MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

Funding Information for Grantees

Grant Funding Update

The grants budget for MAZON is limited as it is directly tied to our fundraising efforts. Although our fundraising has remained strong and stable despite the weak economic climate, we are not in a position to accept new grant applicants. In fact, over this last year, we have only brought on very few new grantees, opting instead to focus primarily on maintaining our current funding commitments.

We do however want to learn about anti-hunger programs. We therefore welcome information, brochures and letters detailing your programs and services. Please see our staff section for contact information for the program officer managing your region. We also suggest that you continue to monitor our website for more information and future changes regarding our funding process.

Thank you again for your interest in MAZON. We wish you the best of luck in obtaining funds from other sources for your important work.

Advocacy, Education & Research

MAZON awards general support or project funding for local, state, regional and national anti-hunger coalitions and public policy organizations with a major focus on the problem of hunger in America.  Direct-service organizations and food bank associations undertaking anti-hunger advocacy initiatives also may apply under this category.

General range of Advocacy/Education/Research grants: $5,000-$35,000. A few grants above $35,000 are awarded to organizations of national scope. Organizations wishing to request more than $35,000 must receive permission from MAZON prior to applying.

The primary goal of the Advocacy, Education and Research grantmaking category is to promote and support sound, effective public and private initiatives that provide lasting help to hungry people.

MAZON supports efforts to change public policy, public opinion and/or improve the operation, administration and reach of government food assistance programs. Some smaller grants help fund the design of community or state food-security policies.

These efforts emphasize the importance of reducing the demand for emergency food by strengthening front-line government food programs, and creating the public and political will needed to end hunger. In doing so, anti-hunger advocacy and public education strengthen the food safety net and help to weaken the link between hunger and poverty.

Examples of the kinds of work we support in this funding area include:

• legislative advocacy that seeks to protect, defend and/or expand access to food stamps and other government food programs;
• administrative advocacy aimed at monitoring and shaping the implementation of public policies and ensuring government accountability;
• broad-scale outreach campaigns that help low-income people access federal food programs, like food stamps, WIC and school meals;
• public education efforts that focus the attention of the public, policymakers and the media on the problem of hunger;
• litigation and representation to challenge illegal practices that deny food-assistance benefits to eligible low-income people;
• collecting, reporting and disseminating data on the extent and/or causes of hunger;
• community organizing and other efforts that empower those affected by hunger to develop hunger solutions and win policy change through collective action.

Emergency Food Assistance

MAZON provides general support or project funding for programs working to alleviate the immediate effects of hunger experienced by low-income people who are often forced to make a difficult decision between paying for rent, utilities and medical expenses and putting food on the table. These programs include food pantries, soup kitchens, and congregate/home-delivered meal programs serving frail seniors and other at-risk populations.

General range of Emergency/Direct Food Assistance grants: $5,000-$15,000.  Applications in this category seeking more than $15,000 are discouraged.

MAZON prefers that grants in this category not be used for the purchase of food. Food-purchasing grants are restricted to organizations serving special-needs populations and those demonstrating that they are located in and principally serve a rural area.

Capital equipment grants in this category are also restricted to rural organizations. Applicants requesting funds to purchase food or equipment must receive permission from MAZON prior to applying.

All organizations wishing to apply to MAZON must demonstrate that hunger prevention and relief are major organizational priorities. This reflects MAZON’s belief that private food programs, while important and necessary, are not substitutes for the systemic change needed to address the problems of hunger and poverty in America. Although applicants are not required to request MAZON funding for anti-hunger advocacy and education, all proposals must demonstrate a strong commitment to and participation in this kind of work.

MAZON does not expect grocery and meal distribution programs to stop providing direct services to clients and become full-time advocates. However, to qualify for funding, we do expect organizations to be actively involved in advocating on behalf of the people they serve and the programs that provide critical assistance to people in need.

Advocacy-related activities might include maintaining communication with legislators regarding hunger-related bills, speaking out on behalf of government food assistance programs (especially the Food Stamp Program), and supporting state and local anti-hunger advocates.

Examples of the kinds of work we support in this funding area include:

• a food pantry that, in addition to providing groceries, assists low-income individuals and families with securing government food benefits;
• a soup kitchen that, in tandem with congregate meals, also serves clients by connecting them with job training and case management services;
• a home-delivered meals program for people living with HIV/AIDS that directs clients to appropriate health and nutrition services;
• a kosher senior meals program that collaborates with the broader anti-hunger community to effectuate long-term solutions to hunger.

Food Banks

A food bank – which collects, warehouses and distributes food to a network of nonprofit feeding programs – is often a community’s leading and largest anti-hunger organization. MAZON is a major supporter of the nation’s food bank network, and provides these vital food distributors with general operating support and project funding. MAZON funds only those food banks whose member agencies pay shared-maintenance fees. The vast majority of our food bank grantees are affiliated with America’s Second Harvest.

General range of Food Bank grants: $5,000-$20,000. Organizations wishing to apply for a grant to purchase food or capital equipment must receive permission from MAZON before submitting an application. Applications seeking more than $20,000 in this category are discouraged.

MAZON has always encouraged food banks to go beyond food distribution and involve themselves in the larger picture of anti-hunger work.  Our philosophy, reflected in our guidelines and grantmaking, has been that food banks have an obligation to use their status and visibility to a) educate their supporters about the role and limits of charities in feeding hungry Americans; b) advocate for public policies beyond those that result in more donations of food to charity; and c) train and encourage their agencies to do the same.

Food banks that embrace this philosophy and play leading roles in their state’s direct service and anti-hunger advocacy efforts are MAZON’s funding priority.

As a result, all food bank applicants must demonstrate involvement in anti-hunger advocacy and public education. This includes demonstrating, through organizational mission statements and publications, commitment to addressing the broader causes of hunger as well as meaningful participation in local, state or national anti-hunger advocacy and education efforts.

Funding Restrictions:
MAZON prefers that grants in this category not be used for the purchase of food. Food-purchasing grants are generally small and are restricted to food banks demonstrating that they serve a predominantly rural area. Capital equipment grants also are restricted to rural food banks.

Multi-Service Organizations

MAZON offers general support or project funding to organizations that provide food, in conjunction with a broad array of services*, to foster the self-reliance of hungry and low-income people.  Applicants must demonstrate a hunger component that helps eligible clients apply for and secure government food program benefits. Additionally, successful applicants will show an active involvement in efforts to address hunger’s root causes, and to weaken the link between hunger and poverty.

General range of Multi-Service grants: $5,000-$20,000. Applications in this category seeking more than $20,000 are discouraged.

*Services may include case management, job training and/or placement, legal assistance, medical care, shelter, housing assistance and advocacy or referral services to help clients obtain such aid elsewhere.

Multi-Service Organizations provide food in conjunction with services/programs that foster self-sufficiency among low-income people. However, Multi-Service Organizations must also demonstrate meaningful involvement in anti-hunger advocacy and education.
This reflects MAZON’s belief that private food and assistance programs, while important and necessary, are not substitutes for the systemic change needed to address the problems of hunger and poverty in America. Although applicants are not required to request MAZON funding for anti-hunger advocacy and education, all proposals must evidence a strong commitment to and participation in this kind of work.

Advocacy-related activities might include using an organization’s newsletter to educate clients and community members about hunger, maintaining communication with legislators regarding hunger-related bills, speaking out on behalf of government food assistance programs (especially the Food Stamp Program and WIC) and supporting state and local anti-hunger advocates.

Applicants should also show a commitment to addressing the broader causes of hunger through organizational mission statements and publications.

Examples of the kinds of work we support in this funding area include:

• a social service organization that provides elderly clients with a range of programs, including the delivery of groceries, health screening and assistance in securing food stamps and other benefits;
• a Jewish Family Service agency’s emergency assistance program, which includes kosher food, housing assistance, medical care, counseling, and referral services to low-income people;
• a shelter or transitional housing program that collaborates with the broader anti-hunger community to effectuate long-term solutions to hunger.

International

MAZON awards general support or project funding for programs serving hungry and low-income people a) in Israel or b) in developing countries under the auspices of established, U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations.

General range of International grants: $5,000-$20,000. Applications requesting more than $20,000 are discouraged.

MAZON has always been overwhelmingly a Jewish response to hunger in the United States. Therefore, we award only a small number of grants in Israel and in developing countries each year.

MAZON principally funds programs that strengthen poor families’ ability to feed themselves, and that promote equitable practices that enable hungry people to access the food they need – whether through greater access to land, more control over the food production processes or a better social safety net. International grantees also include several direct feeding programs.

Our approach to food and hunger issues abroad – like our approach in the United States – is based on an understanding that long-term hunger solutions are found in initiatives that address not only immediate needs but also hunger’s root causes. U.S.-based organizations working in developing countries must demonstrate that their programs:

• have a significant hunger component that addresses long-term hunger prevention and relief;
• facilitate self-reliance and encourage local independence by increasing low-income people’s access to and control of productive resources;
• work in cooperation with local or national institutions (for example, women’s groups, community organizations, local NGOs);
• train low-income people and/or involve them in the design, implementation, control and evaluation of the project;
• employ ecologically sound principles and, when possible, use locally available resources, appropriate and affordable technologies and minimize the use of external or purchased materials;
• draw upon and build on existing capacities of vulnerable groups, particularly women.