PITTSBURGH, Pa., June 4, 2025 – The Heinz Endowments has committed $6 million for the second phase of a special fund to assist local nonprofit organizations facing a range of challenges due to recent federal funding and policy changes. Earlier this year, the Endowments distributed $4 million through its Community Partners Fund to help alleviate the impact of federal actions on some of the region’s nonprofits, which means these additional monies will bring the support as part of the fund to $10 million.
“We know that our nonprofit partners are resilient, resourceful and doing their best under trying circumstances,” Endowments President Chris DeCardy said. “There remains both uncertainty and anxiety around directives, funding cuts, and budget proposals at the federal level. This fund is one key way we can stand with our vital nonprofit community leaders to help them stabilize and move forward with critical programming.”
The Community Partners Fund was launched in March to provide resources to the Endowments’ current grantees who support the region’s vulnerable communities amid rapidly changing federal policies and programs that impact funding and scope of work for nonprofits. That support was awarded directly to the organizations or to pooled funds created to help groups of nonprofits.
In this second phase, current and past Endowments grantees can apply for support through the Community Partners Fund, and they can partner with nonprofits that have not previously been grantees. Uses for the funds can include capacity building, technical assistance, legal needs, physical or data security needs, education and advocacy, communications and outreach, organizational change management, or scenario planning and risk analysis. The funding is intended for short-term, urgent needs and not to replace ongoing federal support or to be used for the long term.
“We realize that the financial landscape for many nonprofits has become unpredictable and difficult, and the needs look overwhelming,” said Endowments Learning Vice President Carmen Anderson. “We’re hoping that our support along with others will help provide some stability for these organizations and, in turn, the southwestern Pennsylvania residents they serve.”
When the Endowments established the Community Partners Fund in March, federal funding cuts – including blocked or withdrawn money that had been previously committed – were having a domino effect. Some of the region’s core community organizations were thrown into immediate funding crises, which in turn negatively impacted the residents they served in the region. The Endowments increased its regular grantmaking budget by 15%, first awarding $4 million in grants to support more than 40 of its 500-plus nonprofit partners who faced various legal, financial and management crises. The second phase will include distribution of the additional $6 million to a wider range of nonprofit organizations.
Included among the first round of grants were $30,000 to the Pittsburghers for Public Transit Association for an organizing and advocacy campaign to raise awareness of statewide transit funding needs and head off severe cuts in the public transportation that is critical to lives and livelihoods of transit workers and riders, low-income individuals and people with disabilities; $50,000 to VoteRiders to help it maintain its voter ID education and assistance efforts in the region; and $65,000 to Three Rivers Waterkeeper to support its work protecting water quality in the upper Ohio River Basin.
DeCardy noted that the support provided through the Community Partners Fund is an extension of the Endowments’ commitment to responding to crises in the Pittsburgh region as they have arisen over the years, including during the pandemic in 2020-22 and the global economic crisis of 2007-09.
“The Endowments seeks to be an enduring partner for our community,” DeCardy said. “We are committed to helping southwestern Pennsylvania become a region where everyone prospers and belongs. But to achieve that long-term mission, we also need to support our neighbors when unforeseen shocks threaten their long-term stability.”
Because funds are limited and the Endowments recognizes that the community needs are significant, foundation staff will assess proposals based upon the following criteria:
Urgency
- Addresses an immediate need
- Takes advantage of a time-sensitive opportunity
Impact
- Serves a large number of people
- Has far-reaching or long-lasting implications (changes in policies, systems, etc.)
Severity
- Mitigates an extreme harm or potential harm
Innovative Collaboration
Pitches from three or more nonprofit organizations and/or governmental entities working in collaboration to:
- Find creative ways to address service delivery gaps created by grant terminations or changes to/eliminations of federal programs, policies, or regulations.
- Launch advocacy campaigns designed to protect vulnerable populations or critical programs, policies or regulations.
- Explore a merger to seek operational and financial efficiencies.
For more information, go to https://www.heinz.org/grants/community-partners-fund.
Media Contact:
Carmen Lee
[email protected]
412-338-2628