New Responsive Grants program announced

Dear friends,

We are reaching out with an important update about Foundation grantmaking, following up on information we shared with partners in January.

The Foundation is launching a new Responsive Grants program, applications for which will open on March 9. This program replaces our previous Community Grants program.

The Responsive Grants program features a streamlined application, a rolling deadline and a turnaround of 20 business days from application to funding decisions. Grants of up to $10,000 will be available for one year of support, and funding may be used for operating expenses, projects or initiatives. This program is open to all eligible nonprofit organizations whose work benefits New Hampshire communities. We will notify nonprofits over the summer about when applications will close for this program for 2026. Read more and apply here.

Our goal with Responsive Grants is to help address a wide variety of nonprofit needs while providing a simple process, timely decisions and clear communication.

Part of the reason for this change is because we are increasing long-term investments in targeted initiative areas: addressing basic needs including housing and food security; environment and climate; civic health; behavioral health, including addressing the opioid crisis and mental health; education and career pathways including scholarships and equitable K-12 school funding; and early childhood and family supports, including making early childhood education more accessible for New Hampshire families. We are increasing funding to accelerate that work. (For more information about initiative areas, please reach out to the staff contact listed on each linked page.) Those initiatives were informed by a community listening team of people from around the state, are priorities in the Foundation’s strategic direction, Together We Thrive, and are central to our purpose of helping to make New Hampshire a community where everyone can thrive.

We recognize that nonprofits and the communities they serve continue to face unprecedented challenges, and the Foundation is committed to supporting the sector and the people it serves. In 2025, the Foundation awarded an unprecedented $87 million in grants to 2,500 nonprofit organizations and scholarships to 2,000 New Hampshire students.

We also realize that many organizations valued the Community Grants program. Though it represented a small percentage of the Foundation’s overall grantmaking, it was an important entry point for many nonprofits. We intend for the Responsive Grants program to provide a similar open-door entry point – and a more streamlined way for nonprofits to apply for funding from the Foundation.

The Foundation works with many generous people who are committed to supporting the work of New Hampshire nonprofits. Responsive Grant applications will provide important information that may be shared with Foundation donor-advised fundholders about the work of nonprofits and community needs. Completing an organizational profile in the Foundation’s GrantSource system helps us to share the impact of your organization’s work.

As always, we want to hear from you. We encourage you to reach out with questions about this new program, and to let us know about the challenges you are facing and needs you are seeing in your communities. Please reach out to your staff contact or email us at tenagncc@aups.bet or call (603) 225-6641, ext. 5.

With gratitude,

Simon Delekta
Vice President for Community Engagement and Impact