United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (UWGPSNJ) has officially opened applications for its new Partnership Grant Program.

The program provides unrestricted grants of $50,000 per year for two years to poverty-fighting nonprofit organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region.

“We’re thrilled to launch the Partnership Grant Program to support local organizations doing work that is critical to United Way’s mission,” said Bill Golderer, President and CEO of UWGPSNJ, in a press release.

“The Partnership Grant Program is one of United Way’s primary tools for sustaining close ties to the communities we serve and learning from organizations and leaders in our priority focus areas,” he added.

In this grant cycle, between 80 and 100 organizations will be selected to receive funding in June 2023. 

The Partnership Grant Program is designed to further the high-trust relationships, productive sharing, and diverse perspectives that UWGPSNJ shares with nonprofit partners. 

It is focused on learning from organizations and leaders in four key focus areas: 

• Early Learning - Partners that help ensure academic success, with services including early childhood education, out-of-school-time programs, literacy programs, career preparation, student resilience, and advocacy for equitable education and access. 
• Career Pathways - Partners that support economic mobility through career readiness, adult education, workforce development, industry partnerships, and entrepreneurship services, as well as advocating for equitable access to services and capital.
• Financial Empowerment - Partners that support people experiencing poverty increase their cash flow, decrease harmful debt, increase short-term-savings, and increase access to assets and long-term affordable savings opportunities, such as homeownership, through services including financial and housing counseling, tax preparation, benefits enrollment, and matched savings programs. 
• Community Resiliency - Partners that build more resilient communities by helping to meet residents’ basic needs, including food distribution, violence prevention, healthcare access, digital inclusion, rent/mortgage/utility assistance, legal aid, and referrals to social services. 

“There are countless poverty-fighting organizations that are not only knowledgeable about their field and communities, but also interested in contributing to our region’s collective understanding of the issues and impacting our neighborhoods,” said Golderer. “We are confident that, together, we can forge bold and impactful solutions to address poverty and expand opportunity in Greater Philadelphia.”

The Partnership Grant Program welcomes applicants from across various fields of practice, geographies served, demographics of people served, size and age of organizations, and leadership diversity. 

Applications will be open through March 3, 2023.

For additional information, including key dates and eligibility requirements, click here.