Frequently Asked Questions

Please review the FAQs below carefully and subscribe to our updates on our Contact Us page. If you have specific questions that are not answered here about our grantmaking, please email grants@grdodge.org. We will strive to respond promptly. 

Grantmaking FAQs 

What are your program priorities, and what do you fund?

We envision a just and equitable New Jersey where people of all races and communities have equitable access to opportunities to thrive. 

In our grantmaking, we take guidance from networks, movements, organizations, and leaders closest to harm and solutions. Our goal is to increasingly direct our funding to organizations working to address the root causes and repair of structural racism and inequity to transform lives in New Jersey. A root cause-centered strategy builds for the future, focuses on systems change, and seeks to upend the underlying factors that make New Jersey a state with some of the worst equity indicators in the country. A repair-centered strategy is about making amends for the past, repairing systemic harms that have plagued communities of color since the founding of this country and state.

We know inequities compound and intersect in ways that are not siloed or singular. For us, systems change requires adjustments or transformations in the policies, practices, power dynamics, social norms, or mindsets that underlie the societal issue at stake and often involve the collaboration of a diverse set of players. We support work across issue areas and prioritize organizations and partners that use the types of systems-change strategies and tactics outlined in Our Work.

• How do you define “root cause?” A root cause-centered strategy builds for the future, focuses on systems change, and seeks to upend the underlying factors that make New Jersey a state with some of the worst equity indicators in the country.
• How do you define “repair?” A repair-centered strategy is about making amends for the past, repairing systemic harms that have plagued communities of color since the founding of this country and state.
• How do you define “systems change?” Systems change requires adjustments or transformations in the policies, practices, power dynamics, social norms, or mindsets that underlie the societal issue at stake. It often involves the collaboration of a diverse set of players and can take place on a local, national or global level. It also takes time.

I’m a grantee who has received funding in the past year. Do I have to do anything differently in terms of my grant?

Yes, in 2023, grantees who received support in 2022 are invited to apply for funding under our new program priorities. Please visit our Grantmaking page for more information.

Is there a new application?

Yes, there is a new application that provides potential grantees the opportunity to share more about how their work addresses the root cause and repair of racial inequity. This application will be the same for organizations who are invited to apply and for organizations who engage with the Dodge Foundation through the open call process that ran from May to June 2023 (that opportunity is currently closed). Visit our Grantmaking page for more information about our application process.

Do you fund beyond your program priorities?

As a place-based funder supporting organizations and initiatives that benefit communities in the state of New Jersey, we are focused on and committed to the vibrancy of our State. There are some circumstances, at our discretion and outreach, in which we may provide grants beyond our program priorities. This may include grants to state-wide intermediaries and networks that provide a unique benefit to communities in New Jersey and crisis response support to meet the real-time needs of the state. Dodge Foundation has a long history of supporting our state in times of crisis, from 9/11 to Superstorm Sandy to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will continue to provide crisis funding by invitation and through our outreach.

Are you still funding work in your previous program areas: the Arts, Education, Environment, and Informed Communities?

We know inequities compound and intersect in ways that are not siloed or singular, so we support work across issue areas (including the arts, education, environment, and media). We are prioritizing our funding to organizations that are working to address the root causes and repair of structural racism and inequity to transform lives in New Jersey. By 2024, we expect the majority of our funding will support this work, including organizations focused on the arts, education, environment, and informed communities through the lens of root cause and repair of structural racism and inequities in New Jersey. We will prioritize organizations and partners in those issues that use the systems-change strategies and tactics outlined at Our Work.

Do you support organizations implementing a DEI strategy? 

We appreciate organizations that are making progress in terms of internal diversity and inclusion, and hopefully, those organizations also see the benefits of that progress. Our new direction, however, goes beyond DEI and is focused on systems-change strategies and tactics. Our goal is to increasingly direct our funding to organizations working to address the root causes and repair of structural racism and inequity to transform lives in New Jersey. 

Do you still provide technical assistance programs or support for current grantee partners?

We recognize that most non-profits have a range of organizational and leadership development needs at any given time to enable the work and that they need the flexibility to meet those needs in the ways and at the times that are best for them. As most of our grants have moved to general operating support, we encourage our grantee partners to include needs for specific capacity building support in their general applications.

I’m new to the Dodge Foundation. How can I apply for a grant?

We are always excited to learn about new organizations and connect in new spaces and places, particularly with those who have never received our resources. We are thrilled to announce that from May to June 2023 we launched our first-ever “Open Call” for racial justice organizations that have not previously had access to the Dodge Foundation. Through that process, we were seeking to engage with and learn about racial justice-focused organizations working across the state of New Jersey. That opportunity is currently closed.

What is the Momentum Fund, and how do I apply? 

Launched in the Fall of 2021, the Dodge Foundation’s Momentum Fund used a new community-engaged process to select and fund ten emerging organizations employing innovative strategies to address the root causes of structural racism in New Jersey. Each of the ten organizations received unrestricted funding of $150,000 over three years, along with other capacity-building support. We believe this runway of flexible funding will offer these organizations time and space to explore new approaches with more freedom to self-determine the best course forward in their work. 

Currently, there is no open application for the Momentum Fund. This year, we will continue to work with our current cohort of grantees. Sign up here to receive announcements and updates.

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Poetry Program FAQs 

Where can I find information about the Dodge Foundation’s Poetry Program? 

Please visit grdodge.org/our-work/dodge-poetry to learn more about the Poetry Program. 

If I have questions, how can I contact the Dodge Poetry Initiative?

To contact the Dodge Poetry Initiative please reach out to dodgepoetry@njpac.org.