What will it take?

In 2023, we spent more than 300 hours analyzing, connecting, and reflecting to develop a strategic plan that addressed one essential question:

What will it take to inspire a spirit of shared responsibility, generosity, and civic health across Greater Miami?

It took us 50 years to donate $500 million to Greater Miami. With renewed focus, we asked ourselves: could we reach $1 billion by the end of 2026?

In 2024, we invested most deeply in our pillar of leadership. Last year, our highest priority was fostering stronger connection. Now, in the final year of our strategic plan, we’re razor-focused on inspiring increased generosity across Miami.

For almost 60 years, we’ve helped individuals, families, and businesses give back more powerfully here in Miami, and in this chapter we’re prioritizing unlocking the impact of collective philanthropy.

Collaborative giving enables us to do more: by bringing individual generosity together, we amplify our impact, address complex challenges, and create lasting change across Miami that no single donor could achieve alone.

We want to build a true home base for generosity and impact for Miami. In 2026, we are building out a magical space called The Co-Lab, located at the Historic DuPont Building in Downtown Miami. This space will not just serve as The Miami Foundation’s new home, but as a community hub to strengthen our nonprofit sector, cross-sector partnerships, and Greater Miami at-large: a place where Miami gets together to invest in itself, and a demonstration that generosity takes many forms.

Below, we offer a preview of some of the ways generosity will manifest in the year ahead.

At The Foundation

Investing in local nonprofits through Community Grants

Since 1967, we have partnered with generous donors to build endowments that serve as permanent philanthropic resources for our community. Through Community Grants we use these endowments to address Greater Miami’s most pressing needs and opportunities, while staying true to donors’ original wishes.

Our 2025 grant application cycle welcomed 894 applications from nonprofit organizations with over $45 million in requests across seven funding categories. With the funding available, we were able to award 127 organizations with $7 million in mission-building support over two years.

Community Grants is made possible both through permanent endowed funds and also by generous Miamians, local family foundations, and government partners. We also eagerly share the grant applications and data with interested donor partners who want to leverage the work we’ve already done to give directly to high impact nonprofits. We’re committed to moving more funds to community in the 2027 grant cycle and we hope your generosity will help us get there. Contact Lindsey Linzer, VP of Community Investments, to learn more.

We’re committed to narrowing that $38 million funding gap in the 2027 grant cycle. Today, Community Grants is made possible through field-of-interest funds supported by generous Miamians, partnerships with a network of philanthropists, and a growing dedication to supporting community champions through trust-based philanthropy – will your generosity help us get there?

Investing in college access

Through our growing scholarship portfolio, we work with generous families, companies, and local government partners to expand access to education, empower students to achieve their academic goals, and ensure a brighter future for Miami’s most precious resource: our youth.

Scholarship season is officially underway, and after 2025’s record-setting year for demand and dollars awarded, we’re eagerly expanding our approach to college access. Learn about our 2026 scholarship opportunities here. This year, we are engaging new partners to increase our scholarship offerings and exploring creative ways to support students with support beyond tuition and traditional degree programs.

We invite you to join us in investing in college access and to learn more about our scholarships portfolio by contacting Stephanie Silva, Scholarships Manager.

Announcing our first Press Forward South Florida Call for Grants

As the home of Press Forward, The Miami Foundation has taken up the mantle of making local journalism a national philanthropic priority.

On a local level, that work continues through Press Forward South Florida. Soon we’ll open our first call for grants, centered on collaboration and newsroom strength. Our goal is to support local newsrooms as they adapt to today’s rapidly changing media landscape. That means helping news organizations build sustainable business models and providing resources for newsrooms that want to work together, learn from one another, and grow stronger collectively.

Together with our partner community foundations, our goal is to raise $12 million for local news and information in South Florida over the next five years. We’ve made significant headway through a generous $3 million of the Knight Foundation and are seeking additional funders to help support this vital work. Stay tuned for more information.

Hosting Give Miami Day 2026

This year, our community will mark a milestone with the 15th edition of Give Miami Day – our quinceañera!

What started on 12/12/12 as a million-dollar effort has ballooned into the single-largest giving day in the United States, eclipsing $43 million raised in 2025 alone.

In 2026, we’ll be celebrating our quince and, after the success of our inaugural Give Miami 5K + Festival, are looking forward to our biggest community celebration of generosity yet.