Knight Foundation

The Knight Community Partners Program aims to improve the quality of life in 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. They recognize the uniqueness of each of their 26 communities. In every one, Knight Foundation's program directors look to local advisory committees to provide critical insight and help identify opportunities.

The six (6) priority areas funded by this program are:

1. Education: To help all residents gain the knowledge and skills necessary to reach economic self-sufficiency, remain active learners, be good parents and effective citizens in a democracy. To provide an environment in which talented individuals refine and develop their abilities.
   
2. Well-being of children and families: To provide all children and youth with opportunities for positive growth and development and to give all parents resources they need to strengthen their families.
   
3. Housing and community development: To provide all residents with access to affordable and decent housing in safe, drug-free neighborhoods. To provide a continuum that includes everything from services for the homeless to affordable opportunities for home ownership.
   
4. Economic development: To help all adults gain access to jobs. To build alliances among government, business and nonprofit sectors to create economic opportunities for residents.
   
5. Civic engagement/positive human relations: To encourage and enable all residents to participate effectively in the democratic process, form ties to local institutions and strengthen relationships with one another.
   
6. Vitality of cultural life: To provide all residents access to a wide variety of artistic and cultural pursuits. To nourish creativity in children, youth and adults.

Local grants in the Communities Program improve the quality of life in the Foundation's 26 communities of interest. To be eligible for consideration, funding requests must benefit one or more of these communities, although the organization submitting the request may be located outside the project area.

The Foundation also encourages proposals that address these communities' opportunities on a regional level. Requests for support of local projects outside of these 26 specific communities will not be considered by the Knight Foundation.

Please note that many of these 26 communities are co-located with a BDPA chapter. That means that your chapter's youth education programming is perfect program to complement the grant-making guidelines from Knight Foundation. BETF would be very interested in partnering with any local chapter interested in sending a joint grant to this foundation. Please confirm that your chapter is one of the 26 communities ... if so, let us know of your interest in submitting an online letter of inquiry.