Grants and Scholarships
The Arkansas Community Foundation (ARCF) serves philanthropic donors and supports non-profits in Arkansas.  ARCF makes grants from charitable funds established by individuals, families, corporations, and non-profit organizations.  From among over 1100 funds, our donors make grants in the following areas of interest:
  1. Animal Welfare                                                        
  2. Arts and Humanities
  3. Community Development
  4. Education
  5. Environment
  6. Health
  7. Human Services
  8. Religion

In FY 2007 ARCF granted more than $7.5 million and has made grants almost totaling approximately $55 million during its 31-year history.  Click here to see the percentage of grants made to each of the areas listed above. 

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Lincoln Dias, working with students at Des Arc Ele
Types of grants include:
  • Donor Advised Grants:  Most of our grants fall into this category.  Our donors recommend grants from their funds to ARCF.  These grants support organizations and causes that are important to individual donors, with most of the gifts committed to a specific geographic area within the State of Arkansas.

  • Designated Grants:  Funds granted in this category come from endowments established by donors for designated purposes, such as providing annual support for a specific non-profit organization. 

  • Scholarships:  ARCF administers a variety of scholarship opportunities for Arkansas residents seeking funding for higher education. More than 250 scholarships are awarded annually. For further information about scholarship funds or to use ARCF’s site search function, click here.  

  • Unrestricted Grants:  Competitive grants in this category involve an application process.  Most of ARCF’s unrestricted grantmaking is done through our 26 Community Foundation Affiliates, serving 35 counties of the State of Arkansas.  Click here for more information about our Affiliate program. 
Statewide grants awarded on a discretionary, or competitive, basis through ARCF include:

The Bridge Fund

From time to time several other funds held by ARCF, such as the Pulaski County Youth at Risk Endowment, the Arkansas AIDS Endowment, and the Pulaski County Health Center Endowment, issue requests for proposals to support programs in their respective fields of interest. Visit this site often to learn the details of all current grant cycles.

While our discretionary grant cycles are few, we are happy to receive (no more than) a one page summary request for funds from IRS 501(c)(3) organizations in Arkansas.  We share these with our donors as often as opportunities arise.  Please keep in mind that these grants are usually modest and that generally we do not fund capital or building campaigns. 

For news about current grant cycles click here.
1400 West Markham, Suite 206, Little Rock, AR 72201
ph: 501-372-1116 arcf@arcf.org