Napa Valley Community Foundation opens up to $1.2 million in unrestricted grants for Napa County safety net nonprofits
The Elaine Jones Safety Net and Capacity Building Fund will give one-year general operating grants of up to $100,000 to established groups with Napa County budgets of $1 million to $10 million. Proposals are due Oct. 28.
Napa. Napa Valley Community Foundation is taking proposals for one-year, unrestricted general operating grants for nonprofits that provide essential services to Napa County residents. The foundation expects to award about $1 million to $1.2 million through its Elaine Jones Safety Net and Capacity Building Fund, according to its request for proposals. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 28.
The foundation says it created the fund in response to public funding reductions, rising costs and growing need. In 2025, its first year, the fund awarded $1.65 million to 15 social services nonprofits in the county.
Who can apply
Applicants must be 501(c)(3) public charities that have provided safety net services in Napa County for at least the previous five years and have an annual Napa County operating budget between $1 million and $10 million. Eligible services include childcare assistance, economic stability, disability assistance, food security, health care access, legal support, mental and behavioral health, rental and housing assistance, and support for survivors of abuse. Applicants should also be facing higher demand, uncertain revenue, rising costs or other financial pressure in the 2027 fiscal year.
Grants are set by budget size: up to $50,000 for organizations with budgets from $1 million to under $3 million, up to $75,000 from $3 million to under $5 million, and up to $100,000 from $5 million to $10 million. The fund does not cover capital campaigns, endowments, new programs, schools, government entities or houses of worship.
Training comes with the money
Every grantee's executive director and board chair are expected to attend a two-day Capacity Building Intensive on Jan. 28 and 29, 2027, at the foundation, a required condition of the grant. Afterward, the foundation will invite some organizations to three to eight months of free technical assistance starting in February 2027, in Medi-Cal and CalAIM billing, shared resources up to possible mergers, and board engagement.
“Our safety net nonprofits are the organizations families turn to when times are tough. But right now, many of those same nonprofits are facing serious challenges of their own.”
The foundation says it will communicate funding decisions no later than Nov. 13. The fund is named for Elaine Maria Jones, a volunteer and board member of local nonprofits who died in 2024, and is a partnership of the foundation, Napa Valley Vintners and individual givers.
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Oct. 20, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
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