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The LA2050 Grants Challenge awards a total of $1 million in grants to local social impact organizations that are working toward a brighter future for Los Angeles.

Since 2013, almost 4,000 creative and innovative proposals have been submitted to the grants challenge. With the guidance of hundreds of thousands of voters, the LA2050 Grants Challenge has provided more than $20 million to hundreds of impactful organizations.

We ask Angelenos to share which 10 local issues matter most to them, two in each of the five goal categories. Then, we will give $1 million in grants to organizations making meaningful progress on the top-voted issues. We will also help to coordinate a projected $2 million in grants from our philanthropic funding partners, bringing the total fund pool to more than $3 million.

For 2026, the Grants Challenge includes a two-part application process. Part 1: Organization Alignment is a competitive first stage focused on learning about your organization and its alignment with LA2050 goals. Only organizations selected through Part 1 will be invited to submit Part 2: Funding Proposal, where you’ll propose a specific program, project, or initiative for funding consideration, based on the top 10 voted issue areas. Additionally, in order to apply, organizations must attend one of the seven informational webinars.

This year’s process unfolds in four keys windows:

-Application Part 1: Organization Alignment (Jan. 26 - Apr. 22, 2026)

-Public voting on issue areas (Mar. 18 - Apr. 22, 2026)

-Application Part 2: Funding Proposal (Apr. 29 - Jun. 5, 2026; invitation-only)

-Evaluation & selection (Jun. - Oct. 2026), with awards announced in October

Part 2 of the application (April 29th - June 5th, 2026) is where invited organizations submit a specific program, project, or initiative for funding consideration. This stage includes more detailed questions about goals, budgets, and outcomes, and will be aligned with the top-voted issue areas from this year’s public vote.

Organizations selected to advance to Part 2 will be notified by April 29th, 2026. From that point, in order to be considered for funding, we must complete and submit Part 2 by the June 5th, 2026 deadline. Organizations that do not advance from Part 1, or that advance but do not submit Part 2, will not be considered for funding this year.

Applications for Part 1 are open from January 26th - April 22nd on LA2050.org.

We accept applications from registered non-profit, for-profit, fiscally-sponsored, or governmental organizations serving Los Angeles County and its residents. Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Yes, voting will take place between March 18th to April 22nd, 2026, to determine which issue areas will be open for funding.

It’s important to note: public voting does not determine which organizations are invited to Part 2. Organizations are invited to Part 2 based on the review of their Part 1 submission.

Beyond the potential to receive a grant for your work, we believe that applying to the challenge will provide additional benefits including:

-The opportunity to participate in a first-of-its-kind regional effort

-Increased awareness and exposure via our public platform

-Increased understanding of LA’s social impact landscape

-The opportunity to cultivate and build new relationships with peers

-The chance to build a coalition of committed Angelenos and organizations to support important work in LA

-The opportunity to learn how to tell a compelling story about your organization’s impact

-Inspiring the creation of videos, photos, tweets, and pithy messaging to promote your proposal

-Visibility in front of other foundations and potential alternative funding sources—past challenges have resulted in more than $6.5 million in grants from outside funders using the LA2050 platform for their grantmaking

-‘Volunteer’ and ‘Donate’ buttons on each submission page to drive resources to your organization

-A page on our Ideas Hub, a database of all organizations that have applied to the LA2050 Grants Challenge and their proposal

There is nothing special that you need to do to qualify for support from one or more of our funding partners. All organizations must complete Part 1: Organization Alignment. If your organization is invited to Part 2: Funding Proposal, from there we’ll ensure your submission is considered for any relevant Funding Partner awards as part of the review process.

We do not answer inquiries or offer support via telephone due to the high volume of interest.

We require that organizations have at least one representative from each organization must attend a virtual Information Session before submitting Part 1.

For any other questions, please email us at connect@la2050.org.

We welcome community input. Email us at connect@la2050.org with your feedback.

If you have any questions that aren’t answered on this page, send us an email at connect@la2050.org.

Thank you for reading! We hope you will consider voting and putting in an application to this year’s LA2050 Grants Challenge.