Grants between $5,000 to $10,000 that are made annually to support Washington, DC based nonprofits and fiscally-sponsored organizations. The Beckner Advancement Fund prioritizes proposals from organizations that do one or more of the following.

• Actively engage impacted communities including but not limited to: people of color; indigenous peoples; immigrants; low-income people; women; youth; queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people; and people with disabilities in their organizational leadership and decision-making.
• Address the root causes of social service needs and propose systemic solutions that create equitable opportunities for marginalized communities to thrive.
• Take risks and propose new and innovative initiatives and/or existing projects that employ fresh approaches to entrenched social problems.
• Demonstrate a willingness to share lessons learned and collaborate with All Souls members in their work for social change.
• Have existing relationships with All Souls Church and/or its members.
• Serve communities in Ward 1 of Washington, D.C.

The Beckner Advancement Fund accepts proposals from 501 c 3 and fiscally sponsored organizations in Washington, D.C. of all budget sizes. We do take budget size into consideration when determining whether to award programmatic or general operating support grants. We encourage first time grantees and organizations with budgets over $1 million to apply for programmatic grants. The Fund will consider general operating support proposals from returning grantees that have received grant awards within the past three years and small organizations with budgets below $500,000 on a case-by-case basis.

The Beckner Advancement has a two-step external grants process whereby prospective grantees submit a pre-application form, created to be used in lieu of a traditional Letter of Inquiry. The Fund invites then invites select organizations to submit full proposals.

The next round of applications will open in the fall of 2023.

External Grant Eligibility Requirements

All applicant organizations must:

• Be a 501(c)(3) organization or fiscally sponsored organization.
• Be located in and primarily serve Washington, DC residents.
• Priority consideration will be given to organizations located in Ward 1 and/or organizations that demonstrate significant ties to Ward 1 neighborhoods and residents.

The Fund will not consider requests to fund:

• For-profit organizations
• Individuals
• Capital campaigns
• Endowments
• Sectarian programs that promote religious doctrine.