WCA Foundation Project Investment Grant Round

The WCA Foundation, a Signature Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation, is pleased to announce its 2024 Project Investment grant round.

The WCA Foundation is a volunteer-led grantmaking organization whose mission is “Women changing the lives of women.” Its members, all local women, are committed to learning about and responding to the most urgent needs of women in communities across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. They contribute their time, talent, and care to advance the foundation’s mission and engage in participatory grantmaking.

Learn more about the WCA Foundation’s vision and Strategic Framework here.

The WCA Foundation supports women-focused organizations, initiatives, and projects that provide direct services to address basic needs in education, economic stability, shelter, safety, and health.

This funding opportunity marks the first open grant round following the WCA Foundation’s recent announcement of its new approach to grantmaking. The WCA Foundation will announce the grantees for the pilot of its new multi-year general operating grant program in early spring 2024.

In this grant round, the WCA Foundation will fund project-specific requests. It will award roughly $675,000 to 25 to 30 organizations, with grant amounts ranging from $10,000 to $30,000.

The WCA Foundation has supported a diverse range of organizations in recent years. More information about previous grant rounds and grant partners is available here: Fall 2022, Spring 2022, and Fall 2021.

This funding opportunity is open to 501(c)(3) nonprofits based in the Twin Cities seven-county metro area. Additional considerations include:

• The project must provide direct services to women ages 18 or older.
• The organization and project must have a physical location in the Twin Cities seven-county metro area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties).
• Organizations may only submit one request per funding cycle.
• Organizations that received funding in WCA Foundation’s Spring 2023 and Fall 2022 grant rounds are eligible to apply for funding.

We will begin accepting applications on December 6, 2023. All applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. on January 11, 2024. We do not accept late applications or submissions via email. All applicants will be notified of funding decisions by June 10, 2024.

All applications must be submitted online. If you are applying for a grant from WCA Foundation for the first time, you will need to set up an account in the Minneapolis Foundation’s online portal, GranteeView.

Before starting your application, please review the WCA Foundation 2024 Project Investment Grant Program Funding Eligibility & Exclusions and Application Preview Worksheet. This will help your organization decide whether your request aligns with the WCA Foundation’s funding criteria.

Apply >>

A recording of the session is posted here.

Please email Julia Ruther at jruther@mplsfoundation.org if you have questions about the guidelines, the content of your proposal, or the timeline for this grant round.

If you have technical questions or need support with our online application portal, please contact our Grants Administration team at grantsupport@mplsfoundation.org or 612-672-8665.