Kaiser Permanente Community Fund

The next Call for Letters of Inquiry will open again in early 2012. For the latest information, please be sure to sign up for our e-news

Health begins where we live, work, learn and play - long before any clinical intervention is required to treat disease or injury.  Since 2005, the Kaiser Permanente Fund at Northwest Health Foundation has supported community-driven efforts to address factors in the social, policy, and physical environment that impact community health.  The Fund has supported initiatives that have improved a diverse range of community conditions, including public safety, social capital, access to healthy food, and safe, affordable housing.  Often referred to as the social determinants of health, these factors have been shown to play a major in determining a community’s health status.

The Kaiser Permanente Community Fund is committed to promoting health equity and social justice by supporting efforts that take a preventive or “upstream” approach to improving community health.  The deadline for submitting an intent to apply for the 2011 grant cycle was May 16.  In response to requests from the community, we have kept our guidelines posted on this web page, in case they help with your future fundraising strategies.

As in previous years, we offered grants within two separate tracks:

• Capacity-Building Grants are more appropriate for organizations that need time to develop their partnerships and strategies; are building their expertise in the field; are not yet able to clearly articulate how their work would improve community health and equity; and/or need to engage with their community to develop their goals, strategies and tactics.  Capacity-Building grants can range up to $50,000 for up to 18 months.
• Implementation Grants represent the types of projects that are more fully conceived (and in many cases, have already been launched).  Implementation grants are more appropriate for organizations (usually multi-sectoral collaborations of several organizations) that are ready to implement a defined plan of action, with a clear expectation of goals and outcomes.  Implementation grants can range up to $200,000 for up to three years.

A more detailed explanation of each track, along with other information is provided in our Frequently Asked Questions.

In late April, we hosted four informational sessions about the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund that provided an opportunity for organizations and community members to learn more about the Fund’s strategies and priorities in Portland, Vancouver, Hillsboro and Salem.  Please click on the “Events / News / Resources” tab of this page if you would like to see the content of these presentations.