Foundation-Directed Grantmaking

The Pittsburgh Foundation is committed to helping the communities we serve become equitable and vibrant places where everyone can thrive. We will use a racial justice lens in our efforts to align our grantmaking with resident’s dreams for themselves, their families and their communities and prioritize support in the five focus areas listed below.

To learn more about our grant-making focus areas, select one of the following:

Basic Needs

We seek to improve the stability of low-income people by supporting direct assistance to obtain food, housing, health care, mental health supports, child care, education and employment.

Equity and Social Justice

We seek to support civic participation and community organizing to achieve policy changes that will address the root causes of economic and racial inequities.

Environmental Action

We seek to protect the health of our communities and the preservation of our environment by advancing environmental justice.

Arts and Culture

We seek to strengthen small-to-mid-sized arts organizations and support individual artists by fostering a diverse, healthy and just arts ecosystem.

Economic Mobility

We seek to reduce the racial wealth gap in Allegheny County.

Additional Grant Opportunities

CURRENTLY OPEN

Medical Research

Medical research funding is designated to support rigorous research across a broad spectrum of diseases, including various types of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, geriatrics and blindness.

CURRENTLY OPEN

Direct Care and Medical Assistance for Specific Disease Areas

Seeking proposals from social service organizations providing direct care and assistance to people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, AIDS, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and other serious afflictions of the general population.

Raymond C. and Martha S. Suckling Fund

Provides funding to support the lives of low-income residents in Sewickley, Pa., and the surrounding communities.

The Social Justice Fund

The fund was created to support efforts to increase the engagement, power and influence of community members affected by economic inequality and racial inequity.

Serving Seniors in Allegheny County

The Serving Seniors in Allegheny County funding opportunity is intended to support organizations that help older adults to live as independently as possible with safety and dignity.

The Bennett Prize

This arts prize awards $50,000 to a woman artist to create her own solo exhibition of figurative realist paintings.

The Charles E. Kaufman Foundation Fund

The mission of the Kaufman Foundation is to support fundamental research in biology, chemistry and physics at Pennsylvania institutions of higher education.

Small and Mighty Grants

The Small and Mighty Grants Program aims to help small, neighborhood-based nonprofits that work to better our region.

Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh

Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh funds individual artists, artist residencies, nonprofit organizations or community-based programs that present and/or produce the art of Africa and the African Diaspora.

Exposure Artists Program

Sponsored by The Pittsburgh Foundation and Opportunity Fund, the Exposure Artists Program aims to elevate the work of artists through activities that create/generate/enhance visibility for the creative process, artwork and societal issues of our time.

Exposure Artist Fellowship

This two-year-long pilot initiative provides fellowships for artists who have a history working at the intersection of arts, social inquiry/practice and/or activism.

Exposure Artist Residency

The invitation-only Exposure Tongue River Artist/Activist Residency is guided by a shared belief in creative development, racial justice, connecting communities and encouraging artist wellness.

Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Awards

The awards provide annual grants, one to an Established Artist and one to an Emerging Artist living and working in the southwestern Pennsylvania region in recognition of exemplary artistic achievements and promise of future work.

The William S. Dietrich Funds of the Pittsburgh Foundation

These funds support charitable programs primarily in the communities of Conneaut Lake and Greenville, Pennsylvania.

Sally Kalson Courage in Journalism Award

The Sally Kalson Courage in Journalism Fund was created to honor Kalson’s legacy by recognizing those journalists who have a passion for their work and a commitment to bold, honest story-telling.