Frequently asked questions

Our grant opportunities align to the following strategic priorities:

College access and completion: College completion remains an important stepping stone – or barrier – to prosperity. We strive to make college affordable, high quality, and attainable for all.
Workforce and career development: Innovative and unexpected pathways are essential to entering the workforce. Beyond that, career growth relies on continued learning and skill development. We seek to expand these opportunities for all Kansas Citians.
Entrepreneurship: Research shows that entrepreneurship is highly effective at closing economic gaps, despite an uneven playing field. Minority and women business owners need equitable access to capital, resources, and peer networks. We are committed to supporting and sustaining business ownership for people of every background.

The grant opportunities focus on the following areas:

Essential competencies and skills: Growing the mindsets, behaviors, knowledge, and skill sets essential for success in school and career.
Education and employer connection: Strengthening the ties between education and employers to create a more relevant and prepared workforce.
Participation and belonging: Cultivating an environment where everyone can participate and feel seen and valued, regardless of background.
Equitable access: Making learning pathways affordable and capital accessible to all learners, workers, and entrepreneurs.

Learn more about our focus areas >

We are offering multiple grants for 2024-2025.

Capacity Building grants are designed to address explicit organizational capacity needs that, if addressed, would strengthen, deepen, or scale impact in our focus areas. Funds should be directed toward one-time/short-term expenses to build capacity.
Collective Impact grants are designed for a coalition of high-capacity organizations to drive systems-level impact and change in the Kansas City community. We are especially interested in proposals related to two key focus areas – education and employer connection and equitable access – across our three strategic priority areas. The Collective Impact grant includes two steps: Planning and Implementation.
Project grants provide funding for an organization(s) to design and implement, or scale a multi-year project that will drive impact across our strategic priorities.
Research grants provide funding to design and implement, or scale a research project that builds deeper understanding of our strategic priorities and focus areas, addresses gaps in our research base, and translates research findings into practice.
Sunset grants are available to previous grantees with grants ending between Jan. 1, 2023 and Jun. 31, 2025 who no longer align with our funding priorities. We offer one-time Sunset grant opportunities to help previous long-term grantees transition to new funding sources or bring closure to projects that are ending. Sunset grant recipients will be ineligible to receive funding from other Foundation grants in 2025 or 2026.

Typically only available to 501(c)(3) nonprofit charities, Capacity Building grants are designed to strengthen the organizational capacity of public charities by fostering sound leadership, strong boards, professional development for staff, technology, evaluation, strategic planning, communications, and sustainability. Rather than funding an organization’s specific program or singular service, Capacity Building grants look for opportunities to support a charity’s move toward internal effectiveness and long-term stability.

The Kauffman Uncommon Leadership Award is designed to honor leaders of nonprofit organizations in the Kansas City region who are building a legacy of impact within their organizations and communities. Nominations will be accepted through our portal beginning in early 2025.

Sponsorships support community events, programs, and initiatives that align with our strategic priorities. These sponsorships are designed to amplify the impact of organizations and activities that contribute to the well-being and growth of Kansas City and beyond.

We are not targeting geographic locations within the Kansas City region. Instead, we are targeting economic mobility gaps. Starting with the application process, we will ask potential grantees to identify any areas where their organizations see the opportunity to close those gaps. As data grows, we may be able to identify specific areas in the future that will hold the most potential for closing economic gaps in Kansas City through our strategic priorities.

Wondering what we mean by the Kansas City region? It’s generally the six-county region of the metro area including Cass, Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Platte, and Wyandotte counties.

While we do not fund lobbying, the Foundation does fund strategic advocacy, education, and other policy engagement activities that do not constitute lobbying. Without providing legal advice or getting into the exceptions that apply, a key difference between “lobbying” and the other activities listed above is in the specific definitions of “lobbying”.

Grassroots Lobbying occurs when an organization (1) expresses an opinion to the general public, (2) about specific legislation, and (3) includes a call to action (e.g., contact a legislator or their staff). Providing contact information for a legislator or their staff is considered a “call to action” when done in conjunction with the other two elements.

Direct Lobbying occurs in one of two situations:

Contact with a Legislator: Lobbying occurs when an organization (1) contacts a legislator (or his/her staff), (2) about specific legislation (e.g., a proposed bill), and (3) expresses an opinion about that legislation.
Contact with the Voting Public: When the public is voting on an issue (e.g., a ballot initiative), lobbying occurs when an organization (1) contacts the general public, (2) about the specific matter being voted on, and (3) expresses an opinion about it.

Generally, all three parts for each type of lobbying must be present. If one or more part is missing, it is not likely to be considered lobbying.

Yes, the Foundation would consider funding program-related investments through Collective Impact and Project grants, assuming that doing so would significantly further the Foundation’s charitable purpose. Please click to learn more about program-related investments.

Permissible PRIs could include, among other things, supporting entities that offer low-interest or interest-free loans to low-income students, making low-interest loans to small businesses owned by those not able to access loans at reasonable rates because of their race or gender, or improving the economy of an economically disadvantaged area by investing in businesses that provide employment or training for unemployed residents.

We offer an eligibility quiz as a starting point for each grant type. See if you are eligible >

To ensure an equitable review of submissions, applications will not be accepted after the deadlines have passed. That said, we are offering multiple application windows throughout the year. Learn more >

Please note that in most cases, the Foundation will only support one grant award at a time for an organization.

Most organizations should focus their efforts on a single grant application. In rare cases, some larger institutions may be considered for multiple grants concurrently. Most organizations, however, should expect to receive or manage only one grant at a time from the Foundation.

Additionally, If you are not the lead applicant/intermediary for the Collective Impact Planning grant application, you may apply for another relevant grant (e.g., Capacity, Project, Research) that fits the unique strengths of your organization. The grant you apply for can have some connection to the broader Collective Impact project you are connected to but should not be a duplication of that effort or a main activity of the requested funding within the Collective Impact planning grant budget.

In 2024–25, as part of our strategic refresh, any organization, including active grantees, is welcome to apply for our grant opportunities. Start by taking our eligibility quiz for each open grant type.

If you apply for a Capacity Building grant and later determine that you think a Project grant might be a better fit, you can withdraw the Capacity Building grant application or decline the award, if applicable. Keep in mind that Project grants are larger and may be more competitive, so organizations need to be prepared to deliver measurable impact across our strategic priorities if applying as a Project grantee.

Yes, but the processes can take longer. We make grants to organizations that are not 501(c)(3) public charities, including to social welfare organizations [501(c)(4)], trade associations and chambers of commerce [501(c)(6)], and for-profit enterprises, among others. However, federal law limits our ability to make such grants and imposes specific requirements when we do so.

We encourage you to learn more about the federal restrictions by researching “expenditure responsibility.” In short, the Foundation’s grant dollars can only be used to further charitable purposes and activities and there can be no impermissible private benefit, even with a grant to an organization that is not a public charity. While the same restrictions apply, you might also consider exploring a “program-related investment” from the Foundation, which is different from a grant.  

While we are foregrounding our work in the Kansas City region to achieve our 2035 vision, we are not immediately excluding organizations located elsewhere. However, to successfully apply for and receive funding, those organizations will need to demonstrate impact to Kansas City through past work anchored in the region, along with alignment to our strategic priorities and focus areas designed to drive impact in Kansas City.

For example, an organization located in Illinois might serve as an intermediary for a group of KC-based coalition members as long as the Illinois organization can demonstrate a history and connection to impact in our region, with proposed work clearly centered on Kansas City.

Although not affiliated with the Foundation, if you are looking for alternative funding, please refer to the following resources:

The Foundation Center provides access to private foundation information, directories, books and periodicals, grantmaker files, and bibliographic databases.
GuideStar is an online database of nonprofit organizations including mission, programs, leaders, goals, accomplishments, and needs.
Idealist is an interactive site where people and organizations can exchange resources and ideas and locate opportunities and supporters.
Nonprofits seeking technical support or hardware may find assistance through CompuMentor’s TechSoup.org, which provides free information, resources, and support.
United Way of America serves individuals as well as organizations through training, resources, and technical assistance. This web site can direct you to a United Way organization in your local community.
If you are looking for a small business loan in the United States, you may find help at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Our friends and neighbors in the Kansas City area may provide additional guidance or support for projects:

The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and its network of regional affiliates and affiliate partners provides information for charitable funds in the Kansas City area along with a wide range of scholarship applications for individuals, and grant opportunities for nonprofit organizations.
Nonprofit Connect, Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Support KC provide professional development programs, services, online resources and tools to build capacity for nonprofits seeking funding or strategic support in the Kansas City area.
United Way of Greater Kansas City provides support and resources for individuals and nonprofit organizations living and working in Kansas City.

Yes, the Foundation has an indirect cost policy that applies to Research grants, Project grants, and Collective Impact grants. Learn more >

We are working to provide clear and consistent information about the grantmaking opportunities that exist for the next year. Our goal is that this helps to demystify the grantmaking process.

Our founder, Ewing Marion Kauffman, intended for us to work deeply in Kansas City, to learn from others, and to share and implement those learnings nationwide.

Our 2035 strategic priorities will continue to uphold Mr. Kauffman’s vision by focusing on closing economic mobility gaps in the Kansas City region. We’re aiming to impact specific areas by prioritizing support to organizations that have a direct or a potential to impact the region.

In order to accomplish our goals, we will continue working with regional and national organizations that align with our priorities.

We believe in the power of entrepreneurship. The success of businesses can strengthen every level of our economy. As stewards of Mr. K’s legacy, our strategic priority of supporting and sustaining business ownership is key. The Foundation will continue to emphasize supporting pathways to equitable economic mobility through business ownership.

Youth development has been a long-standing priority for Mr. K and the Foundation. We believe that there are strategic ways that PK-12 organizations may optimize on this commitment, particularly through our college access and completion and workforce and career development strategic priorities. We also see opportunities to support educational and workforce pathways for professionals and entrepreneurs in the field of PK-12 development.

The Foundation has a long-standing commitment to learning and research. We will fund research projects that build a deeper understanding of our strategic priorities and focus areas, address gaps in our research base, and translate research findings into practice.

Research informs our practices, allowing us to adapt and implement effective strategies that advance equitable economic mobility. Our Research, Learning, and Evaluation team supports this vision by conducting transformational research, advancing equitable data systems, and building evidence that informs decision-making. We seek to continuously improve and amplify our learnings in the Kansas City region and around the nation.