The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation is accepting applications for its Wabanaki Grants.
Donor Name: Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
State: Maine
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/25/2026
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation seeks to be a good partner to Wabanaki Tribes and Wabanaki-led and -serving community organizations by supporting work on community priorities through grants, capacity-building and technical assistance, convening, shared learning, and impact investment.
Priorities
- Generally, they will support work that is focused on:
- Sovereignty, self-governance and self-determination
- Collective well-being
- Community culture and community building
- Indigenous leadership and resourcing across communities
- Funding criteria:
- The organization is led by majority Wabanaki and indigenous people (staff and board) and/or is serving Wabanaki Communities
- Most of the work of the organization is focused on and/or serving Wabanaki people, communities, and interests
- All work takes place in what is now Maine.
Funding Information
- Available Funding: $327,000.
- Generally, grant funding levels in this focus area are:
- Individual organizations/efforts: $10,000 to $50,000 (per year)
- Increased funding amounts may be available to organizations that work on priority areas across all Tribes and/or communities.
- Collaborations/efforts involving multiple organizations/groups: up to $200,000 (per year)
- Occasionally, organizations may apply for both organizational and collaborative funds.
- Transformational opportunities: variable funding levels
- The purpose and intended impact of transformational efforts is to address critical community priorities and create sustainable, systemic changes. Generally, funding is limited to one to two years.
Grant Period
Generally, funding is limited to one to two years.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be eligible to accept tax-deductible donations as outlined in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. This includes 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organizations, public schools, public agencies working for the State of Maine, or Indian tribal governments (and their political subdivisions) recognized by the Department of the Interior.
- The Sewall Foundation accepts applications from organizations and groups who work through a fiscal sponsor. A fiscally sponsored organization cannot have a pre-existing tax status and needs to have a clear not-for-profit purpose that serves the public. They require a fiscal sponsorship agreement submitted with the application that is signed by authorized signatories from both parties (the fiscal sponsor and the fiscally sponsored entity).
- The Sewall Foundation accepts applications from collaboratives of 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. One of the partner organizations will need to serve as the fiscal host or fiscal sponsor for the proposal, depending on how your collaborative is structured. They do require a memorandum of understanding submitted with the application that is signed by authorized signatories from all partner organizations in the collaborative, OR a fiscal sponsorship agreement, depending on the collaborative structure.
- The Sewall Foundation has funded 501(C)(4) organizations in the past for specific nonpartisan and charitable work, however it requires additional considerations and expenditure responsibility. They ask that any 501(c)(4) organization contact program staff to explore potential grant support. Organizations with 501(C)(4) status should not start or submit a grant application before speaking with program staff.
- The Sewall Foundation does not provide grant funding to private for-profit enterprises, cooperatives, or individuals. Such entities might explore potential partnership through Impact Investing. Nonprofits with 501 (C)(3) status may apply for funding that includes paying for-profits, cooperatives, or individuals/contractors for services, but the nonprofit organization needs to be the entity that applies for, receives, and reports on funding. It should also be noted that funds received by for-profits, cooperatives, and individuals/contractors through a grant or contract services with a nonprofit may have income tax consequences for the entity or individual.
- Organizations may submit an application one time per calendar year. Some exceptions may be made in the case of fiscal sponsorships and multi-organization collaborations. Organizations with active multi-year grants must wait to apply for additional funding until the year in which the current grant-term ends.
For more information, visit EBSF.
