The mission of the Hearst Foundations is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States can build healthy, productive, and satisfying lives. The Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within culture, education, health, and social service, primarily serving large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. They prioritize organizations achieving truly differentiated results, with an emphasis on sustainability beyond their support.
The Hearst Foundations support direct-service organizations that address chronic poverty's root causes, focusing on programs that promote economic independence and family strengthening. With a preference for scalable and proven programs, Social Service grants aim to expand effective practices to aid more individuals. Recently, Social Service funding comprised 15% of total funds, predominantly allocated to organizations with annual budgets over $5 million. The Foundations fund around 25% of applications, favoring existing grantees but also allocating about 20% to new applicants.
Preference will be given to: