Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans

Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans (EPNO) Grant Opportunity

Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans (EPNO) is a program of the Greater New Orleans that brings together community individuals to collaboratively and collectively make change, using the Giving Circle model, through grantmaking. Through a high-engagement, six-month program, locally engaged individuals are connected with other emerging leaders, nonprofits, and the greater community to positively impact our region through granting funds to organizations tackling some of our toughest problems. Cohort members participate in a series of educational sessions, learning about nonprofits and grantmaking from expert guest speakers from the community.

EPNO separates each year’s class into smaller groups—or impact teams—to focus on building participants’ skills and knowledge base in a particular interest area. In their teams, cohort members collaboratively design Focus Statements to call for proposals from nonprofits in the Greater New Orleans area addressing their interest area. Cohort members will review proposal, invite limited applications, conduct site visits, and decide how to allocate funds.

2026 Process:

The 2026 class has three grantmaking teams that will award up to $10,000 in each of the following areas: Arts & Culture, Health, Human Rights & Justice.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Have 501(c)(3) status or have a Fiscal Sponsor
• Be located within the Foundation’s 13 parish service area
• Have a budget at or below $1,000,000, unless otherwise noted

The EPNO grantmaking process is as follows (subject to change):

-Organizations submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) by Thursday, September 24, 2026.
-Impact Teams review LOIs and invite 2-3 organizations to submit a full application. For those invited organizations, full applications will be due November 2, 2026.
-The organizations invited to submit full applications will also receive a site visit from the aligned Impact Team between November 3-6, 2026 (these can be virtual and will be scheduled directly).
-Final grant updates will be shared on Friday, November 20th.

Impact Team Focus Statements

Arts & Culture

EPNO’s Arts and Culture impact team seeks to provide grants to organizations providing direct services and programming that expand access to arts and cultural experiences for children and young adults ages 10 to 21 in the Greater New Orleans region.

Preference will be given to organizations:

• With an operating budget at or below $100,000
• That have been operating for between 1 and 5 years
• Operate in rural communities

Our goal is to fund a project that would provide creative practices that support mental, emotional, and social well-being and cultivate opportunities for self-expression, reflection, connection, and healing through the arts.

Health

The EPNO Health Team believes that health is a human right. We want to fund organizations that provide or support equitable access to mental health care and education for underserved or marginalized youth in the Greater New Orleans region.

We are interested in funding organizations that support:

• Children directly, or
• Children indirectly through their parents or caregivers

Priority will be given to organizations that address:

• Screening, early detection, or intervention
• Postpartum support
• Educational programming
• Access to therapies or resources

Human Rights & Justice

EPNO’s Human Rights and Justice Impact Team seeks to provide general operating support to a Greater New Orleans organization working to increase access to food for individuals and families experiencing gaps or reductions in the public safety net. 
We are particularly interested in organizations providing flexible, direct food access to people who may be unable to access, maintain, or qualify for public food assistance. This may include:

• low-income workers with unstable or seasonal employment
• families navigating changes to SNAP eligibility or reporting requirements
• people experiencing homelessness or housing instability
• immigrant and mixed-status families
• veterans
• young people transitioning out of foster care or other public systems
• people with disabilities or chronic health conditions who face barriers maintaining benefits
• low-income older adult
• food-insecure households whose incomes fall above public-program eligibility limits

We encourage applications from organizations that:

• Provide direct access to food or resources that make food access possible, including groceries, prepared meals, community fridges, food purchasing assistance, or equipment and infrastructure needed to prepare or distribute food
• Have flexibility to serve people who may not qualify for government-funded food programs or who are experiencing temporary gaps in benefits
• Can identify the population they serve, the barriers those individuals face, and the tangible outcomes their work is designed to achieve
• Use community knowledge, program data, or other evidence to inform their approach
• Have been operating for at least three years, including organizations working under a fiscal sponsor

HOW TO APPLY:

Now through September 24, 2026, eligible 501 (c)(3) organizations located in the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s service area may apply through the Foundation’s online application portal here.

All LOIs are due via the online portal no later than September 24, 2026. The Greater New Orleans Foundation will only accept applications submitted electronically. Applications received after the deadline will be ineligible for review.

Please note: EPNO has a Conflict of Interest policy which may prohibit an organization at which an EPNO member or immediate family member is employed from applying to this year’s grant cycle. EPNO will notify you after your letter of intent is received if there is a conflict.

Learn Before Applying:

The Greater New Orleans Foundation’s technology partner, Foundant, created a brief tutorial for applicants that can be found here.

Please email EPNO@gnof.org with any questions.