Family Engagement Grant Pool

Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston is excited to launch a grant pool focused on engaging families with children ages 0-18 in our community. This grant pool is open to organizations and programs engaging families with children ages 0–18. Priority will be given to programs focusing on 1) Families with Young Children (ages 0–5) and 2) Teens (grades 7–12), though initiatives serving broader age ranges are eligible.

In the Budget and Implementation section, you will be asked to upload a budget using our template. Please use this downloadable template for this question.

This grant pool aims to support work focused on the following objectives:

Expand engagement

• Increase the number of families / teens engaging in Jewish life
• Intentionally welcome interfaith families and other underserved populations
• Deepen families’ Jewish connection and knowledge

Fill unmet needs

• Address gaps in the current ecosystem of family engagement
• Catalyze new and innovative approaches to reach families
• Expand awareness of opportunities and strengthen “handoffs” across programs

Build ecosystem capacity

• Strengthen organizational capacity (e.g. training, systems, evaluation)
• Support partnerships that expand impact and/or improve efficiency and sustainability

Applications that address one or more of these objectives will be prioritized.

Grant Pool Structure

Grants will be one-time grants, deployed in the spring of 2026. Grants are intended for efforts occurring by the end of calendar year 2026.

Organizations will have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $50,000. The grant pool will include both smaller and larger awards, so we encourage applicants to request the amount that best reflects their project’s needs. Please note that final grant awards may be lower than the amount requested.

Eligibility

Organizations that received less than $100,000 from CJP in FY26 are eligible to apply, as well as Jewish day schools receiving only “per capita” funding.

These are one-time grants. Applications will be prioritized where funding needs are one-time in nature, where meaningful progress can be made within the scope of the grant request, and/or where organizations have developed a clear plan to support expenses that are not covered by CJP or are ongoing expenses. Please note that CJP is unlikely to fund 100% of a program/project/initiative budget through this grant pool, with only rare exceptions.

Eligible applications may be focused on:

• Programmatic support, including piloting new programs or growth capital to expand core work
• Organizational capacity building support
• Physical infrastructure needs, outside of large-scale capital campaigns, to support programmatic work
• Collaborative efforts (programmatic and shared resourcing)
• National organizations looking to expand their work in CJP’s catchment area

Funding from this pool will not be able to support:

• Offsetting organizational membership fees or dues
• Opening new regional offices for national organizations

Timeline and Application Process

• Applications will open in November 2025
• CJP will host a virtual info session on Friday, November 14^th from 10:30-11:30am. Please register here.
• Applications are due Monday December 8th, 2025
• Decisions will be finalized and communicated in Q1 of 2026.

Requirements for Grantees:

• Progress report after 6-9 months, and other reporting as requested by CJP
• Administering pre and post surveys that CJP will provide for every grant funded program
• Participation in Communities of Practice if relevant (ie Families with Young Children practitioners, teen engagement professionals, etc.)
• Adding public facing events to JewishBoston and JewishBoston Teens