Our Grants
Scranton Area Community Foundation Grants
The Scranton Area Community Foundation makes grants to foster good ideas that have the potential to strengthen our community and enrich the lives of the people of Scranton, Lackawanna County, and Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Foundation responds to community needs and opportunities with grants in such diverse fields as health, education, arts, environment, human services, and civic affairs. Organizations that serve the needs of residents in Lackawanna County are encouraged to keep the Foundation informed of their programs and services and to share their ideas about addressing community needs and opportunities.
Explore all of our available grant opportunities on our Online Grant Management portal
AVAILABLE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
TOMORROW’S LEADERS TODAY
Tomorrow’s Leaders Today (TLT) is a youth leadership program of Leadership
Lackawanna that provides high school juniors the opportunity to meet with community
leaders and decision-makers. In addition to leadership development, the students
must complete a philanthropy curriculum conducted by the Scranton Area
Communication Foundation.
Critical Needs Grants (up to $5,000)
NOTE: Read the enhanced 2025 Critical Needs Grants updates here.
Critical Needs Grants will be made for emergencies or pressing, unanticipated needs to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Letters of Intent (LOIs) for Critical Needs Grants will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year. These grants are intended to be quickly deployed where and when needed.
Critical Needs grants in 2026 will be used to assist 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in responding to very timely, unbudgeted, and/or unexpected needs within a 6-8 week timeframe from the time of submission.
Eligible requests may now include:
• Emergency operational support during financial crises
• Bridge funding for sudden and unexpected revenue shortfalls
• Budget gaps due to unforeseen reductions in expected funding
• Resources needed to fill in a gap that would otherwise cause an interruption in the delivery of basic necessities or critical programs. This includes, but is not limited to, gaps caused by:
• Health-related incidents
• Natural/Environmental disasters
• Equipment or technical failure
• Emergency infrastructure or property repairs
To ensure that funding is prioritized for the most urgent cases, applicants requesting support for budget shortfalls will be asked to provide documentation of confirmed or enacted funding reductions (e.g., award letters, official notifications, or budget amendments). Support for anticipated shortfalls may be considered on a case-by-case basis, but may not be prioritized.
Critical Needs grant requests will be capped at $5,000.00.
Women in Philanthropy Grant (max grant: $10,000)(average: $5,000)
Women in Philanthropy is now accepting grant applications from 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and educational institutions for its 2024 grant cycle.
Grant requests for the 2024 must cover projects in one or more of the following focus areas:
Civic Engagement & Advocacy, Financial Education, Housing, Childcare, Mental Health, STEAM Education
Robert H. Spitz Grants
Applications will be accepted for the Spring 2026 Grant Cycle until Thursday, April 30, 2026.
The Robert H. Spitz Foundation, administered by the Scranton Area Community Foundation, is pleased to announce the Spring 2026 grant cycle and invites local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to apply for grant funding. The grant application process begins with submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the Foundation’s online portal.
LOIs for the Robert H. Spitz Foundation grant cycle are due by Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
The Robert H. Spitz Foundation awards grants to registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that support initiatives and programs serving Lackawanna County and Northeastern Pennsylvania residents.
Please note: If the applying organization has received grant funding from the Robert H. Spitz Foundation for three consecutive years, it must wait one full year (two grant cycles, 1 Spring and 1 Fall) before applying again.
Spring 2026 priority areas for funding include:
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
Programs that aim to remove economic barriers, mitigate intergenerational poverty, and encourage independence in adults and children through access to safe, affordable housing, transportation, education, training, and other important issues.
Jewish Culture & Cemeteries
Programs/projects that support Jewish culture, heritage, community, and cemeteries.
Deadlines:
– Deadline to submit Letter of Intent (LOI): Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
– Deadline to submit application: Sunday, May 31, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
Grant Application Process
As part of our ongoing commitment to building the capacity of our nonprofit professionals and to better serve our grant seekers, we have recently simplified our grant application process. Our grant application process is now streamlined through our online grant management portal.
The grant application process begins with submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the online portal.
To submit an LOI, you will need to first create an account in our online grant management portal.
All applicants are required to create an account. [Note that your LOI/grant application can be saved as a draft, and when you log on again it’s easy to return to that draft, make edits, and submit the application when you’re ready to do so.
To create your account and begin the grant application process, enter the following information:
A username that is an email address
Your contact information
Your organization’s information, including the EIN/Tax ID number
Contact information for the organization’s Executive Officer
We have provided additional resources, including a written tutorial, to help you with our new grant application process. To access the written applicant tutorial, visit Applicant Tutorial – Grants.
Please note that the Scranton Area Community Foundation will ONLY accept grant requests through the online portal. No paper or emailed applications will be accepted.
The Scranton Area Community Foundation’s Community Needs Grants and Critical Needs grants are awarded to registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that help to enhance the quality of life in Lackawanna County. Grant applications are evaluated according to specific criteria including community impact, organizational capability, and project feasibility and sustainability. We will also take into account the challenges nonprofits face in this turbulent time.
If you have any questions about our grant application process, please contact us at 570-347-6203 or grants@safdn.org.