The Rosenberg Foundation currently makes grants in four priority areas – Leading Edge Fund, Justice and Public Safety, Immigrant Rights and Immigrant Workers’ Rights, and Civil Rights and Civic Participation.
The foundation works closely with social justice advocates, policy makers and other thought leaders throughout the state to identify the strategies that will best help us achieve positive impact in California within each program. As such, most of our grantee partners are identified and contacted by foundation staff first. In addition, we frequently invest in emerging initiatives and organizations, and are committed to long-term relationships with our grant partners.
Please note that, while we do accept unsolicited inquiries, our approach to grantmaking means that we can fund only a few of them. In this section, you can find more information on fit and eligibility and information on submitting a letter of inquiry. We thank you for submitting a grant inquiry, and will respond to you as quickly as possible from the date of your submission.
Fit and Eligibility
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code and not classified as a private foundation under Section 509(a) of the Code; or public agencies.
- For all program areas, be based in or managing significant activities in California.
- Work toward missions and project goals that are clearly aligned with the Foundation’s grantmaking priorities.
The Rosenberg Foundation does not provide grants:
- To individuals or to for-profit entities
- For general fundraising benefits and events
- For endowment campaigns
Letter of Inquiry
The foundation encourages letters of inquiry for public-interest advocacy efforts that will help make California a just and economically inclusive state as aligned with our grantmaking priorities. Letters of inquiry for preliminary research and planning also will be accepted. Please send your Letter of Inquiry by email to our Operations Manager, Lisa Kawahara at: lisa@rosenfound.org. Letters of inquiry should be limited to one to two pages and should include the following information:
- Description of project and its objectives
- Description of sponsoring organization
- Total request amount, project amount, and size of agency budget
Full Proposal
Applicants selected from the letter of inquiry process to apply for a grant will be contacted and given instructions for submitting a full proposal. Proposals are reviewed by foundation staff and acted on by the board of directors at meetings throughout the year. The Foundation will act selectively to ensure that the Foundation’s resources are used most effectively.