Mission/Giving Statement: Rockefeller Family Fund is a U.S.-based, family-led public charity that initiates, cultivates, and funds strategic efforts to promote a sustainable, just, free, and participatory society.
Grantmaking Program Areas: Economic Justice for Women; Environment; Institutional Accountability & Individual Liberty
Grantmaking Program Area Descriptions:
Economic Justice for Women: Seeks to improve the quality of life for working women and their families by advocating for equitable employment opportunities and updated employment standards. Working at the national, state and local levels, we support research, training, public education campaigns and advocacy efforts.
Environment: Our program emphasizes public education on the risks of global warming and implementation of sound solutions. RFF is interested in the development of initiatives designed to enact aggressive policies at the state and national levels to reduce carbon emissions; disrupt the coal life cycle from mining and burning to ash disposal and exporting; bring diverse and compelling new voices into the climate debate; and examine how special interests are distorting science and delaying constructive steps to deal with this impending global crisis.
Institutional Accountability & Individual Liberty: This program encourages the active participation of citizens in government, seeks to make government and private institutions more accountable and responsive, and supports efforts to ensure that individuals’ rights and liberties under the Constitution are protected. Past grants have included support for work to overcome roadblocks to registration and voting; efforts to expand access to government information; advocacy to promote electronic disclosure of campaign contributions; and a broad range of program initiatives aimed at holding government agencies and public officials accountable for their actions.
Type of Funding/Funding Restrictions: The Rockefeller Family Fund only supports tax-exempt organizations engaged in advocacy activities of national significance that are action-oriented and likely to yield tangible public policy results within its four program areas. Thus, the Fund does not ordinarily consider projects which pertain to a single community, except in the rare instance where a project is unique, strategically placed to advance a national issue, or is likely to serve as a national model. The RFF does not make grants for direct service providers, or for social services or human services programs, and it does not fund local or community-specific projects. Grants are rarely made to organizations which traditionally enjoy popular support, such as universities, museums, hospitals, or endowed institutions. In addition, grants are normally made to the same organization for no more than two years at a time, and except in extraordinarly cases, are not given to the same organizations for more than three or four consecutive years.
Application Instructions: Please submit all letters of inquiry via the online application system found on the Rockefeller Family Fund’s website: rffund.org. Before applying, applicants are advised to review the Frequently Asked Questions section, which details the Family Fund’s program guidelines. Online inquiries may be submitted at any time. Applicants should allow 6-8 weeks for staff to review and answer a letter of inquiry. Those organizations that are invited to submit a full proposal will be provided with guidelines for material to include.
Notes: Because the Fund has limited resources, it is unable to assist most applicants.
