2025 Grant Cycle Application Instructions and Request for Proposals

Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta (JWFA) is now accepting Letters of Inquiry for the 2025 funding year for organizations/projects that promote social change for women and girls in the Jewish community. Before submitting a Letter of Inquiry (LOI), please review our Mission Statement, Core Values, and Grant Guidelines. This will help you understand how we review your LOI. 

Please use this form to submit your LOI.

If you have questions, please contact Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez at [email protected]. 

Step 1 – Letters of Inquiry 

Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta accepts Letters of Inquiry (LOI) from tax-exempt organizations that qualify under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, or who are fiscally sponsored as such.  Grants are not made to individuals or other types of organizations.  For the 2025 grant cycle, there are three different categories of grants available.  

1. Domestic Proposals:  We accept funding requests for program-specific requests or for general-operating funds when the organization’s entire mission is aligned with ours. Projects/organizations should either be in the Metro Atlanta area or be national in scope. We do not fund projects that specifically serve other cities. Please note that U.S.-based organizations seeking funding for a project that takes place overseas will be considered international organizations. 
2. New Israeli Grantees: We are accepting new applications for both program-specific requests or general-operating funds when the organization’s entire mission is aligned with ours. No other international applications will be accepted this year. (A US-based organization must fiscally sponsor all Israeli organizations.) *For the 2025 grant year, sustaining grantees who were on the tapered grant cycle may submit this category of application.  
3. Renewals for Current (2024) JWFA Grantee Partners: JWFA 2024 Grantee Partners do not need to submit an LOI, provided they request funding for the same program in 2025. 

All LOIs are due by December 30, 2024 (11:00pm, Eastern) and must be submitted using the above form.  Please note that all communication about the grant process will occur via email; please notify JWFA with any email changes that may occur so we can properly contact you.  

Step 2 – Full Grant Proposals  

Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta will review all Letters of Inquiry before the end of January 2025, after which time you will be notified whether you will be invited to submit a full proposal.  

Step 3 – Interviews and Final Decisions 

Final candidates will be expected to complete a Zoom interview with JWFA Trustees, prior to making final determinations regarding grant allocations. Interviews will be conducted in mid-to-late spring. Final decisions will be made in May 2025. Grantees will then be required to adhere to reporting and oversight guidelines; details to follow.   

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For information about Women’s Leadership Grants please see our website or contact Melissa.

Additional Grant Guidelines 

ABOUT JEWISH WOMEN’S FUND OF ATLANTA 

Mission:  Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta invests in solutions that drive social change for Jewish women and girls. 

Vision:  Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta envisions a world where all Jewish women and girls realize their full potential. 

Core Values: 

• BOLDNESS: We are fearless leaders and advocates who seek creative ideas and take risks. 
• INTEGRITY: We act with compassion, fairness, intention, and transparency in our work. 
• RESPECT: We welcome diverse voices and recognize the unique and meaningful contributions of each person. 
• COMMUNITY: We create a sense of belonging and participation within a multi-faceted community of Jewish women. 

 Organizations and Projects We Fund 

We accept grant proposals from programs and organizations creating social change for Jewish women and girls. Organizations may request specific program support or general operating support. We accept requests for general operating support from organizations whose entire mission aligns with ours. JWFA seeks to fund projects that place an emphasis on sustainability, leveraged funding, and partnerships.  

Issue areas we fund (all through a gender and social change lens): 

• Economic empowerment 
• Leadership development 
• Gender-based violence prevention 
• Reproductive justice 
• Social justice and legal advocacy  
• Mental health and the Superwoman Complex 
• Professional development 
• Gender equality 
• Mentoring 
• And more!  

Please note: we do not fund scholarships.  

Defining Social Change and Gender Lens 

Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta is committed to expanding opportunities and promoting social change for Jewish women and girls through a gender lens.  This means we focus on initiatives that address the underlying factors contributing to the challenges faced by self-identifying Jewish girls and women.   

Social change is a systemic approach seeking to alter cultural or social patterns.  Social change through a gender and Jewish lens aims to address the inequity and disparity within the Jewish community that works against women’s empowerment, self-determination, economic empowerment, and gender equity.  For example, social change programming approaches an issue such as the elimination of domestic violence in the Jewish community from a place of prevention rather than funding direct services meeting the needs of victims who have already suffered abuse. 

Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta seeks grantee partners who achieve social change through a gender lens by: 

• Creating long-term changes in the lives of self-identifying Jewish women and girls and their communities 
• Addressing underlying causes of inequity, suffering, and disenfranchisement 
• Identifying and testing innovative programming solutions 
• Facilitating leadership development as well as the self-empowerment efforts of self-identifying Jewish women and girls 
• Specifically focusing on the unique experiences of self-identifying women and girls during the program design phase 

There are six indicators of social change. In your LOI, you will be asked to tell us which indicator(s) your program exhibits: