Leadership Grants

Leadership Grants are made to nonprofit organizations that seek to:

  • Increase measurable skills and diversity of pipelines for senior staff and board members
  • Strengthen organizational capacity and nonprofit leaders in the areas of:
    • Governance
    • Management
    • Planning
    • Civic engagement
    • Board and staff development
    • Diversity, equity and inclusion

Requests to support leadership transition and to increase the diversity of senior staff leadership also will be considered.


For nonprofits serving this population:

Greater Philadelphia (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties in PA and Burlington and Camden counties in NJ).

Priority given to:

  • Those able to demonstrate that at least 70% of those served can be categorized as low-income and as marginalized.

Common requirements for all grant applicants:

  • 501(c)(3) IRS determination letter for organization or fiscal sponsor
  • List of Board of Directors and their affiliations (or Advisory Board for fiscally sponsored groups)
  • Short bios of three most senior staff
  • Most recent audit or if not available, IRS Form 990 or Profit/Loss Statement
  • Current PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations Certificate
  • Executive Summary of current strategic plan
  • Board-approved Nondiscrimination Policy that is in compliance with the Philadelphia Foundation’s non-discrimination policy
  • Organizational Budget
  • One Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Staff Person
  • Not an ineligible organization

Special requirements:

  • Operating Budget above $100,000
  • Must complete child abuse clearance and criminal background checks for all staff and volunteers who work with youth.

Strongly preferred:

  • Interim or permanent executive leadership in place for at least three months.
  • Limited familial relationships among board and staff members.

Amounts of grants:

Grant amounts range from $10,000 to $50,000.

Application deadline:

Applications are due by 12:00 midnight on 3/1/2024

Application Program Grants Process

Step 1: Determine eligibility

Carefully read the criteria listed in the application.

Step 2: Apply

The application deadline is 03/01/2024

Download the application and apply.

Step 3: Follow-up

One of our program staff will reach out to you to discuss next steps.

Step 4: Report

Once the grant period is completed, a grant report will be required.