The Keystone program prioritizes grassroots and community-led efforts to address environmental and racial justice, as a key strategy for equitable social change and community well-being.
Donor Name: Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
State: Maine
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/25/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 4 Years
Details:
Keystone now frames its impact through the lens of advocacy to better reflect the strategies grantees are using to create systemic change.
The Keystone program will support organizations and efforts that represent an interconnected ecosystem of movement-building, where community-based organizations are supported by groups that provide resilience-building resources and reinforced by organizations advancing systems-level resilience through advocacy. Together, these categories uphold the essential work of grassroots organizing through the lenses of public policy advocacy, resourcing community organizing, and community power-building.
Priorities
Funding will prioritize:
- Building Community Resilience
- Grassroots, on-the-ground organizations actively dismantling harmful systems, shifting behaviors, and creating new models that foster sustainable and resilient communities.
- Resourcing Community Resilience
- Organizations that support and educate community-led movements by providing tools, training, and resources to build and sustain community ownership and empowerment.
- Systems-Level Advocacy
- Organizations that strengthen community voices and leadership by centering the lived experiences of those on the frontlines of marginalization.
- The foundation prioritize applicants that:
- Are led by Black, Indigenous, People of Color, rural Mainers, and women;
- Are working collaboratively across sectors; and/or
- Have an explicit commitment to the intersection of environmental justice and racial justice.
Funding Information
- Available funding: $1,390,000.
Generally, grant funding levels in this program area are:
- Building Community Resilience: $20,000 to $60,000 per year
- Resourcing Community Resilience: $10,000 to $50,000 per year
- Systems level Advocacy: $10,000 to $40,000 per year
Project Period
4 years.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be eligible to receive 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; Indian tribal governments (and their political subdivisions) recognized by the Department of the Interior.
- The 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 foundation accepts 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.
For more information, visit Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.
