This year, Inspire Giving is supporting an organization that advances Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging through their programming, in alignment with the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s Four Point Business Promise to create a more vibrant community. 

The Inspire Giving committee recognizes that this topic is broad, largely because challenges exist in every industry sector. They know that achieving this goal requires attention and investment, and they want to do their part to catalyze that support.

Ideal applicants will be conducting work targeting barriers to equity, inclusion, and belonging. Competitive applications will contain at least one if not multiple of the following components:

• sustainable responses to a systemic or institutionalized social challenge (ableism, racism, homophobia, etc.); 
• demonstrated commitment to the empowerment of marginalized communities;
• evidence of effectiveness from previous work in DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging); and
• a history of engaging communities in the identification of challenges and the design of solutions.

Inspire Giving believes that Sacramento is one of the most diverse cities in our nation, and as a region we will truly thrive when all our communities have equal access to opportunities to be successful.

To be eligible for consideration, submissions must meet the following criteria:

• Applicant agency must have 501(c)3 status;
• Service area must be within at least one of the six counties (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba) covered by the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation;
• Applicant agency must have a proven track record and demonstrated success in the focus area listed above;
• Applicant agency must have at least two years of operational history with an annual operations budget in excess of $250,000; and
• Must not have been the recipient of an Inspire Giving grant or Leadership Sacramento project since 2012.
• For Fiscally Sponsored Organizations:
  • Both the applicant agency and fiscal sponsor must have at least two years of operation history;
  • Applicant agency must have a current, annual operations budget in excess of $100,000. Fiscal sponsor must have a current, annual operations budget in excess of $250,000; and 
  • One designee must commit to representing the organization throughout the year and partner with Inspire Giving.

Activity	Date
LOI Launch	October 1, 2020
LOI Deadline	October 30, 2020
Member Voting Opens	November 4, 2020
Member Voting Closes	November 20, 2020
Grant Winner Announced	December 2020

The only submitted item needed for this grant opportunity is a Letter of Interest (LOI). Applicants are encouraged to identify their specific need for cash, in-kind services, skilled or unskilled volunteer support, and be as descriptive as possible as to how best to match your organization needs with resources provided by Inspire Giving. Please click the link below to fill out the online form.

Click here to apply!

Completed LOIs are due by October 30th at 5:00 p.m.  LOIs will only be accepted through the online system. No paper, emailed or late submissions will be accepted.

For questions regarding eligibility requirements and criteria, please contact Andrea Ellinghouse, Metro Chamber Foundation Program Director, at aellinghouse@metrochamber.org or cfloyd@metrochamber.org.

For questions regarding the online submission process, please contact us.