To foster creativity, innovation, and learning in the Triangle, nonprofit organizations require robust and sustainable support. They need meaningful collaboration and flexible, reliable resources so they can launch new initiatives, establish powerful strategies, and be ready and resilient for inevitable change as they work to build a better future for our region.

This is what we have heard as we listened to grantees and other nonprofit partners and evolved our grantmaking process to respond to their current needs. These conversations have reinforced our commitment to providing resources that empower nonprofit organizations to proactively build momentum, stay curious and creative, and shape Triangle communities into being the best places to live, work, learn, and play.

Though our funding areas will remain the same, starting in 2024, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation will use a new grantmaking approach to deepen our connections and better equip arts organizations and PreK-12 education nonprofits with what they need to achieve impact over the course of years and decades.

We will award two types of general operating support grants each year:

• Multi-year grants: Three-year grants, available to organizations that MDBF has supported in the past five years, ensuring grantees have choices in how to address their unique needs, which may change over time.
• One-year grants: Short-term funding as a pathway to get to know organizations that we haven’t yet funded, and to continue our longstanding history of supporting emerging nonprofits with potential for big impact.

Here’s what our grantees can expect from our updated approach:

• Larger grant size for multi-year grants: We will shift towards providing fewer but larger grants to provide more substantial financial support to further grantees’ missions.
• Streamlined application and reporting: We will incorporate face-to-face conversations as much as possible into the application process to reduce paperwork and honor organizations’ time.
• Enhanced collaboration: We will pair each multi-year grantee to a team of MDBF staff and trustees to foster deeper, meaningful relationships.

We want to express our profound gratitude to our community for all the ways you contribute to a more vibrant, equitable, and promising future. Please see the Grantmaking Guidelines to find more detailed information about types of grants, guidelines, application process, and timelines for more specific information.

We understand that this new approach may raise questions, and we want to provide you with opportunities to learn more and answer your inquiries. Our team will be hosting a virtual webinar on January 18, 2024 (register here) for anyone interested in learning more about our multi-year grants and another one on April 18, 2024 for our one-year grants. We will also continue to offer individual pre-application advisory meetings. See Grantmaking Guidelines page to schedule.

We hope you’ll stay in touch with us via email (sign up here) as we begin sharing occasional information this year about grant opportunities and amplifying our grantee partners’ work.

We are excited and hopeful about this new approach, and look forward to all the new possibilities it holds as we collectively play our part in creating meaningful and lasting progress in the Triangle.