The F. M. Kirby Foundation Board of Directors announced that 269 grants totaling $17,052,062 were paid in 2025 to nonprofit organizations working to increase the strength and vitality of their communities.

A total of 167 grants provided general operating support, while 136 grants were awarded to organizations that have partnered with the Foundation for over 25 years, reflecting the Foundation’s commitment to fostering long-term, trusting relationships with its grantees. Grantmaking in 2025 included grants made to the Foundation’s primary geographic areas of interest — $7.1 million to organizations operating in New Jersey and $2.1 million to organizations operating in North Carolina. Additional grants, totaling $7.9 million, supported organizations in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, regions dear to Kirby family members, as well as national nonprofits largely based in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

In 2025, the Foundation launched its inaugural Innovation Engine Grant Program, awarding three organizations — Adirondack Community Foundation, Braver Angels, and Prevention is Key — $300,000 each over three years, totaling $900,000 in commitments. Inspired by the “Twin Engines” model that balances proven solutions with bold innovation, the program supports current grantees in developing strategic initiatives that expand their impact while maintaining organizational focus. The Adirondack Community Foundation will strengthen social service delivery across New York’s North Country, Braver Angels will apply its depolarization expertise to immigration policy through a Citizens Commission, and Prevention is Key will establish the Morris County Respite Center to provide comprehensive support for vulnerable individuals. Selected from 40 applicants through a competitive evaluation process, these recipients exemplify the Foundation’s goal of fostering creative approaches that address unmet community needs and create lasting change.

Orchestrated through a continued partnership between the Foundation and the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, the 2025 F. M. Kirby Prize for Scaling Impact awarded $150,000 in unrestricted funds to Solar Freeze, a Kenya-based social enterprise tackling post-harvest loss and energy poverty through mobile, solar-powered cold storage units for smallholder farmers. By offering affordable, off-grid refrigeration, Solar Freeze helps extend the shelf life of crops, increase farmers’ incomes, and reduce food waste while enabling farmers — especially women and youth — to access essential infrastructure via a pay-as-you-store system.

More broadly, the Foundation’s 2025 grantmaking included increased contributions in its major programmatic funding areas: arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, and public affairs. Below are examples of the Foundation’s core values in each funding area, along with some of the partners it proudly supports in advancing these principles.

 

Arts, Culture, & Humanities

Performing arts centers serve as vital cultural assets and gathering places that bring communities together, inspire creativity, and enrich the cultural fabric of our regions. In 2025, the Foundation made $2.5 million in grants to 44 arts organizations, including support for premier venues that serve as cornerstones of community engagement. Partner organizations like the Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, Carolina Theatre, Mayo Performing Arts Center, and New Jersey Performing Arts Center provided diverse audiences with access to world-class performances and cultural experiences that unite and uplift their communities.

 

Environment & Animals

In 2025, the Foundation awarded $1.9 million in grants to 34 organizations dedicated to protecting our fragile environment. Among the priorities, research and advocacy for science-based environmental public policy and legal protections were seen as fundamental to ensuring a sustainable future for the generations that follow. Partner organizations like the Eastern Environmental Law Center, Southern Environmental Law Center, and Regional Plan Association play a critical role in advancing evidence-based environmental policies. Through rigorous legal advocacy and policy research, these nonprofits ensure that science-informed protections and regulations safeguard our natural world for generations to come.

 

Education

Quality education opens doors to opportunity and helps dismantle the systemic obstacles that too many students encounter. In 2025, the Foundation awarded $4.7 million in grants to 55 organizations, many committed to advancing educational equity through early childhood education and literacy. Partner organizations like Latino Educational Achievement Partnership, Reach Out and Read, Book Harvest, and Fairfield University’s Family Literacy Project are bridging gaps in access to high-quality early learning experiences and literacy resources that set our youngest students on a path to success.

 

Health

Harnessing the power of big data sharing and artificial intelligence accelerates research and confronts some of today’s most critical health challenges. In 2025, the Foundation awarded $2.2 million in grants to 17 health organizations, including support for pioneering initiatives that utilize whole genome sequencing and AI integration to improve research efficiencies across multiple disease areas. Partner organizations such as the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Autism Speaks, and the Cancer Research Institute are streamlining collaborative research efforts, enabling scientists to share data and insights that provide hope and transformative breakthroughs for patients and their families.

 

Human Services

Food insecurity continues to stand as one of the most urgent issues affecting individuals, families, and communities across the country. In 2025, the Foundation awarded $3.8 million in grants to 75 human service organizations, including many that addressed critical food access needs. Grantees like nourish.nj, Interfaith Food Pantry, Orange Congregations in Mission, and United Way of Wyoming Valley work to provide essential nutrition support and services to those in need, from emergency food assistance and meal programs to food distribution networks and hunger relief advocacy.

 

Public Affairs & Society Benefit

The Foundation reaffirmed its dedication to protecting academic freedom, encouraging constructive dialogue, and supporting engaged citizenship by awarding $1.3 million in grants to 30 public affairs organizations, including those dedicated to strengthening democratic values. Partner organizations — such as the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, North Carolina Local News Lab Fund, and NJ Spotlight News — play critical roles in strengthening press freedom and ensuring communities have access to reliable, local information that empowers informed civic participation and democratic engagement.

You can view the full list of 2025 grants on the Foundation’s website at fmkirbyfoundation.org.