About the Annual Grantmaking Program

LFP provides grants of $200,000 to $500,000 per project, which must be matched dollar for dollar by local grantmakers such as community foundations, family foundations, corporate grantmakers, and others. The total award is paid out over a three-year or four-year period. Grants are awarded after a competitive process that begins when a project is nominated by a local funder according to the guidelines specified in the Call for Proposals. In 2010, up to $6 million will be awarded under the program.

Through LFP, a local grantmaker proposes a funding partnership with RWJF to support a community-based project that addresses the health or health care problems of people who are not reached by traditional health and social services or for whom existing services are fragmented and insufficient.

For the most vulnerable among us, factors outside the health care system such as poverty, violence, inadequate housing or education contribute significantly to poor health. RWJF is interested in projects that address complex health and social factors as a single challenge. To find effective solutions agencies that typically do not work together often join forces with funders, public entities, and established and emerging community groups. Such collaborations may stimulate ideas and forge ambitious approaches resulting in new national models to improve health and health care.