Grants and Projects Will Unlock Nonprofit Growth Opportunities

(San Francisco, CA) April 8, 2021 -- Full Circle Fund (FCF), a community that leverages resources and accelerates nonprofits to build a better Bay Area, today announced four new Grant Partners for its spring Grant Cycle, supporting organizations working in economic opportunity, education, environment and energy, and health. In addition, FCF named three grant recipients for its Tech Accelerator Fund (TAF) for established tech-driven nonprofits.

“Nonprofits have demonstrated resilience over the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic challenged many to find new ways to serve an increasing number of Bay Area residents seeking community-based services,” said Jay Hirschton, CEO of Full Circle Fund. “As community organizations prepare for the next normal, we are committed to helping nonprofits at an inflection point develop strategies, unlock growth opportunities, and scale current and new ways to ultimately fulfill their missions and serve more people.”

In addition to funding nonprofits, FCF community Members from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors work in partnership with local nonprofit leaders in six month engagements to help them address the biggest problems affecting their communities.

FCF Grant Cycle is open to nonprofits working in four issue areas with a specific capacity building or strategic planning project. The 2021 Grant Cycle Partners include:

• Economic Opportunity: Miracle Messages helps people experiencing homelessness rebuild their social support systems, primarily through family reunifications, a phone-based buddy system, and direct cash transfers. The FCF project seeks to increase the number of unhoused neighbors referred to Miracle Messages' programs, by unlocking new partnership opportunities and mobilizing committed volunteers.

• Education: Urban Ed Academy builds equity in education through representative leadership in and around schools with a vision for every student in San Francisco to have one male teacher of color before middle school. The FCF project will develop a social movement campaign strategy to activate Millennials as monthly donors and support their efforts to change the education system.

• Environment & Energy: Planting Justice empowers people impacted by mass incarceration and other social inequities with the skills and resources to cultivate food sovereignty, economic justice, and community healing. The FCF project will help develop a digital marketing and storytelling campaign to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on their fundraising efforts and more broadly share their stories of community members and the organization’s impact.

• Health: At The Crossroads reaches out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need and works with them to build healthy and fulfilling lives. The FCF project will help develop a business plan that includes budgeting growth and considering issues of infrastructure and sustainability in light of the organization’s new strategic plan.

“Improving the quality of life for all Bay Area residents is at the center of FCF. For over 20 years, FCF has been working on ‘the how’ by helping nonprofit organizations refine strategies, grow their networks, and build capacities to envision and drive sustainable change efficiently and effectively,” said Elizabeth Goumas, Enterprise Sales at LinkedIn, who also volunteers as Economic Opportunity Circle Co-Chair. “The model is proven and yet iterative, influenced by the diverse, compassionate and resourceful people sharing their skills, experience and networks year over year. FCF has helped me hone my personal giving vision and invest in the Bay Area within a highly engaged community.”

Tech Accelerator Fund is for tech nonprofits building original products or services that use a nonprofit business model to scale social impact. The 2021 TAF Grant Partners include:

• Empower Work creates healthy, equitable workplaces through their crisis text line for workers, scalable training, and data and storytelling for systemic change. The FCF project will help develop an earned revenue strategy for their unique training offering that supports their mission and growth.

• Moneythink tools and services bring transparency to college costs so that all students can achieve economic freedom. The FCF project will formalize a post-launch year product growth strategy for their free college affordability tool, DecidED, specifically targeting features for their student users.

• My New Red Shoes works to improve the quality of life and well-being of children and youth experiencing economic hardship by ensuring access to basic needs and cultivating a sense of belonging. The FCF project includes an IT/Digital audit and development of an enterprise application integration strategy to scale their e-commerce and digital platform services.

For more information about FCF, visit www.fullcirclefund.org. Companies or individuals interested in assisting local nonprofits with grants and volunteers may contact membership@fullcirclefund.org.

About Full Circle Fund

Full Circle Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and community that leverages its professionals’ time, resources, and intellectual capital to accelerate nonprofits and build a better Bay Area. For 20 years, members from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors work in partnership with local community groups to scale solutions to the biggest problems affecting communities. Through its unique model of engaged philanthropy, Full Circle Fund has unlocked over $12 million in positive social change.