Inclusive Economic Opportunity Overview

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Thank you for your interest in this funding opportunity. The pre-application window is now closed. If you have submitted an application for your organization, you will be notified of the next steps after May 12, 2023.

Thank you!

The Allstate Foundation’s Racial Equity grantmaking program seeks proposals from 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations working in one or more of the following focus areas:

Racial equity and inclusivity in the green economy, including career pathways and pipelines.
Racial equity and inclusivity in implementation of projects and programs related to the American Rescue Plan and American Jobs Plan.
Worker-centric policies and opportunities for frontline and essential workers with a racial equity and inclusivity lens.

The Allstate Foundation expects to award a total of 10 grants of $100,000 each to organizations working in these focus areas.

Racialized Economic Inequity: An Enduring Problem for All

The Allstate Foundation adopted Racial Equity as a core funding pillar in 2020. This pillar focuses on closing the racialized gap for careers with thriving wages because data demonstrates that after decades of hard-fought progress born of the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, by the late 1980s, the racial wealth gap began widening again.

For example:

By 2016, the wealth gap between Black and white Americans was roughly the same as it was in 1962, two years before the passage of the Civil Rights Act, according to the Survey of Consumer Finances. What Is Behind the Persistence of the Racial Wealth Gap? (clevelandfed.org)
In recent years, income inequality has risen most rapidly among Asian Americans. Income Inequality in the U.S. Is Rising Most Rapidly Among Asians | Pew Research Center
The Survey of Consumer Finances and available public data suggest that white households possess $32 in wealth for every $1 of Native American households. Data from a Native CDFI yield new insights on wealth gap in Indian Country | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (minneapolisfed.org)
“As of the second quarter of 2022, Black families had 25 cents for every dollar of white family wealth, while Hispanic families had 23 cents per every dollar of white wealth.” Racial and Ethnic Household Wealth Trends & Wealth Inequality (stlouisfed.org).

Research clearly indicates that these racialized inequities hurt people of all races. For example, in 2018 alone, the U.S. economy could have been $2.3 trillion stronger if there had been no racial gaps in wages. Race and the Work of the Future: Advancing Workforce Equity in the United States | PolicyLink

According to Race Forward, “racial equity is a process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everyone. It is the intentional and continual practice of changing policies, practices, systems, and structures by prioritizing measurable change in the lives of people of color.”

The Allstate Foundation seeks to address these racialized inequities through grantmaking focused on creating inclusive economic opportunity for individuals and communities of color, with the goal of improving outcomes for everyone.

Urgent Opportunities for Building Economic Inclusivity

Some of our society’s greatest current challenges also present our greatest current opportunities to build a more inclusive and equitable economy. Namely:

Climate change exerts a disproportionately negative effect on communities of color. At the same time, the “green economy” includes professions with the highest projected growth rates within the next decade. Increasing opportunity in the green economy with a lens of racial inclusion can help mitigate the effects of climate change and provide greater economic security for communities of color.
The Federal Reserve Bank reports that small-business owners and entrepreneurs of color accessed fewer federal small-business support and recovery programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program, faced greater cash declines, and were more likely to reduce business operations due to COVID-19. As a result, special urgency exists to ensure that these entrepreneurs of color can access continuing funding measures, resources, and supports included in the American Rescue Plan and other sources to ensure their recovery. Additionally, the American Jobs Plan is expected to create opportunities for small businesses; assistance is necessary to ensure uptake of these opportunities among businesses owned by people of color is more equitable than the uptake of COVID resources such as the Paycheck Protection Program.
The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the truly essential nature of many service industry and low-wage jobs, often disproportionately filled by people of color. Labor market trends reveal higher demand for worker-centric policies and opportunities.

This request for proposals seeks to support time-sensitive responses to these opportunities.

RFP Values

Demonstrated expertise aligned with the selected focus area
Demonstrated proximity to community served
Evidence of internal (organizational) and external (programmatic) racial equity lenses
Organization leadership that resembles community served
Systemic analysis of barriers to equitable employment
Continuous learning and evidence-based programming
Impact as measured by ability to achieve outcomes, not necessarily by project scale

Eligibility

Eligible organizations must be 501(c)3 Public Charities. However, the following types of organizations are ineligible for this grant opportunity, regardless of tax-exempt status:

Schools and/or school districts
Colleges and universities
Houses of worship and religious organizations
Associated support and friends organizations of any of the above organizations
Fiscally sponsored organizations lacking 501(c)3 status are ineligible.

Current direct recipients of The Allstate Foundation Racial Equity grants are not eligible. However, subgrantees of current racial equity partners are eligible. Additionally, recipients of The Allstate Foundation’s grants (direct or subgrants) related to our other pillars are eligible.

Click here to determine if your organization is eligible to submit a pre-application.

Grant Awards

We expect to award 10 grants of $100,000 each.

What We Fund

Grants may be utilized for any general purpose related to the execution of work, projects, and programming related to the three priority focus areas. Overhead is an allowable expense.

However, we will not fund the following project/programming types:

Private foundations
Direct political advocacy projects
Organizations that exclude participation based on religion, race, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity
Political causes or candidates
Galas or benefits
Books or films

Grant Term and Renewability

The grant term will be 12 months from date of award.

Because this grant is designed to assist recipient nonprofits with work related to timebound issues and opportunities, these one-time grants will not be renewable.

Application Process Overview

In order to reduce labor burden for interested nonprofits, application will proceed in two phases:

Phase 1: All interested applicants will complete a short form intended to assess eligibility and alignment with funding purpose. Based on review of these submissions, selected nonprofits will be invited to submit a full application. All applicants will be notified of decision.
Deadline: May 12, 2023

Phase 2: Invited nonprofits will submit a full application intended to gather detailed information, including scope of work and intended outcomes. All applicants will be notified of decision.

Timeline for second phase decisions will be announced when invitations to apply are issued.

All applications must be submitted via The Allstate Foundation’s application portal. Hard copy applications will not be accepted.

Click here to determine if your organization is eligible to submit a pre-application.

Important Dates

April 13: Pre-applications open to all interested nonprofits.
April 21: Informational webinar recording available here
May 12: Pre-application deadline.
TBD: A select number of nonprofits will be invited to complete a full application.
TBD: 5:00 pm CST Full application due (invitation only).
TBD: Award recipients are notified.
TBD: Grant term begins.

Evaluation

	Evaluation	What It Might Look Like	Low Score / High Score
1	Internal commitment to racial equity and inclusion	Demonstrated organizational experience with and commitment to work on REI Describes concrete work/initiatives to advance REI that the organization has undertaken Describes changes that the organization has made as a result Organizational staffing and senior and board leadership that resembles communities served	Low Score: Few specifics about REI work or changes made High Score: Cites specific examples of internal, operational commitment to REI
2	External commitment to racial equity and inclusion	Specifically identifies communities racialized as BIPOC served by proposed programming and activities Demonstrates understanding of systemic barriers to equitable employment	Low Score: Little discussion of specific communities of color and/or systemic barriers High Score: Identifies with great specificity communities of color served by proposed programming and activities and systemic barriers to equitable employment
3	Evidence-based strategies	Describes applicable data, qualitative and/or quantitative, to support and justify proposed programming and activities Describes organizational efforts to gather, analyze, and apply input/feedback from participants, individuals, and communities served Describes how the data reflects the communities the organization serves Describes how the organization developed a feedback loop to adapt and improve programming and activities	Low Score: Cites little or no evidence to support and justify proposed programming and activities High Score: Cites specific examples of evidence to support and justify proposed programming and activities, including a feedback loop to adapt and improve as needed
4	Focus area alignment	Selected focus area is at the center of proposed programming and activities, not tangential Proposal demonstrates deep organizational understanding of selected focus area	Low Score: Selected focus area appears tangential to organization or programming’s intended impact High Score: Very clear description of selected focus area alignment with high potential for impact
5	Focus area impact	Proposal demonstrates high potential for impact. Areas for impact may include: scale of individuals served, innovation, promising and/or replicable models, potential for advancing the field, and others. A “small” project (in terms of individuals served) or organization is not necessarily low impact. Rather, we are seeking projects that demonstrate significant ability to impact chosen focus area and communities served, even if at relatively small/local scale.	Low Score: Little to no discussion of identified potential impact High Score: Very clear description of potential for impact
6	Project budget	Applicant effectively and appropriately allocates resources in the budget to support strategies outlined in the proposal Applicant includes information about additional support dedicated to this work from other sources (if applicable) Does not supplant other funds available to support this work	Low Score: Budget is unrealistic and/or disconnected from proposed scope of work High Score: Budget is aligned with scope of work, including sources of additional support if necessary to carry out the project successfully
7	Capacity and organizational background	The organization provides sufficient information about key staff and/or consultants and has the capacity to execute this project The organization has the fiscal capacity to manage the grant funds	Low Score: Unclear workforce connection/mission; insufficient staffing and/or capacity to manage grant and grant activities High Score: Clear workforce connection/mission; sufficient staffing and/or capacity to manage grant and grant activities

About The Allstate Foundation

The Allstate Foundation – an independent charitable organization made possible by Allstate – was established in 1952, with grants to fund driver education. Over the decades, the Foundation’s focus has evolved to respond to changing community needs so we can best use our specific resources, time and leadership to make an impact. Today, The Allstate Foundation empowers people and communities so they can thrive.

With the help of engaged employees and agents, The Allstate Foundation is committed to making an impact in empowering youth to succeed and lead, disrupting the cycle and prevalence of relationship abuse, and closing the racial opportunity gap for careers with thriving wages – all to help create a more equitable world where people and communities can thrive.

While The Allstate Foundation does not accept uninvited proposals aligned to our ongoing strategy, we do issue periodic open requests for proposals.