Apply for a Grant
Strengthening Communities Grant Announcement
The mission of the Northern Virginia Health Foundation is to improve the health of residents of Northern Virginia, with an emphasis on the health and health care of low-income, uninsured, or underinsured persons. To further this mission, as part of its 2025 grantmaking the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Health Foundation is issuing a new request for proposals to build and strengthen communities through targeted organizational development support.
Recognizing the challenges that face non-profit organizations today, the Foundation seeks to support entities that are community-based and/or resident-led and work to reduce health disparities. Applicants must work to improve the health of these individuals and communities, whether through improving access to or the direct provision of care (primary, oral, or behavioral health), policy and advocacy, food security, or community building.
Recognizing that these organizations are especially under-resourced and over-burdened, grants will focus on developing internal resources, supporting organizational campaigns, and thriving in tumultuous times. Grants will not be awarded for general operating support, program support, or program expansion. Grants may be awarded for activities such as:
staff wellness, development, onboarding, or leadership training
scenario planning – including succession, mergers, and collaborations
legal counsel to support organizational compliance, restructuring, or adaptation to policy shifts
assessment and implementation of strategies to adapt to changing healthcare policies
Grantees must be 501(c)(3) organizations, working to improve health or the conditions that impact health. The Foundation is particularly interested in efforts that incorporate community voice, advance equity, and are based in communities identified as islands of disadvantage, as described in the report “Getting Ahead: The Uneven Opportunity Landscape in Northern Virginia”. Grants may range from $5,000 - $20,000.
Grants will not be awarded to individuals, current NVHF multi-year grantees, capital campaigns, building renovations, endowments, or bio-medical research. The Foundation’s Articles of Incorporation also provide that grants will not be awarded for the provision of the types of medical services or procedures that are excluded by the Virginia Medicaid program, except for those medical services or procedures that are required to be provided by a community health center under Section 310 of the Public Health Service Act or by a federally qualified health center under Section 1905 of the Social Security Act.
Applications must be completed at https://www.grantinterface.com/nvhf/Common/LogOn.aspx. The code to apply is CB2025.
The deadline for submitting an application is Friday, October 17th by 5pm. Please direct any questions you have about this request for proposals to Rachel Ermann Lynch at 703-486-5693 or rlynch@novahealthfdn.org.
Register here to attend an information session about the opportunity.