigelow Foundation’s grantmaking.
Grant Redesign Updates
Last updated November 18, 2024
F. R. Bigelow Foundation has been exploring how, as a grantmaking organization, we can best disperse our community resources to address current issues and better realize the goals of our organization.
Along with our partners the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and Mardag Foundation, we engaged in a community-informed process to redesign our application-based grant program.
For more on our grant redesign approach, timing and answers to frequently asked questions, please view the grant redesign hub on the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation website.
Our Approach
Throughout 2024, this work was informed by community and supported by the Foundation’s board and staff with facilitation, design and research support from Creative Change Collective and Creative Catalysts.
Beginning in 2026, each of the three Foundations will make grants using new application processes and updated funding priorities with a goal to provide more clarity, increased visibility into timelines and decision-making, and earlier insight into decisions. We anticipate posting detailed guidelines and application information late in 2025.
Clarifying our application processes and funding priorities will help our Grants Team provide more detailed instructions, earlier denials when applicable, and more specific and concrete criteria for grantseekers. It also allows our team to be more creative, flexible and responsive to community needs.
To create the capacity our staff needs to operationalize these changes, the three Foundations will each implement transitional grant rounds in 2025.
We recognize that changes in funder guidelines can be a source of anxiety for our nonprofit partners, and that you may have questions about how you fit into each Foundation’s updated funding priorities. We are committed to making this transition as transparent and smooth as possible. Please view the FAQs on the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation grant redesign hub.
Community-informed Design
We engaged a nine-person Community Council and dozens of grantees of each of the three Foundations to inform the design and recommend changes to our grant programs.
Our future grant application processes are based on the input and guidance we received from community members and grantees, and supplemental research into the current and emerging issues facing our communities.
New Grant Application Processes and Updated Funding Priorities
Beginning in 2026, F. R. Bigelow Foundation will offer two types of application processes for grantseekers: Responsive Grants and System-level Grants. We also offer BIPOC Leadership grants through our partnership with LinkingLeaders.
Responsive Grants
This rolling application process will provide grants within select funding priorities to support ongoing, urgent, emergent and timely community opportunities. We anticipate making decisions quarterly. We will share full guidelines for these grants late in 2025 and will begin making Responsive grants in 2026.
System-level Grants
The Foundation will move to making fewer, but larger, multi-year general operating grants for select funding priorities. We anticipate opening the first System-level grant round early in 2026. Given the nature and length of these grants, we will return to conducting site visits and anticipate the first set of these multi-year grants will be approved late in 2026.
Responsive Grants
The goal of our Responsive grantmaking is to support solutions informed by, formed by and benefiting East Metro residents.
Funding Priorities
To do this, our responsive grantmaking will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives in or serving, the East Metro (Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties) doing work in:
- Arts & Culture
- Housing
- Community & Economic Development
- Health
- Human Services
- Youth & Education
Types of Grants Offered
- Our Responsive grants can provide one of the following: General operating support, program/project support or capital support
- Grant amounts will be up to $50,000 per year for a period of one to two years
Eligibility
- 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
- Demonstrated commitment to the East Metro (Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties)
System-level Grants
The goal of our System-level grantmaking is to support efforts to help systems adapt, transform and/or be disrupted to achieve more equitable results.
Funding Priorities
To do this we support organizations, programs or initiatives in or serving the East Metro working to:
- Address root causes of any issue impacting the East Metro (including, but not limited to, the six funding priorities of our Responsive grantmaking)
- This includes non-partisan activities such as advocacy, organizing, research, civic engagement, narrative change and/or storytelling, but does not include lobbying
Types of Grants Offered
System-level grants will offer general operating support grants of up to $500,000 per year for a one- to nine-year period.
Eligibility
- 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
- Demonstrated commitment to the geography served
BIPOC Leadership Grants
Support BIPOC leaders in the East Metro to lead joyfully in culturally relevant ways and to have the resources to be creative, resilient, responsive and active in decision-making to increase their impact in the East Metro.
Funding Priorities
F. R. Bigelow Foundation advances its BIPOC leadership funding priority through a long-term partnership with LinkingLeaders – a coalition of African American Leadership Forum, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Latino LEAD and Tiwahe Foundation.
Through this partnership we advance BIPOC leadership through supporting leadership development, cohorts, training, networking, advocacy, efforts to incorporate culturally relevant practices into community leadership, and work to amplify BIPOC leaders in the region.
As our commitment to BIPOC leadership grows we will share opportunities for additional funding as they become available.
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