Funding for Immigrant-Serving Organizations

How nonprofits serving immigrants, refugees and newcomer communities can find foundation, corporate, government and community funding

Immigrant-serving organizations are often asked to do everything at once.

Help a newly arrived family find housing.

Connect someone to food assistance.

Provide language access.

Help a worker understand their rights.

Connect a child to school.

Help a family navigate healthcare.

Provide legal referrals.

Offer English classes.

Respond to an emergency.

And increasingly, help communities respond to rapidly changing immigration policies.

That means immigrant-serving nonprofits need a funding strategy that is broader than searching for grants labeled “immigration.”

The strongest prospects may be funding housing, workforce development, food security, education, legal services, health, economic mobility, community safety or immigrant integration.

And current philanthropy shows that funders are putting significant resources into this work.

For example, in 2026 the Boston Foundation distributed $1 million in unrestricted grants to 10 immigrant-serving organizations and subsequently awarded another $1.2 million in two-year Safety Net grants to 24 Massachusetts organizations. (The Boston Foundation)

That makes immigrant-serving organizations an important funding category—but also a competitive one.

1. Start With the Boston Foundation

For organizations in Massachusetts, particularly Greater Boston, The Boston Foundation is an important funder to research.

In 2026, its Meeting the Moment: Supporting Our Immigrant Neighbors initiative provided $100,000 in general operating support to each of 10 immigrant-serving nonprofits. The recipients included organizations working in immigrant family services, worker rights, legal services, basic needs and community organizing. (The Boston Foundation)

The Foundation then awarded another $1.2 million to 24 Massachusetts organizations, with each receiving $50,000 in general operating support over two years. (The Boston Foundation)

This is especially important because the funding wasn’t restricted to traditional immigration-law organizations.

The funded organizations included groups working on:

• Food and basic needs

• Worker rights

• Community organizing

• Legal services

• Immigrant integration

• Family services

• Neighborhood organizing

• Social safety-net services

Fundraising lesson: Don’t define your organization too narrowly. An immigrant-serving food pantry, workforce program or community center may be an immigrant funder prospect even if “immigration” isn’t in its name.

2. Research the WES Mariam Assefa Fund

The WES Mariam Assefa Fund is specifically focused on immigrants and refugees in the United States and Canada.

Its work emphasizes:

• Economic opportunity

• Community integration

• Access to good work

• Immigrant leadership

• Systems change

As of February 2026, the fund reported $42 million in grants distributed to 170 organizations, with an additional $58 million mobilized through co-funding. (WES)

This makes it particularly relevant for organizations connecting immigrant communities with employment and economic opportunity.

Think:

Immigrant workforce development

Professional credentialing

Career pathways

Entrepreneurship

Worker advancement

Economic integration

Skills development

Access to good jobs

Fundraising angle: Don’t simply describe immigrants as people needing assistance. Demonstrate how your organization helps immigrants build economic power and opportunity.

3. Look at the Clowes Fund

The Clowes Fund is another funder worth researching for organizations serving immigrant communities in New England.

Its New England priorities include immigrant services and workforce development, with Massachusetts geographic priorities including Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex and Worcester counties as well as other communities with significant immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker populations. (The Clowes Fund)

That makes geographic research especially important.

A nonprofit should ask:

Does the foundation fund organizations in our particular county or community?

Rather than:

Does this foundation fund immigrants?

The second question is too broad.

4. Search for Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaboratives

One of the most interesting models in immigrant philanthropy is the funder collaborative.

Instead of approaching five foundations separately, several funders pool resources and coordinate their grantmaking.

The Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative is a useful example.

It brings together the Oregon Community Foundation, The Collins Foundation and Meyer Memorial Trust and uses a coordinated application process. The collaborative says its process is ongoing and operates on a “no wrong door” model. (Oregon Community Foundation)

Its current funding areas include:

• Legal services

• Movement building and advocacy

• Basic and wraparound services

It also emphasizes work designed around the experiences and leadership of immigrants and refugees. (Oregon Community Foundation)

Fundraising lesson: Search for collaborative philanthropy in your state or region—not just individual foundations.

5. Research Immigrant Justice Funders

Some philanthropic organizations focus more heavily on immigrant justice, racial justice, worker rights and community power.

These funders may support:

• Advocacy

• Organizing

• Legal services

• Worker centers

• Know-your-rights programs

• Community leadership

• Policy work

• Movement building

• Rapid response

• Protection programs

The Black Migrant Power Fund, for example, provides responsive general operating grants and capacity-strengthening support and reported moving nearly $6 million between 2022 and 2025 to organizations working on racial and immigrant justice. (Black Migrant Power Fund)

Fundraising angle: If your organization is doing organizing or systems-change work, don’t limit your prospect research to conventional social-service foundations.

6. Look for Rapid-Response Funding

Immigrant-serving organizations increasingly need flexible funding that can respond quickly to emerging needs.

Rapid-response funds can support:

Emergency legal needs

Family protection

Community communications

Know-your-rights outreach

Emergency transportation

Temporary housing

Basic needs

Rapid organizing

Crisis response

One example is the Groundwork Project Immigrant Protection Rapid Response Fund, which lists grants of $250–$2,000 for eligible organizations, including organizations in Massachusetts, with applications accepted on a rolling basis while funds remain available. (MA Voter Table)

Small grants can be strategically important.

A $1,000 emergency grant may not fund an entire program, but it can pay for a specific immediate intervention.

7. Don’t Ignore Corporate Foundations

Companies can be immigrant-serving organizations’ funding partners even when they don’t have an “immigration” funding category.

Look at corporations whose priorities intersect with immigrant needs:

Banks

• Financial inclusion

• Workforce development

• Small business

• Economic mobility

Technology companies

• Digital access

• Workforce training

• Education

Healthcare companies

• Community health

• Health access

• Language access

Employers

• Workforce development

• Worker advancement

• Skills training

Grocery companies

• Food security

• Family stability

Professional-services companies

• Legal services

• Accounting

• Technology

• Consulting

The question becomes:

What does our immigrant-serving organization help people achieve that this company already cares about?

8. Funders May Support Immigrant Work Without Calling It Immigration Funding

This is one of the most important grant-research strategies.

Suppose your organization helps immigrant families find stable housing.

Don’t search only:

“immigrant housing grants.”

Also search:

housing stability

homelessness prevention

tenant services

family stability

economic mobility

community development

Similarly, if you provide English classes:

Search:

adult education

workforce development

English language acquisition

career readiness

education equity

If you operate a food program:

Search:

food security

hunger relief

nutrition

family stability

basic needs

If you provide worker advocacy:

Search:

worker rights

economic justice

workforce development

labor rights

economic mobility

The best funder may never use the word immigrant.

9. Federal Funding Is Another Major Pathway

Federal funding can support immigrant-serving work through different program areas rather than one single “immigrant grant” category.

Potential federal funding areas include:

• Refugee services

• English language acquisition

• Workforce development

• Adult education

• Child and family services

• Food assistance

• Victim services

• Legal services

• Health

• Housing

• Community development

This means immigrant-serving organizations should search federal opportunities by program function, not just immigration terminology.

For example:

Immigrant workforce organization

could search:

workforce development + immigrant

career pathways + English learners

adult education

employment services

rather than simply:

immigration grants

10. Explore State and Municipal Funding

State and local government can be particularly important for immigrant-serving nonprofits.

Boston’s FY26 grantmaking provides a useful example.

The Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement allocated funding for programs including Immigration Legal Access, with $900,000 available, as well as immigrant well-being and neighborhood initiatives. Eligible organizations could apply as nonprofits or through fiscal sponsors. (Boston.gov)

This illustrates another major funding principle:

Government funding may be geographically specific.

A national foundation may not be interested in your small community.

Your city may be.

Your state may be.

A regional agency may be.

Therefore, immigrant-serving organizations should maintain a funding list for:

City

County

State

Regional agencies

School districts

Workforce boards

Public health agencies

Housing agencies

11. Search for Funding by Population

Your organization may serve a particular immigrant population.

That creates another prospecting strategy.

Search for funders supporting:

Refugees

Asylum seekers

New Americans

Immigrant women

Immigrant youth

Immigrant workers

Older immigrants

Immigrant entrepreneurs

Families

English learners

Survivors

People experiencing homelessness

Then combine that population with your service.

For example:

Immigrant women + workforce development

or

Refugees + housing

or

Immigrant youth + education

This produces much more targeted results.

12. Build a Funding Matrix

Create a prospect matrix for every potential funder.

This makes your funding strategy manageable.

13. Sell the Outcomes—Not Just the Need

Immigrant-serving organizations often have incredibly compelling stories.

But a grant proposal cannot rely entirely on need.

Compare:

Weak

“Immigrant families are struggling and need support.”

with:

Stronger

“Our multilingual family-navigation program connects newly arrived households to housing, food, education and employment resources, reducing barriers that prevent families from accessing existing community services.”

The second tells the funder what your organization actually does.

Then add numbers:

500 families served

8 languages supported

300 housing referrals

200 workforce placements

90% successful benefits connections

Now the funder can see the intervention.

14. Demonstrate Cultural and Linguistic Capacity

For immigrant-serving organizations, this can be a major competitive advantage.

Document:

Languages spoken

Community leadership

Staff lived experience

Cultural partnerships

Community outreach

Interpretation capacity

Trusted relationships

Participant retention

Community-led program design

Funders increasingly want to know whether programs are actually accessible to the communities they claim to serve.

15. Don’t Forget General Operating Support

Immigrant-serving nonprofits frequently need funding for the infrastructure that makes emergency response possible.

That includes:

Staff salaries

Case management

Technology

Translation

Insurance

Facilities

Communications

Volunteer coordination

Data systems

Training

Administrative support

When researching funders, look specifically for:

General operating support

Unrestricted support

Flexible funding

Capacity building

The Boston Foundation’s 2026 immigrant-focused grants demonstrate the value of this approach: both major rounds included general operating support, rather than restricting every dollar to a narrow project. (The Boston Foundation)

16. Be Careful With Legal Services

Immigration legal services have specialized requirements.

A nonprofit should not imply that it can provide legal representation if it is not authorized to do so.

Instead, distinguish between:

Legal representation

Legal referrals

Know-your-rights education

Community navigation

Case management

Social services

Where a grant specifically funds immigration legal services, carefully review eligibility and professional requirements.

For example, Boston’s immigrant legal-access funding requires legal services to be provided by licensed immigration attorneys or DOJ-accredited representatives. (Boston.gov)

17. Use a Funder Research Scorecard

Before applying, score each prospect.

Then rank:

A — Apply/Cultivate immediately

B — Develop relationship

C — Monitor

D — Poor fit

This prevents the classic nonprofit problem:

spending 30 hours applying for a $10,000 grant that was never a good fit.

18. Create an Immigrant-Services Grant Calendar

Your calendar should track more than deadlines.

Include:

Funder

Funding priority

Geography

Eligible organizations

Program fit

Deadline

LOI deadline

Grant range

Contact

Previous grantees

Employee connection

Application status

Award

Reporting deadline

Renewal date

For rapidly changing funding environments, also add:

Policy-sensitive funding

Emergency opportunity

Rapid-response fund

Government opportunity

This allows your development team to distinguish between routine annual grants and funding that requires immediate action.

19. Look for Funders Supporting New Americans

Terminology matters.

Some funders use:

Immigrants

Others use:

Refugees

Others:

New Americans

Others:

Newcomers

Others:

Migrant communities

Others:

Foreign-born residents

Others:

Immigrant and refugee communities

Use all of these terms when conducting prospect research.

A search for only “immigration grants” will miss opportunities.

20. The Bigger Funding Strategy

Immigrant-serving organizations should build a multi-sector funding portfolio.

Think of your mission at the center:

IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY

Then build funding around:

Housing

Food security

Education

Workforce development

Health

Legal services

Economic mobility

Youth

Women and families

Community organizing

Language access

Small business

Emergency assistance

This approach can multiply your funding prospects.

The Immigrant-Serving Nonprofit Funding Formula

A strong prospect often has:

Population alignment

Geographic alignment

Program alignment

Community leadership

Measurable outcomes

Funder relationship

=

Strong grant opportunity

But there is another factor that matters increasingly:

flexibility.

Immigrant-serving organizations often have to respond to needs that change faster than a traditional annual grant cycle.

A funder offering flexible operating support may therefore be more valuable than one offering a larger but highly restricted grant.

Where to Start Your Research

For organizations beginning a funding search, create four prospect lists:

Foundation Funding

Search:

• Immigrant services

• Refugees

• New Americans

• Economic mobility

• Worker rights

• Community organizing

Corporate Funding

Search:

• Workforce

• Financial inclusion

• Community investment

• Employee giving

• Economic opportunity

Government Funding

Search:

• Immigration

• Refugee services

• Workforce

• Adult education

• Housing

• Health

• Legal services

Community Funding

Search:

• Local community foundations

• City grants

• State grants

• Regional collaboratives

• Faith-based philanthropy

• Local corporate giving

Then score every prospect before investing significant staff time.

The Bottom Line

Funding for immigrant-serving organizations is not one grant category.

It is an ecosystem.

A nonprofit helping immigrant families may be eligible for funding from a foundation focused on immigration, but it may also be a strong prospect for a foundation focused on housing, food security, workforce development, education, health, economic mobility or community power.

Current philanthropy demonstrates this broader approach. In Massachusetts, the Boston Foundation’s 2026 immigrant-focused funding reached organizations working across basic needs, worker rights, legal services, family support and community organizing. (The Boston Foundation) The WES Mariam Assefa Fund demonstrates another model, focusing specifically on immigrant economic opportunity and access to good work. (WES) And collaborative models such as Oregon’s Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative show how multiple foundations can coordinate funding around immigrant and refugee needs. (Oregon Community Foundation)

The smartest question isn’t:

“Who gives grants to immigrants?”

It’s:

“What barrier are we solving for immigrant communities—and which funders already invest in solving that barrier?”

That question transforms grant research from a list of random opportunities into a fundraising strategy.

Build the Pipeline

For every prospect, identify:

Who they fund.

Where they fund.

What they fund.

How much they give.

Whether they fund operations.

When they accept applications.

Who knows them.

What evidence they expect.

Then prioritize the funders where mission + geography + program + relationship intersect.

Don’t chase every immigration grant. Build a diversified funding portfolio around the real needs your immigrant-serving organization is equipped to solve.