Rapid Response Grants

Purpose of grants: To support organizing and activism responding to urgent threats or breaking opportunities for needs that could not have otherwise been anticipated. This grant is designed to support successful applicants to achieve a specific outcome within 3-6 months. Organizations may receive only one rapid response grant per year.

Grant Amounts: Up to $5,000 for immediate actions.

Eligible Groups: North Star Fund will consider applications from organizations that meet all of the following requirements:

1. The organization has a budget under $800,000.
2. The organization is led by directly impacted people, particularly those who are: low-income; people of color, immigrants and/or multi-racial; women, trans, gender non-conforming, and/or queer; youth; working class; disabled; and long-time residents.
3. These organizational leaders have or are forming a strong social justice vision for their organizing efforts that is grounded in their understanding of root causes of oppression.
4. The grant is for organizations or organizing within the five boroughs of New York City or in at least one of the counties eligible for our Hudson Valley grants (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Columbia, Greene, Delaware, Rensselaer, Albany and Schoharie counties).

Strong preference will be given to organizations that:

• Lack access to philanthropy, funding, and capacity building/training opportunities
• Are neighborhood-based and/or organizing residents of the outer boroughs
• Are engaged, or plan to engage in, campaigns that win change through legislative advocacy, shifts in culture/public perception, and/or concrete changes in conditions at the local level

INELIGIBLE PROJECTS

Rapid response grants do not support:

• Travel to conferences
• Budget shortfalls or cash flow issues
• New project ideas (for seed funding, you may apply for a Catalyst Grant)

HOW TO APPLY

Organizations may apply for a rapid response grant at any time. If you are in New York City and are interested, contact Catherine Eusebio, NYC Program Officer, at catherine@northstarfund.org to schedule an initial phone interview. If you are in one of the Hudson Valley counties listed above, contact Mayra Hidalgo Salazar, Hudson Valley Program Officer, at mayra@northstarfund.org to schedule a phone interview.

If you are eligible for a rapid response grant, you will be asked to submit a one-page request.