Grant Opportunities –

Rochester Area Community Foundation envisions a Greater Rochester region where every person, neighborhood, and future generation can thrive. We bring together people, insights, and resources to focus on what works and what lasts in our eight-county region of Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates. That approach shapes how we invest our grantmaking resources across three strategic areas that can drive effective and lasting community change

What We Fund: Supporting the Social Sector

A woman in an apron helping a mom and her son put cans in a bag in a small grocery store.

You work every day to improve the lives of our neighbors, and we’re proud to stand behind you with grants that strengthen your capacity to innovate and deliver critical services.

We believe every community holds within it the people, ideas, and energy needed to thrive. Our Community Impact grants put that belief into action, investing in the residents, organizations, and everyday conditions that shape what’s possible here.

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Our Impact Areas

Our grantmaking is centered in equity across three interconnected impact areas — Upward Mobility; Arts, Narrative and Culture; and Environmental Justice and Sustainability — because a family’s path to opportunity, the stories and culture that define a community’s identity, and the health of the environment we share are deeply intertwined. Lasting change means investing in all of them, together.

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dancers in blue skirts performing at Celebration of Giving

Arts, Culture & Narrative

Arts, storytelling, and shared history are essential to community well-being and identity. We support efforts that expand access to a vibrant and inclusive creative ecosystem. We invest across three interconnected areas: creative expression, cultural preservation, and storytelling that reflects the full diversity of our region.

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Environmental Justice & Sustainability

Human well-being is inseparable from the health of our environment. We are committed to creating conditions where both people and nature can flourish, today and for generations to come. We invest in solutions that support communities most impacted by environmental harm while advancing long-term solutions that benefit the entire region.

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RPEP event where four people are speaking to work on job placements

Upward Mobility

Upward mobility isn’t achieved by solving a single problem or delivering a single service. For individuals and families to move beyond economic security toward lasting success, dignity, and autonomy, they need access to the interconnected conditions that make a fulfilling life possible – education, a living wage, affordable health care, and the ability to shape their own future.

Using national research, local data, and community voice, we invest in strategies that help individuals and families build stability and lasting well-being.

Our Approach

At the heart of our approach is trust and leading through listening. The people closest to the work are its greatest experts, so resident voices and local leadership guide where we invest, paired with evidence-based strategies that address our region’s most persistent disparities. These grants are made possible by field-of-interest funds and a network of generous donors and partners who share a commitment to our future, so that every investment builds on the last, and our community’s greatest needs are met alongside its greatest opportunities.

Eligibility for Grants

Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) public charities in good standing with the IRS, religious organizations, school districts, and government entities that are serving and operating within one of our eight counties. Applicants with an established IRS 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor are also eligible to apply.

Funding Type

We will consider operating grants, capacity building grants, and program-related grants. However, it is important to review the guidelines for each individual grant opportunity to understand the nuances for that particular cycle.

Decision-Making

Grants are decided by committees of volunteers, and staff, in support of the described impact goals, and donor intent. If you have any questions about the process, timeline or eligibility requirements, please do not hesitate to make outreach to the RACF contact listed on that particular grant opportunity.

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