Discovery
Evaluation
Diligence
Implementation
Empower Charleston seeks to invest financial resources and professional expertise in promising nonprofit organizations to increase organizational capacity, through collaboration and partnership, to impact the following areas:
Education
Mental Health and Wellness
Economic Mobility
Criteria
While all of our investments are unique, our experience suggests that there are common themes to a successful investment. The nonprofits we invest in will meet the following criteria:
- Be a registered 501c3 organization, public charity
- Be in or delivering services to the citizens of Charleston, Berkeley or Dorchester Counties
- Nonprofit’s mission and goals align with our mission and goals
- Have an operating budget of $100,000- $1 million
- Previously funded investees can reapply with new, innovative projects after a two-year period.
- Nonprofit’s mission and goals provide diversity to the portfolio of our current and recent investees
- Empower Charleston’s investment, both financial and intellectual capital, will be significant to the nonprofit
- We seek to invest two (2) grants of $20,000-50,000 a year, for two years. There is also the potential for co-investments.
- Year 2 is dependent on meetings goals and objectives in Year 1.
- The nonprofit should be able to articulate the need for pro bono hours.
- The nonprofit needs to have an infrastructure that allows for engagement between Partners and staff, as well as a collaboration between Partners and an engaged Board that is receptive to experiential contributions.
Next Investment Cycle: 2026
Empower Charleston conducts an investment cycle every two years to strategically allocate resources and support local projects. This cycle typically involves assessing community needs, identifying promising initiatives, and providing funding or resources to grow capacity over a two-year commitment.