$120K in Matching Funds Available for North Texas Mental Health Nonprofits

During Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the Bhatia Foundation is partnering with Communities Foundation of Texas to match donations, dollar for dollar, to local organizations supporting mental health.

Mental health-focused nonprofits have the opportunity to earn matching dollars to support their work through Dallas-based Communities Foundation of Texas’ North Texas Giving Day website, thanks to support from the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation.

During Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the Bhatia Foundation is partnering with Communities Foundation of Texas to match donations, dollar for dollar, to local organizations supporting mental health. A total of $120,000 of matching funds are available.

“Communities Foundation of Texas believes that health, including mental health, is a pillar of a thriving community,” Wayne White, president and CEO at Communities Foundation of Texas, said in a statement. “The Bhatia Foundation is in their third year of serving as the North Texas Giving Day Cause Sponsor for two areas of work: Mental and Behavioral Health; and Intellectual, Development and Physical Differences. The Bhatia Foundation has a longstanding commitment to advocating for better mental health outcomes, and we’re grateful to partner with them and our local nonprofit community to double their impact during Mental Health Awareness Month.”

Communities Foundation said that through May 15, individuals can use North Texas Giving Day’s online giving platform to increase the impact of their charitable dollars. Donations can be made to local organizations providing mental health resources and care here.

Recent matching fund campaign for economic well-being

The foundation said this campaign is Communities Foundation of Texas’ third fundraising campaign using the North Texas Giving Day platform with matching funds available this year.

“To empower community members to give locally and stretch the impact of donations, Communities Foundation of Texas and generous local partners have offered matching funds for North Texas nonprofits advancing the arts, economic security, and mental health,” White said.

Communities Foundation of Texas launched an economic security fundraising campaign in April in partnership with Charles Schwab Bank, which initially had $50,000 in matching dollars available for more than 50 local nonprofits building economic security for individuals and families across the region.

The nonprofit said that within four days, more than $50,000 was raised, inspiring Communities Foundation of Texas to direct an additional $50,000 in matching funds to the campaign. By the campaign’s end on April 21, the match was exceeded and $245,452 was raised, Communities Foundation of Texas said.

Other CFT matching campaigns

During another special two-week giving campaign in April, The Giana Foundation Fund and Communities Foundation of Texas joined forces to match donations to local nonprofits that support arts, culture, and humanities, the foundation said. The matching funds were exceeded in days, and Communities Foundation of Texas again added additional matching funds to increase the matching opportunity to $150,000, the foundation said.

Through the two-week effort, $426,637 was raised for more than 150 arts organizations.

The next fundraising campaign in the series will focus on animals and pets, in partnership with Communities Foundation of Texas fundholder and community partner Gigi Gartner, who is said to be passionate about animal welfare. Communities Foundation of Texas said it’s responding to the community support for these campaigns by increasing the matching funds available up front, with $150,000 in matching funds available.

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.

One quick signup, and you’re done.  

R E A D   N E X T

  • The newly established Texas Capital Foundation is following the first round of grant awards by opening again for new submissions this November.

  • Concern has swept the nation since COVID hit about the pandemic's lasting affects on the mental health of children and adolescents. But that mental health crisis has actually been worsening for years, even before the pandemic. The Dallas Morning News' Marin Wolf explores what Children’s Health, UT Southwestern, Cook Children's, and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute are doing to get ahead of the problem.

  • The North Texas Innovation Alliance has begun offering quarterly "hands-on innovation experiences" at "the brightest and most innovative projects across North Texas" for NTXIA members. The Immersive Innovation field trips kicked off with a tour of the NSF's newly opened eCAT Center at UNT. Here's where the NTXIA is going next.

  • Tarleton State University received the go-ahead for a new biotechnology institute as part of Texas A&M-Fort Worth's burgeoning downtown research campus. Approved in mid-August by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the biotech institute is situated in one of the nation's fastest-growing life sciences hubs. "More than 5,000 biotechnology manufacturing and research and development firms — think Novartis, Alcon, AstraZeneca — call Texas home," according to the university. And DFW now ranks seventh in the U.S. for life science and biotech jobs.  The Tarleton State Biotechnology Institute will focus on discovery and innovation in bioinformatics and computational modeling.…

  • Four organizations working to help build a skilled, diverse, and growing workforce in North Texas are recipients of the new Texas Talent Connection Grants. See who they are—and how they're making a difference.