Apply For A Grant

RIZE Massachusetts issues grants designed to target the epidemic of opioid overdose and addiction spanning prevention to treatment to long-term recovery. One of our top priorities is to measure the outcomes and effectiveness of our funding and consider the impact of the most promising initiatives as part of our decision making. Sustainability of the programs we fund is essential and a key factor in our selection criteria.

RIZE’s vision is that our funding will lead to meaningful and positive results in addressing not just the immediate crisis of fatal opioid overdose but will improve alignment among the overall treatment ecosystem and lift up evidence-based addiction treatment and recovery programs.

One of RIZE’s guiding principles is about diversity and inclusion and we include those with lived experience of addiction in our decision making and, on our teams, and in our partnerships. We firmly believe in the concept “nothing about us without us.” Individuals with lived experience bring valued expertise to our work and we pay for and leverage their knowledge as we would with any other subject matter expert. Individuals with firsthand experience serve on our board of directors, program strategy committee, grant review committees, and programmatic initiatives.

We use the following processes to develop our grants. The process depends on the complexity of the project, available funding, and sequencing with our other program investments.

• Direct solicitation: When we know that an organization is well-suited to perform the work, we directly solicit a concept memo or proposal.

• Discussion: In some cases, we invite organizations to discuss an idea with us and explore their interest and capacity to undertake the work. If the organization has the expertise, capacity, and interest, we invite them to submit a concept memo or proposal.

• Request for proposal/information (RFP/I): When we want to broaden our network or fund multiple organizations for a project, we issue an RFP. Competitive RFPs are posted on our website and distributed to our email list; solicited RFPs are directed to specific organizations. Decisions for competitive grants are made based on a variety of factors, including how closely the proposal matches the application criteria.

• Policy and Research: Depending on the subject matter, we use one of the models above to seek policy-relevant research ranging from landscape analyses to more formal studies. This research will often be presented via a forum or convening.

RIZE is unable to consider unsolicited proposals for donations. We do not accept applications from religious institutions, for-profit institutions, or individuals and families. We will not consider grant requests for fundraising events, non-profit sponsored athletic-related events, political advocacy and related activities, or endowment funds.

If you have any questions, please contact our program team at grants@rizema.org