Nonprofit
For Nonprofits
DC Government & Agency Grants
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH)
District of Columbia Government
DC's primary arts and humanities funder with several competitive grant programs each fiscal year. Key programs include:
Projects, Events, or Festivals (PEF): Up to $30,000 for orgs, $15,000 for individuals. Film is explicitly eligible. FY27 cycle expected spring/summer 2026.
Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program (AHFP): Supports individual DC-based artists making significant contributions to the city's cultural life.
Art Bank Program: Acquires artwork from local visual artists and nonprofits. Up to $25,000 for orgs, $15,000 for individuals.
Arts & Humanities Education Project Grant (AHEP): For orgs delivering arts education to students, older adults, and educators in DC public schools.
Art Exhibition (Curatorial) Grant (AEG): For individual curators or nonprofits developing visual art exhibitions. Up to $30,000-$35,000.
Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program (AHFP): Supports individual DC-based artists making significant contributions to the city's cultural life.
Art Bank Program: Acquires artwork from local visual artists and nonprofits. Up to $25,000 for orgs, $15,000 for individuals.
Arts & Humanities Education Project Grant (AHEP): For orgs delivering arts education to students, older adults, and educators in DC public schools.
Art Exhibition (Curatorial) Grant (AEG): For individual curators or nonprofits developing visual art exhibitions. Up to $30,000-$35,000.
DC Office of the Attorney General (OAG)
Community-Based Grant Programs
Four distinct grant programs for nonprofits focused on safety, rights, and equity: Cure the Streets (violence interruption, up to $750,000/site), Domestic Workers Employment Rights (up to $260,000), Leaders of Tomorrow (youth violence prevention), and Workplace Rights (employee rights education). Cure the Streets requires no bylaws excluding people with criminal records.
DC Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE)
District of Columbia Government
Funds nonprofits and for-profit organizations delivering violence intervention and prevention services across DC wards. The FY26 Group Violence Reduction Strategy Grant awarded approximately $750,000 per ward. Eligible entities include 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofits, faith-based entities, and for-profit organizations operating violence intervention services.
Events DC Community Grants Program
Events DC
Distributes $750,000 annually in two cycles of $375,000 each to nonprofits supporting DC youth through sports, performing arts, and cultural arts programming. Strong fit for organizations doing arts-based youth work across wards.
Mayor's Office / Serve DC - Funding Alert
Mayor's Office of Community Affairs
Serve DC distributes a free "Funding Alert" newsletter highlighting open grant opportunities from DC agencies and beyond. Worth subscribing to as a first step - it surfaces timely opportunities across every category for nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and CBOs.
Private & Foundation Funding
Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
Local Foundation
One of DC's most significant local funders. Supports nonprofits across Arts & Humanities, Community Services, Education, Environment, and Health & Wellness. Deadlines are March 1, July 1, and November 1 each year. No letter of inquiry required. Prefers general operating support. Does not typically award more than 10% of an organization's annual budget. Recent arts and humanities grantees received $10,000-$60,000.
Greater Washington Community Foundation
Community Foundation
Manages multiple component funds covering DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Administers an LGBTQ+ Fund that has supported coalitions of LGBTQ+-centered organizations in DC. Also runs the Sharing Community Funds, which in 2025 distributed $945,000 in grants to regional nonprofits focused on the racial wealth gap, basic needs, and economic mobility.
Capitol Hill Community Foundation
Neighborhood Foundation
Awards seasonal spring and fall grants to DC-area nonprofits. Recent cycles totaled $295,000-$325,000 across community services, arts and culture, health, and housing.
Stonewall Community Foundation - Reclaiming Our Power
National LGBTQ+ Foundation
Multi-year general operating support grants of $20,000/year for two years (with optional $15,000 third year) to queer and trans-led organizations with budgets under $1 million. Prioritizes organizations on the frontlines of resistance, healing, and joy. Five additional grantees will be selected in 2026.
What to know about the current LGBTQ+ funding climate in DC
LGBTQ+ organizations are competitive for most grant opportunities up to $100,000, and private foundations have in some cases prioritized LGBTQ+ groups for mid-to-large grants. However, 2025-2026 has brought real instability - funders are pulling back at the national level. Locally, DC's LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition has secured nearly $1.5 million in recurring city budget funding for designated LGBTQ+ housing and community services. Building relationships with both private foundations and local government agencies is more important than ever right now.
Startup
For Underestimated Founders
DC Government & Capital Programs
DC BizCAP
DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB)
DC's primary capital access program, funded through the U.S. Treasury's State Small Business Credit Initiative. Three tracks: Collateral Support Program (cash collateral deposits to help businesses with shortfalls access bank financing), Loan Participation Program (direct lending for working capital and expansion), and Innovation Finance Program (co-investments with venture funds into DC-based startups). The District was approved for up to $62 million through SSBCI, with a dedicated DC Venture Capital Program targeting underserved founders in technology and tech-enabled companies.
DSLBD - DC Dream Accelerator Program
DC Department of Small and Local Business Development
Launched FY26 in March 2026 - a cohort-based training program for microbusinesses. DSLBD also administers the DC Capitalized Revolving Fund, providing micro-lines of credit up to $10,000 to businesses facing barriers to traditional financing, managed through local CDFIs EatsPlace and Life Asset.
Mayor Bowser's $26 Million Underserved Founders Fund
Office of the Mayor
Announced December 2024 to spur venture capital investment in underserved DC founders - part of a stated effort to address that less than 4% of venture funding between 2015 and 2024 went to Black founders, despite Black residents making up 33% of DC's workforce.
Mission-Aligned CDFIs & Ecosystem Partners
LISC DC / Equitable Opportunities Capital Fund (EOCF)
LISC + Four DC Lending Partners
Since 2021, LISC's EOCF has provided 30 loans to DC-area small businesses totaling over $11.5 million. Four partners cover different niches: Capital Impact Partners (flexible capital for nonprofits and underestimated markets), City First Enterprises (loans $20,000-$500,000+), LEDC (microloans $500-$250,000, 100+ workshops annually), and WACIF (microloans for DC's underserved neighborhoods).
New Majority Ventures (formerly 1863 Ventures)
Melissa Bradley
After closing its nonprofit arm in late 2024, 1863 Ventures relaunched as New Majority Ventures. Continues supporting Black, brown, and underrepresented founders in DC and nationally. Portfolio includes 90%+ Black-owned businesses. Worth tracking as the organization stabilizes under its new structure.
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Goldman Sachs
Ongoing program offering business education, support services, and pathways to capital for DC-area growth-oriented entrepreneurs.
What to know as an underestimated founder in DC
DC has a real equity-focused funding infrastructure - more than most cities. The public-private mix (DMPED, DISB, CDFIs, mission-aligned VCs) means underestimated founders have more entry points than just trying to land traditional VC. The challenge is navigation: many of these programs are quietly available and require active research or referrals to find. Building relationships with WACIF, LEDC, and DSLBD before you need capital creates the pipeline that makes applications faster and stronger.
Film
For Filmmakers
DC's Film Rebate Program
DC Film, Television and Entertainment Rebate Fund
Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME)
One of the more flexible film incentive structures on the East Coast. Minimum spend: $250,000 in qualified DC expenditures. No project cap. Compensation cap is $500,000 per person. Applications accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and should be submitted before qualifying activity begins.
Rebate rates: Up to 35% on qualified production expenditures subject to DC taxation. Up to 21% on expenditures with DC vendors. Up to 30% on resident cast/crew. Up to 10% on non-resident cast/crew. Up to 50% on qualified job training. Up to 25% on base infrastructure investment.
Applications are evaluated on job creation for DC residents, contracting with DC-certified businesses, potential to promote DC as a destination, and economic development impact. For social impact docs, the "job training" and "DC business" criteria are real levers.
Rebate rates: Up to 35% on qualified production expenditures subject to DC taxation. Up to 21% on expenditures with DC vendors. Up to 30% on resident cast/crew. Up to 10% on non-resident cast/crew. Up to 50% on qualified job training. Up to 25% on base infrastructure investment.
Applications are evaluated on job creation for DC residents, contracting with DC-certified businesses, potential to promote DC as a destination, and economic development impact. For social impact docs, the "job training" and "DC business" criteria are real levers.
Free Production Support
OCTFME One-Stop Production Services
Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment
At no cost to productions: film and parking permitting, location scouting, production support and logistics, research and technical assistance, community relations support, coordination for film festivals and screenings, hotel/restaurant/transportation assistance, crew and vendor databases, and workforce development through the Creative Economy Career Access Program (CECAP). OCTFME's close relationships with government officials make accessing iconic DC locations significantly less bureaucratic than in most cities.
DC-Based Film Grants & Organizations
CAH - Projects, Events, or Festivals (PEF) Grant
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Film is explicitly listed as an eligible discipline. FY26 grantees in film received awards from $5,000-$6,500. FY27 PEF cycle expected to open spring/summer 2026. Good entry point for DC-based filmmakers early in a project.
Women in Film & Video DC (WIFV)
DC Film Nonprofit
The primary film-specific nonprofit in DC. Key programs: Fiscal Sponsorship (7% fee for women-led or women-focused projects, next deadline April 17, 2026 - projects must have at least one WIFV member in a key decision-making role), Seed Fund for Documentary Filmmakers (R&D phase grants for WIFV members), and Narrative Short Film Finishing Grant (post-production in-kind support). WIFV also offers mentorship as part of the fiscal sponsorship relationship.
The broader funding stack for DC filmmakers
DC-based productions can combine multiple sources: CAH PEF grant for early development (DC residency required), WIFV fiscal sponsorship to unlock foundation grants and tax-deductible donations, DC Rebate Fund for production expenditures (requires $250K minimum spend), national documentary funds like SFFILM ($10,000-$20,000) and American Documentary Film Fund (up to $50,000), and individual donors via WIFV fiscal sponsorship. For queer and community-rooted films, WIFV's fiscal sponsorship opens access to foundation funding - including LGBTQ+-focused foundations like Stonewall Community Foundation - that would otherwise require a standalone 501(c)(3).
Film incentives favor local spend
The DC rebate rewards hiring DC residents (30% on resident labor vs. 10% on non-resident) and using DC-registered vendors. For community-rooted productions, this structure aligns perfectly with a local hiring ethos - build your crew from DC's creative workforce and the incentive program rewards you for it. WIFV is the connective tissue for DC filmmakers. Even if your project does not perfectly fit fiscal sponsorship eligibility right now, joining as a member connects you to the local film ecosystem.