Funding Areas
In order to leverage our limited dollars and to
focus our impact, MAZON’s grantmaking is organized
around five funding areas: Advocacy,
Emergency Food Assistance,
Food Banks, Multi-Service
and International.
Kinds of Support
MAZON provides both general support and project-specific
grants. While grants cover a period of one year,
MAZON welcomes requests for renewed funding and
also makes multi-year grants to select grantees.
MAZON occasionally awards matching grants for
specific projects; in those cases, the grant is
paid only after the matching requirement has been
met.
Funding Priorities and Philosophy
MAZON funds virtually every aspect of this nation’s anti-hunger community. Among its many projects, MAZON grants have supported:
- distribution of millions of pounds of food by rural and urban food banks;
- food pantries struggling to meet increasing emergency food demand;
- home-delivered meals programs tailored to specific nutritional needs, such as those of low-income seniors or people living with HIV/AIDS
At the same time that it works to help meet emergency
need, MAZON has always known that the private charities
it supports cannot end hunger on their own.
That is why MAZON's largest grants go to organizations working for longer-term solutions to hunger. These might be grants to organizations working to improve the reach and effectiveness of government food assistance programs (such as food stamps, WIC and child nutrition programs), or those providing the kinds of counseling, assistance and training that increase the self-reliance of low-income people.
And that’s why we require all MAZON grantees — from the smallest soup kitchen to the largest food bank — to demonstrate a strong commitment to doing more than distributing food. Our support of anti-hunger advocacy organizations and our promotion of advocacy activities among direct-service providers are central to our efforts to strengthen the anti-hunger movement.
A Jewish Response to All Who Are Hungry
Grants are provided to many organizations serving the Jewish poor. However, in keeping with the best of Jewish tradition, MAZON responds to all who are in need. Applications from organizations that proselytize, impose any sort of religious requirement or discriminate in any way against clients will not be considered.
What MAZON Does Not Fund
MAZON's funding is narrowly focused. Although we recognize their importance, we are not able to fund the following types of programs:
- organizations that have a substantial direct
relationship with the public, meaning that they
are so well known nationally or in their community
that they have significant direct access to
individual Jewish contributors. MAZON reserves
the right to determine which organizations fall
into this category;
- special holiday meals programs, including
those at Thanksgiving or Passover, or once-a-week
food programs, such as Shabbat meal deliveries;
- organizations/projects focused principally
on preventing homelessness;
- organizations that charge individuals for
food, including SHARE programs;
- government entities or professional associations;
- job-training programs;
- organizations whose principal function is
grantmaking;
- capital campaigns;
- documentary film projects.
MAZON also does not:
- provide grants to individuals;
- accept proposals from organizations that
do not follow our application procedures;
- provide renewed funding to past grantees
that have not met our reporting requirements
or satisfactorily completed the terms of past
MAZON grants;
- accept more than one proposal at a time from
the same organization.
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