The William Penn Foundation is requesting applications for its Investment in Philadelphia Parks Grant Program.
Donor Name: William Penn Foundation
State: Pennsylvania
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/30/2026
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The Foundation seeks to support efforts that will increase investment in Philadelphia’s parks and recreation facilities. Proposals can include efforts to increase investment from public or private sources, develop or strengthen innovative community initiatives, expand volunteer efforts, or other projects that are likely to yield increased sustainable investments in the parks and recreation sites. Funding can support system-wide applied research, capacity building, communications, advocacy, coalition building, and other appropriate activities.Projects can focus on individual sites or across the entire parks and recreation system.
Organizations that propose projects in partnership with other applicants will be considered on their individual merits. However, the Foundation recognizes that making significant progress on the objective is difficult and encourages organizations to include partnerships that leverage complementary strengths, resources, and expertise to reach proposed goals
The Foundation recognizes that there are many different tactics or approaches that could be used to advance the objective stated above. It is the aim to fund projects that have results that can be sustained over time. They seek proposals for projects that draw in new public and private constituents, employ new or innovative funding strategies, and/or target areas of the system or city that have been chronically under resourced. They are especially interested in proposals that explore or advance dedicated public funding mechanisms as well as public-private financing strategies that have proven successful and adopted by top-ranked ParkScore cities.
Funding Information
WPF has $2 million available. However, grant requests under $500,000 will be most competitive.
Grant Period
WPF requesting proposals for one- to three-year projects.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)3 public charities or operate under a public charity fiduciary. Public charities include community-based organizations, schools and educational institutions, and other types of public-serving groups. Government entities are also eligible to apply.
- Proposed projects should have a strong likelihood of increasing investment in municipally owned parks, recreation centers, and playgrounds in the city of Philadelphia.
Review Criteria
- Alignment with Objective
- Beneficiaries
- Meaningful Community Awareness of Proposed Work
- Meaningful Community Engagement in Proposed Work
- Partnership and Collaboration
- Project Design and Feasibility
For more information, visit WPF.
