We’re looking for Orange County’s small and mighty nonprofits

The Humble Leadership Award is the Sun Family Foundation’s first open invitation for grant applications. We are inviting small, community-rooted nonprofits serving Orange County to apply for a one-time, $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Any 501(c)(3) nonprofit or fiscally sponsored project that primarily serves people in Orange County, has an annual operating budget of $1,000,000 or less, and has not been directly funded by Sun Family Foundation in the past 3 years

All applications are submitted through Submittable. Visit [link] to create an account and start your application. You can save your progress and return at any time before the deadline.

Applications will be reviewed by SFF staff and advisors against a set of criteria focused on leadership, community connection, trust, and impact. We're looking for evidence of humble leadership in practice - how your organization shows up, not just what it produces.

Grant recipients will receive a one-time payment of $25,000. We aim to distribute all grant payments by the end of February 2026.

We'd love your help reaching organizations that might not hear about this opportunity through traditional channels. You can share the link to this page, forward our outreach email, or post about the grant on your own channels. If you'd like to nominate a specific organization, email us at hello@sunfamilyfoundation.org.

Humble Leadership is one of the Sun Family Foundation’s five core values, inspired by the Chinese virtue 謙 (qiān).

For us, Humble Leadership means using your position to elevate others rather than centering yourself. It means listening deeply, building trust, sharing power, and making space for community wisdom and leadership.

Through this Award, we are looking for organizations that put these principles into practice through both how they work and how they lead.

The budget threshold is $1,000,000 in annual operating expenses. If you're very close to that line and have questions, please reach out to us, and we're happy to talk through it.

We estimate 45-60 minutes. The application asks you to tell us about your organization, your leadership, your relationship with your community, and where you see your work heading. There are no lengthy proposals or complex attachments required.

We'll be looking at six areas: strong community-centered leadership, authentic community connection, a track record of trust, a vision for community change, a commitment to learning and sharing knowledge, and whether your organization has been overlooked or under-resourced by traditional philanthropy. You don't need to be perfect in every category - we're looking for the overall picture.

We're not looking for lengthy reports. We'll ask you to share a brief reflection on how the grant supported your work - what you learned, what changed, and what you'd want us to know. We may also invite grantees to participate in a short conversation with our team. We see this as a learning relationship, not a compliance exercise.

For any questions about the Humble Leadership Award Call, please email questions@sunfamilyfoundation.org.  We'll do our best to respond within 2 business days.

The Sun Family Foundation has historically been an invitation-only funder, but we have heard from community organizations that they want more opportunities to learn about and apply for funding from us. While most of our grantmaking will remain invitation-only, we wanted to create a meaningful way for new organizations to engage with us and share about their work.

The Humble Leadership Award is part of Our Ethos, a new portfolio of work grounded in the belief that how we do things is often just as important as what we accomplish. Through Our Ethos, we will launch a series of Awards inviting organizations across Orange County to demonstrate and bring to life the Sun Family Foundation’s five core values.

This first Humble Leadership Award centers on Humble Leadership and gives us an opportunity to learn from community-rooted organizations, recognize how they lead, and build new relationships.

Yes. Fiscally sponsored projects are welcome to apply. You'll need to provide information about your fiscal sponsor in the application, including their 501(c)(3) status and written authorization confirming their willingness to act as your fiscal sponsor.

You'll need basic organizational information (name, address, EIN or fiscal sponsor details, budget size) and your answers to several short narrative questions. You won't need to submit a detailed budget, logic model, or formal proposal.

We plan to award up to 40 grants of $25,000 each, for a total investment of up to $1,000,000.

We may share the names of grant recipients on our website and through our communications channels. We'll always check with you first before sharing anything beyond your organization's name and a brief description of your work.

We may share the names of grant recipients on our website and through our communications channels. We'll always check with you first before sharing anything beyond your organization's name and a brief description of your work.

Each organization selected through the Humble Leadership Award will receive a one-time, unrestricted grant of $25,000.

This is the first Humble Leadership Award, and future cycles focused on this value have not yet been confirmed. However, the Award is part of Our Ethos, an ongoing portfolio of work through which the Sun Family Foundation plans to introduce additional grant opportunities inspired by our five core values.

No. To be eligible, your organization must be based in Orange County. Serving Orange County communities alone does not qualify an organization if its primary location is outside of Orange County.

No. We designed this application to be accessible to organizations of all sizes, targeting those who are unlikely to have development staff. We value clarity, honesty, and context more than polished language. Write in your own voice - tell us about your work the way you'd describe it to your community.

We plan to notify all applicants - whether selected or not - in mid-December of 2026. We know that waiting is hard, and we'll do our best to communicate clearly along the way.

The $25,000 grant is unrestricted - you can use it however it best supports your organization's work. There are no restrictions on how the funds are spent, and you won't need to submit a detailed budget or spending plan.

This grant is designed for 501(c)(3) nonprofits and fiscally sponsored projects. Government agencies, public schools, and faith-based organizations may be eligible if they meet the other criteria and their proposed work benefits the broader community. If you're unsure, reach out, and we'll help you figure it out.

At this time, the application is in English. If language is a barrier for your organization, please reach out to us at questions@sunfamilyfoundation.org , and we'll work with you to find a solution.

We are launching the Humble Leadership Award for the first time this year, and future cycles have not yet been confirmed. If we open the grant again, we'll share that information on our website and through our networks.

If your organization has received direct funding from Sun Family Foundation in the past 3 years, you are not eligible for this grant cycle. If you received SFF funding more than 3 years ago, you are welcome to apply.

Once submitted, applications cannot be edited. However, you can save your progress and return to it as many times as you need before submitting. We encourage you to review your answers before you click submit.

Applying for this grant does not affect your organization's eligibility for future SFF funding opportunities.

We're here to help. You can attend our informational webinars on September 16th at 4pm and October 7th at 9 am.  You can also send questions to questions@sunfamilyfoundation.org.