Crime and Violence Prevention Grants for Nonprofits

Though crime and violence are on a decline in America, this pattern is not guaranteed to continue - especially as social services may not be guaranteed in many regions in the future. There are, thankfully, many nonprofits willing to step up to helping average communities tackle crime and violence prevention. But they’re only able to pursue this mission thanks to the generous funding provided by crime prevention grants.

These grants can be put towards all kinds of purposes. These could include establishing community-based crime prevention programs, after school funding programs, and restorative justice programs. They can also be put towards tackling factors that increase crime in an area, such as poverty, mental health issues and substance abuse.

There are a variety of organizations that might provide these kinds of grants. These can include private foundations such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as well as community foundations - like the California Endowment, for example. 

When drafting crime prevention grant proposals it is essential to use data to back up your claims. You need to prove both that there is an issue within the communities you want to target, and that your nonprofit is poised to make a real change regarding those issues. Relevant potential data could include information on crime statistics, research on the economic impact of crime prevention and evidence of successful crime prevention strategies. Good places to start accumulating this data could include the Bureau of Justice Statistics or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

If you need more tips on writing great grant proposals, make sure to check out our comprehensive guide on the topic. You can also browse a selection of crime prevention grants right here, all open for applications.