Grant Priorities and Restrictions (prior to 2026 Grant Cycle)
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Priorities:
The Memorial Foundation for Children awards grants annually to nonprofit organizations in the Greater Richmond Area that address significant issues within our major funding categories, Education and Health and Wellness of children from birth through the age of 21. The Richmond area is defined as the City of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, and Henrico.
Education Grants should engage children over a period of time in a series of interactions that culminate in improved knowledge or skill. Preference will be given to schools, organizations and programs that support success in school and motivate children to thrive in life. We place emphasis on supporting programs that improve Early Childhood and K-12 Education.
Health and Wellness Grants are awarded to organizations that provide quality, meaningful medical care, physical and mental health services, and health education programs to benefit children.
Grant Applications will be Evaluated by How Closely They Align with the Following Criteria
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primarily serve children from asset-limited households (see United for Alice - Virginia)
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demonstrate long-term impact
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are designed to achieve measurable results
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fund evidence-based programs that enhance educational experiences or promote optimal health
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provide support to organizations that collaborate to improve the lives of children living in poverty
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Geographic Focus:
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Generally, grants are made only to organizations located in the Richmond metropolitan area, which is defined as the City of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover and Henrico. However, funds are sometimes awarded to agencies located outside of the geographic region for grant proposals specifically serving children who reside within the Richmond metropolitan area.
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Eligibility and Restrictions for All Grants:
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Grants are made to organizations that qualify under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and to qualifying government instrumentalities, such as public schools.
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Requests for endowments, private foundations, private operating foundations, individuals, annual fund campaigns, or fundraising expenses will not be considered.
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Grants for individual tuition, scholarships, and camperships are NOT funded, and generally, one-time event grants are not favored. Grant requests that include field trips and/or event tickets to enhance programming that engages children over a period of time will be considered.
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Grants are not typically made for “bricks and mortar” projects.
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Grants are awarded on an every other year basis.
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If you should have questions about the Foundation’s grant funding priorities or guidelines, please contact the Grants Chair at MFCRichmond@gmail.com.
2025 Letter of Intent Application Process
Before You Begin
The Mission of the Memorial Foundation for Children is to provide funds that support nonprofit organizations and their programs that focus on improving the lives of children from asset-limited households and under-resourced communities in the Richmond Metropolitan Area. Please carefully review all our grant guidelines, specifically noting that the Foundation does not award grants for field trips, event tickets or individual tuition, scholarships, and camperships. Grants are awarded every other year. If your organization received funding in November 2024, you are ineligible to apply.
**NEW THIS YEAR**
We have moved to a new Grantee and Applicant Experience! We hope that the new portal will make the application process much easier for you and your staff. You will now have a single account to manage all funders using Blackbaud Grantmaking in one consolidated portal. If you already use a Blackbaud product, such as Raiser Edge, you will not need to create a secondary login.
Please read these instructions carefully and reach out to us with any questions. Thank you for your patience during this transition!
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You will be required to securely sign in with a new Blackbaud ID or use an existing Blackbaud ID if you use other Blackbaud products.
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Please bookmark https://bbgm-apply.yourcausegrants.com/apply/applications to access and return to your applications and requirement forms.
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Add noreply@yourcause.com to your safe senders list.
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We are encouraging grantees to add any organization members to their online account that should have access to the application and subsequent forms to enable sharing. A new benefit! Please note that you may only identify two contacts on the application.
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Be advised that your application history will be starting over in the new portal. You may want to download any previous applications and reports prior to August 25th, 2025. You will not have access to your previous submissions after that date.
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Questions? Email us at MFCRichmond@gmail.com.​
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Link to the LOI Application
In order to apply for grant funding in 2025, a Letter of Intent (LOI) must be submitted online no later than 12:00 noon on March 3, 2025. Letters of Intent received after the deadline will not be considered.
The link to begin working on a Letter of Intent form is: NOW CLOSED
The link to view your online account and your submissions is: https://bbgm-apply.yourcausegrants.com/apply/applications
After the foundation has completed its review of the LOIs, all applicants will be notified by email in late April. Selected organizations will be invited to submit a full application for further consideration by June 2.
Application Timeline
Early February: Letter of Intent opportunity opens
March 3: Letters of Intent must be submitted online no later than noon to be considered. See Application Procedure page for full instructions.
Late April: Applicants are notified of decisions and selected organizations are invited to submit a full application for further consideration.
June 2: If invited, a full application and requested attachments must be submitted online by noon. Three hard copies of the application and one copy of all other attachments must be postmarked and mailed to the Foundation.
June - September: The grant process includes a review of the online application and an interview that may include a site visit by a member of the Grants committee.
October - November: The Grants Committee reviews all proposals, presents findings, and makes recommendations for funding to the Board.
Early December: Applicants are notified in writing of decisions and grants are awarded and paid prior to December 31. Awarded grant funds must be fully expended between January 1 and December 31, 2026.
February 1, 2027: Organizations who receive funding will be required to submit a detailed Grant Report Form by January 31 (or the next business day) through our online grants management system one year after receipt of the grant. We ask for information on the expenditure of funds and a thoughtful evaluation of the project. Grantees who fail to submit a grant report within the required time frame will be ineligible to apply for the next funding cycle.
Questions: Email us at MFCRichmond@gmail.com.
