OVERVIEW: This foundation of the telecom mogul Robert Hale does most of its grantmaking in Boston and its surrounding areas. Hale and his wife Karen have interests in health, human services, the environment, and more. In recent years, the foundation has given as high as a couple of million annually, and as low as around $550,000.

IP TAKE: New Breeze doesn't have a web presence, or a clear way for grantseekers to get in touch. 

FUNDING AREAS: Health, Human Services, Education & Youth

PROFILE: New Breeze Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of Robert Hale, CEO and president of Quincy-based Granite Telecommunications, and his wife Karen. Hale and his father, the late Robert Hale Sr., founded Granite in 2002, and the company has grown to more than 1,400 employees. Last year, Granite hit $1 billion in revenue.

The Hale family lives in Hingham, Massachusetts, not too far from Boston. New Breeze Foundation's philanthropy focuses on Boston and its surrounding areas, including Hingham, Salem, Brookline, and Westport. In a recent year, the foundation claimed over $1.5 million in assets and gave out $223,255. Prior years of grantmaking ranged from a little under $550,000 to around $3.3 million in 2011.

One major interest of the foundation in the Boston area is health, and the motivations here are strong. The late Robert Hale Sr. passed away from cancer in 2008. In life, Robert Sr. and his wife Judy started the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Fund for Pancreatic Cancer at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Hale and Karen, have, through New Breeze, steadily supported Dana Farber, with a $103,000 grant, and a $70,000 grant. Money has also gone to Brigham & Women's Hospital, where Hale sits on the board. More than $630,000 went to the hospital, and $500,000 each went there. Support has also gone to Boston Children's Hospital, where Hale sits on the board, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Martha's Vineyard Hospital, and the Lown Cardiovascular Center in Brookline. It's also worth noting that Granite's charitable arm has given large sums to Dana Farber and other Boston-area health outfits.

The Hales also support human services in the Boston area. A steady stream of money has gone to South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Hingham Food Pantry, Hingham Sports Pantry, and Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, which supports children in need. Funds have also gone to Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, which provides "educational assistance grants to the children of Massachusetts Service members who were killed while deployed on Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom." Support of $250,000 went to the fund. Money has also gone to One Boston Fund, which helps those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.

Apart from health and human services, grantmaking has also involved the environment, with recent money going to Westport Land Conservation, and religious institutions, with funds going to Hingham Congregational Church, and Acoaxet Chapel in Westport. New Breeze Foundation has also supported education, with a large $1.26 million gift going to Deerfield Academy, and steady support going to Thayer Academy in Braintree. This grantmaking hasn't really involved Boston-proper, at least of late, and the most significant education sums being given by the couple have gone outside of the Boston area. The Hales recently gave a $20 million gift to Connecticut College, Robert's alma mater, and steady support have gone to the Wheeler School in Rhode Island via New Breeze.

PEOPLE:

• Robert T. Hale, Jr., Trustee
• Karen R. Hale, Trustee
  

CONTACT:

The New Breeze Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the couple, but below is an address.

New Breeze Foundation
8 Olmstead Dr.
Hingham, MA 02043

OVERVIEW: The Peabody Fund awards grants to health, arts, environment, and social services organizations in New England, with preferential treatment given to Massachusetts. The foundation's small staff reviews applications twice a year, and you don't even need to bother with a Letter of Inquiry.

FUNDING AREAS: Health, animal health, visual arts, land conservation, historic preservation, social services, youth services

IP TAKE: Although Peabody Fund grants aren't as large as those from some other foundations around the city, Massachusetts-based health and arts organization have a great opporunity here. The application process is easy and much more straight-foward than you'd expect.

PROFILE: What the world needs today is more women like Amelia Peabody. Amelia has been described as a very private woman with a public conscious, since she distributed her family-inherited wealth to tens of thousands of people who never even knew her name.

This "lady of society" passionately studied sculpture in Boston, New York, and Paris, and her work has been distributed throughout the world. She taught wounded World War I and II veterans how to do occupational arts and crafts, and she spent many years raising and breeding horses, cattle, and pigs on the farm that became her favorite place in the world. One of Peabody's first philanthropic endeavors was the Amelia Peabody Pavilion, which housed a large animal clinic at Massachusetts' Tufts-New England Veterinary Medical Center. During her lifetime, Peabody gave large generous donations to medical institutions in the Boston area and to one of the world's first solar energy projects.

Peabody made her philanthropy official in 1964, when she established the Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund. Between that time and Peabody's death in 1984, she personally directed over $8 million in grants. Since that time, the fund's small board of directors and staff have reviewed over 5,7000 grant applicaiton and awarded an additional $182 million. Only New England-based organizations are considered for health, arts, conservation, and preservations grants. However, only Massachusetts organizations are considered for the fund's social services and youth program grants. The Peabody Fund doesn't consider proposals for multi-year funding grants, and it doesn't provide funding for individuals, start-up organizations, educational institutions, scholarships, events, religious groups, or political causes.

The Peabody Fund generally gives out $5 to $8 million each year, but it doesn't frequently publicize who the lucky grant winners are. To apply for a grant in any of the above program areas, you'll need to complete an online grant request summary form and a proposal checklist. The staff is nit-picky, so you'll need to make sure your text is double-spaced, your pages are numbered, and a table of contents is included. There's no need to mess with an initial Letter of Inquiry here, because you can jump right to the application phase. Grant proposal narratives can be up to ten pages long and must include a number of specified bullet points.

Make sure to submit your grant proposal before close of business on either February 1st or July 1st. The foundation is transitioning to an online propsal system to replace it's old mail-in option. If you adhere to the February deadline, you should hear back from Peabody by May, and by October for the July deadline. You can reach the staff at 617-451-6178.

PEOPLE:

• Evan C. Page, Executive Director
• Cheryl A. Gideon, Business & Grants Coordinator/Executive Assistant

LINKS:

• Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund
• Application Guidelines
• Application Instructions

IP POSTS:

OVERVIEW: The Phillip and Susan Ragon Foundation is the charitable outfit of tech billionaire Phillip Ragon and his wife Susan. Much of the couple's philanthropy takes place in the Boston area, where the Ragons live and work.

FUNDING AREAS: Health, Education, Religious Institutions, Boston Community

IP TAKE: A centerpiece of the couple's philanthropy is the Ragon Institute of Harvard, MIT, and Massachusetts General Hospital, which focuses on HIV research. The foundation has no website and does not accept unsolicited requests.

PROFILE: Phillip Terry Ragon is the son of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. He grew up in variety of states and spent his senior year at a high school in Bogota, Colombia. Ragon graduated from MIT in 1971, and is the founder, CEO, and sole owner of InterSystems, a health database management services company. His net worth has been around $1.81 billion. Ragon's wife, Susan, is Vice President of Finance, Administration and Recruitment at InterSystems.

Intersystems is headquartered in Cambridge and the Ragons live in the Boston area. In 2003, the couple founded the Phillip and Susan Ragon Foundation, which makes a lot of its grants in and around Boston. With some exception years, like 2013 when $6.7 million in grants was made, past grantmaking has generally totaled under $500,000 annually. Mind you, we're just talking about the foundation. The Ragons have been involved in charity in other ways as well.

The Phillip and Susan Ragon Foundation has supported a number of Boston-based churches and religious outfits. Recent money has gone to St. Peters Parish, St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Church, Cathedral of the Holy Cross, among several others. Many of these institutions have been funded on an annual basis, though grants for each rarely exceed $50,000 a year. 

Insights about Ragon's dedication to religious organizations may come from the couple's support of Instituto San Pablo Apostol, a religious school in Bogota which received nearly half a million in 2013 and more modest support in prior years. It's unclear if this is the school that Ragon himself attended, but it's clear that Ragon's experiences as a student in Colombia influenced him: "Why did I have so many privileges and they had none?" 

Ragon's experiences abroad aren't just limited to Colombia, either. He's said that a trip to South Africa allowed him to see the ravages of AIDS firsthand, and in 2009, Ragon and Susan established the Ragon Institute in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard and his alma mater MIT, to pursue the development of an HIV vaccine. The couple has pledged $100 million over a ten-year period toward the project, which is focused on finding a vaccine for the disease, as well as other autoimmune diseases.

The couple's commitment to Massachussetts General Hospital (MGH) started even before the Ragon Institute. At least $2 million went to the hospital in 2007, and at least $4 million went to the hospital in 2008. Ragon is currently a trustee at MGH and also served as co-chair of the MGH campaign.

Other Boston health outfits that have seen support recently include the Joslin Diabetes Center and Boston Children’s Hospital Trust. The Boston location of Oxfam-America also recently saw support from the Ragons.

Unsurprisingly, Ragon has been involved with his alma mater, MIT. He's a member of the MIT Corporation, the governing body of MIT, and chairs the Visiting Committee that reviews the Physics Department. MIT received $6 million in a recent year.

The couple has also been a steady supporter of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club in Boston.

The Ragon Foundation doesn't have a website, and doesn't accept unsolicted requests.

PEOPLE:

• Phillip T. Ragon, Trustee
• Susan M. Ragon, Trustee
  

CONTACT:

Phillip and Susan Ragon Foundation
P.O. Box 380281
Cambridge, MA 02238
(617) 225-3001

OVERVIEW: Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation is committed to the Greater Boston area and primarily funds fellowships and scholarships for medical research and public policy. The foundation also funds art prizes for emerging and promising contemporary artists and music composers. 

FUNDING AREAS: Public policy, neurologic and mental illness, medical research, art

IP TAKE: The Rappaport Foundation doesn’t publicize an open request for proposals or accept unsolicited grant requests from nonprofits. However, it is committed pretty exclusively to the Boston metropolitan area, and it’s all about strengthening local leadership. 

PROFILE: The Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation was established by Jerome “Jerry” Rappaport in 1997. Although Jerry was a native New Yorker, he spent his adult life in Boston and remained committed to the goal of shaping a better future for the people of Boston. This political activist, real-estate developer, and philanthropist served in the John Hynes Mayoral administration and created the New Boston Committee in 1950. He worked in policy-level public service and as an attorney before creating the New Boston Fund in 1993, which owns, develops, and operates over 15 million square feet of office, research and development, warehouse, and residential real estate.

Although public policy, medical research, and art seem to be completely unrelated grantmaking program areas on the surface, the foundation insists they are not. These are the areas that the board of directors feel have the greatest need for leadership strengthening in Greater Boston right now. The Rappaport Foundation’s strongest partnerships are with Harvard University, Suffolk Law School, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Cure Alzheimer's Fund, and the DeCordova Sculpture Park & Art Museum.

In the policy realm, the Rappaport Foundation supports non-partisan research related to public issues like housing, transportation, education, crime prevention. It also supports initiatives that connect political leaders to industry experts and in innovators in academia. Rappaport offers a Public Policy Fellowship and Policy and Law Fellowship Program for gradjuate level students where fellows spend 10 weeks working in state and local government offices in the Greater Boston area. 

Since there is still much mystery that surrounds the cause of mental illness, the Rappaport Foundation commits a significant portion of its assets to research for neurologic and mental health diseases. Rappaport funds a fellowship at McLean Hospital, a research scholarship at Massachusetts General Hospital, a scholars fund at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and contributes to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.

The Rappaport Foundation supports the arts because of the way they influence life in Boston, much like policy and research do. With a focus on contemporary art, the foundation seeks inspiration and appreciation for artists in the region today. It funds the Rappaport Prize an annual art award presented by the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Rappaport has awarded a $25,000 prize to a contemporary American artist each year since 2000, making it one of the largest and longest-running art prizes in the country. In a past year, the foundation awarded the Rappaport Prize for Music Composition, which was a $100,000 grant to promote and recognize America's emerging and promising composers.

Three Rappaport family members serve on foundation’s board of directors and Jerry’s wife, Phyllis Rappaport, chairs the board. Stephen P. Johnson began serving as the foundation’s Executive Director after 13 years with the Boston philanthropy consulting firm, The Philanthropic Initiative. In a recent year, the foundation reported over $22 million in assets and $719,848 in total giving. For comparison, the previous year saw over $18.5 million in assets and $446,600 in total giving.

Unfortunately for grantseekers, the Rappaport Foundation does not typically accept unsolicited grant requests from nonprofits. But in addition to the areas mentioned above, local grants have recently gone to Samaritans, the Cambridge Health Alliance, Winsor School, and the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park. To keep up with what the Rappaport Foundation is doing, check out the foundation’s news section or reach out to Executive Director Stephen Johnson at 617-878-7773 or via email at sjohnson@rappaportfoundation.org.

PEOPLE:

• Stephen P. Johnson, Executive Director

LINKS:

• Foundation Mission
• The Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston

IP POSTS:

• Shaping Public Policy in Boston: The Rappaport Foundation Strategy

OVERVIEW: This funder supports early education, employment, and year-around/after school enrichment for preteens and teens. Programs that support disadvantaged Jewish populations in Boston are of particular interest.

FUNDING AREAS: Family partnering in early education, employment and self-sufficiency, and active learning for preteens and teens

IP TAKE: Make sure to highlight how your program serves Boston’s Jewish community as part of its overall goal. Tie “lifelong learning” into your proposal, regardless of what program area you’re applying to.

PROFILE: The A.C. Ratshesky Foundation was founded in 1916 and adopted its current name in 1930. Abraham C. “Cap” Ratshesky was a Boston native and a son of Jewish immigrants. He and his brother founded the United States Trust Company, which provided Jewish immigrants with access to capital and banking services. He was a social activist and politician, having served in the Massachusetts Republican State Committee, the Republican National Convention in 1904, the Massachusetts State Legislature, and as a United States Minister to Czechoslovakia.

Ratshesky’s philanthropic endeavors included the Beth Israel Hospital, the Boston Chapter of the Red Cross, and disaster relief efforts. Through his giving, he wished to remove the barriers to economic and social justice for Jewish and other immigrant groups. Today, the foundation focuses grantmaking on early education, employment, and active learning for preteens and teens.

The Family Partnering in Early Education program supports causes that create learning environments at home to supplement school education. The focus here is on prevention, mentoring, language development, and reading and math readiness. The foundation’s goal is to close the achievement gap through early learning development.

The Employment and Self-Sufficiency program supports causes that help people find employment through education, vocational services, cultural orientation, English training, job placement, and on-the-job training. Ratshesky likes to see programs that target low-income and dislocated workers, use technology for monitoring, and ones that build formal employer relationships.

Active Learning grants are awarded to after-school and year-around enrichment programs for teens and preteens. The foundation chooses grantees that focus on real-world relevance, multiple interdisciplinary perspectives, and ill-defined problems.

Regardless of the focus area, the foundation tends to support organizations and programs that serve disadvantaged Jewish populations in the Boston area. Past grants can be viewed on the foundation website.

Proposal deadlines fall on October 1, February 1, and July 1 each year. And grants are restricted to groups that serve Metro Boston communities within Route 495. The grant guidelines page provides the following statement:

Grant requests for $10,000 toward a program budget of $150,000 or from organization with an annual budget of $1 million, for example, are typically ranked a higher priority than requests to support a $300,000 program from large organizations with relatively strong fundraising capacity and many sources of funding.

Most grants support programs that provide direct services. This is important to know, because some local funders have shied away from direct service funding lately. General operating support and multi-year grants are rare, but not unheard of. In recent years, the foundation has reported over $7.4 million in assets.

According to Roberta Morse Levy, VP of the Ratshesky Foundation, a characteristic that Ratshesky grantees tend to share is that “they all are part of a continuum that supports lifelong learning and they all collaborate closely with a network of allied organizations to help people succeed.”

After trustee meetings, the foundation board updates its website to explain its funding decisions and priorities to prospective grantees. Each one of the trustees is a descendent of the founder, so this giving is truly a family affair. The board typically meets three times per year to review grant applications and make decisions. About 20 to 30 grants are made per year, ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 each, and the application process is all explained online.

Interested grantseekers are encouraged to contact GMA with any questions before submitting a funding request. The GMA Foundation administrator is Prentice Zinn, who can be reached at 617-391-3091 or pzinn@gmafoundations.com. Keep in mind that for every 35 to 45 applications that this funder receives, only about 10 of them receive funding.

PEOPLE:

• Prentice Zinn, Foundation Administrator
• Chaletta Huertas, Program Officer
• Laurie Morse Sprague, President
• Roberta Morse Levy, Vice President

LINKS:

• Areas of Focus
• Applying for Grants
• Grant Application

IP POSTS:

• How to Catch the Ratshesky Foundation’s Attention in Boston 

OVERVIEW: The Schooner Foundation was built upon the success of a Boston-based investment firm and has developed both a local and a global focus. Although the international programs revolve around human rights, the local programs are more centered on politics and the media.

FUNDING AREAS: Progressive media, campaign finance reform, the green economy, investigative reporting and judicial reform.

IP TAKE: If your organization has Republican overtones, you probably won't fare well with Schooner. The foundation donates a good portion of its money towards liberal and progressive political causes that the Schooner team is very opinionated about.

PROFILE: Many philanthropic foundations shy away from politics, but the Schooner Foundation likes to be in the middle of what's going on in Washington, DC. Since 1996, the Schooner Capital LLC investment company has been channeling its profits into a foundation to support human rights and other charitable causes around the world.

Even though Schooner operates on a global spectrum, a large portion of the grant money stays in Boston each year. A guy named Vin Ryan started the investment firm back in 1971 and has been instrumental in directing the foundation towards specific interests. In addition to the firm foundation, Ryan has served as the director Marine Biological Laboratory, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Physicians for Human Rights, and Survivor Corps.

Since human rights abuses are oftentimes more critical overseas that here at home, The Schooner Foundation focuses its attention to a different array of matters in the Boston area. While the foundation's international focus remains fixed on peace, security, women's rights, and economic opportunities, the national focus is on progressive media, campaign finance reform, green economy, investigative reporting, and judicial reform. Therefore, much of the local grants make their way to political organizations and activist groups. Ryan and his co-workers clearly have an idea about how this country should be run and the status quo isn't living up to their standards.

Regardless of the zip code, Schooner grants are usually awarded to advocacy groups and organizations needing to build capacity or that are in need of technical assistance. Specific project grants, multi-year funding grants, and fellowships are also common. And don't forget about political leaders either. Schooner contributed over $100,000 last year to political candidates and party committees that share the same viewpoints. It should be noted the top candidate recipients are always Democrats, including the representatives from Massachusetts, Florida, Virginia, Hawaii, and even Barack Obama.

Not only is Schooner unorthodox in its political involvement, but also in the fact that the foundation regularly donates to professorships, consulting services, seed money needs, and capital campaigns. A few past grants in the Boston area include $525,000 to Democracy Fund Inc., $200,000 to Boston University's School of Social Work and $133,000 to Brigham and Women's Hospital.  Schooner grants aren't the largest in the industry by any means, and rarely exceed half a million dollars.

At the end of a recent year, the funder reported over $159 million in assets and more than $6 million in total giving. For comparison, just two years earlier, the foundation reported over $24.7 million in assets and more than $3.4 million in total giving spread across 90 grants.

The foundation does not accept unsolicited grant proposals and doesn't share its grantmaking procedures for the world to see. If you are running a standard non-profit organization, Schooner might not be your best bet for funding. However, political advocacy groups who typically have very few foundations to turn to may find a friend in Schooner. The best way to initiate contact is by email at theschoonerfoundation@gmail.com.

PEOPLE:

• Vincent Ryan, Founder, CEO, and Donor
• Cynthia Ryan, Trustee

LINKS:

• Foundation Web Page
• Open Secrets Profile

OVERVIEW: Shapiro grants go to a variety of causes in the Greater Boston area, and recently health programs and hospitals have been major beneficiaries. Other areas of interest include arts, education, Jewish causes, and social welfare. Grants are made through a request for proposal system.

One of the hallmarks of Carl and Ruth Shapiro is that they pay a lot of attention to detail. They don't just write a check, they become real partners of the institution.

— Dr. Gary Gottlieb, past president, Brigham and Women's Hospital

The Shapiro Family Foundation's grantmaking interests fall into the categories of arts and culture, education, health and hospitals, Jewish causes, and social welfare. Grantmaking initiatives have included the following:

Disability Inclusion. This grantmaking program aims to give disabled individuals a better quality of life through the development and implementation of new assistive technologies. This program also awards grants to organizations that repair and redistribute assistive and adaptive equipment. Check out the foundation's funding approach for more detailed information. Recent grants out of this program include:

Linda Waintrup assumed the rold of foundation president in 2015 after the passing of Ronny Zinner. General questions can be directed to her at info@shapirofamilyfdn.org.

IP POSTS:

OVERVIEW: This funder supports health, education, and economic mobility causes in the Greater Boston area. It provides small and mid-sized capital grants that local groups can apply for.

FUNDING AREAS: Health, education, economic mobility

IP TAKE: Parks and green spaces are emerging as big causes for this Boston-focused funder, so there’s a great opportunity here for mid-sized local organizations that have capital needs.

PROFILE: The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation (RSSFF) is all about assisting economically disadvantaged families and individuals in Greater Boston. The founders lived their lives in Boston and were committed to supporting people in their home communities. They established a foundation in 1970 from the sales of the family businesses, Harcourt General and Neiman Marcus.

The foundation’s key funding areas are health, education and economic mobility. The health program supports biomedical research and expansion of access to care at safety net institutions. Low-income residents of Greater Boston are the grantmaking target, and Boston’s world-class institutions typically receive the biomedical support. Quality of diabetes care is important to this funder.

Urban education grants are awarded to groups who emphasize advancement for socio-economically disadvantaged youth. This is a supporter of non-traditional public schools working to close Massachusetts’ achievement gap. RSSFF often awards grants for teacher and administrator development and to replicate charter schools to expand their facilities.

The foundation awards economic mobility grants to groups that help low-income individuals learn the skills they need to move up and have more opportunities for careers and in life. Funding in this category is focused on English as a second language programs and support for people who were formerly homeless.

Overall, RSSFF awards about $15 million in grants each year. It awards mid-sized capital grants for projects with budgets between $250,000 and $3 million. This is for discrete and identifiable projects, like parks, community facilities and public art installations. It also awards small capital grants to groups as one-time expenses to boost nonprofits’ ability to achieve their mission. These grants commonly go towards purchase of vehicles, equipment and facility improvements, and are designed for agencies with operating budgets under $3 million.

Nonprofits in the Boston area can apply for mid-sized capital grants and small capital grants. However, all other grants are made by invitation only. The grant guidelines for these two programs can be found on the funder’s website. All applicants must serve people in the Greater Boston area.

This foundation is run by three generations of the Smith family, and the staff is based in Newton. Keep up with the foundation in its news section. General questions can be directed to (857) 404-0700 or info@smithfamilyfoundation.net.

PEOPLE:

• Lynne J. Doblin, Executive Director
• Shanna Shulman, PhD, Senior Program Officer
• Amy Hampe, Program Associate
  

LINKS:

• Grant Eligibility
• Apply for a Grant

IP POSTS:

• The Tragic Story Behind the Smith Family Foundation’s New Boston Park Grant
• Richard & Susan Smith Family Foundation Focuses on Charter Schools
• This Wellness Center Got a Big Boost from the Richard & Susan Smith Family Foundation

OVERVIEW: The State Street Foundation is an investment corporation philanthropy that awards grants to education and workforce development organizations both locally and globally. Grant applications are accepted by online submission throughout the year from organizations based in places where the company operates.

FUNDING AREAS: Education, job skills, college success, credentials, work experience, adult literacy, workforce development

IP TAKE: Pitch a proposal that focuses on getting high school students ready for college the workforce. State Street wants to work with organizations that crank out productive members of society by putting kids into traditional and secure employment environments.

PROFILE: You could say that the State Street investment and securities giant is already trying to train a future generation of employees. The Boston-based financial services holding company is using its grantmaking budget to get people educated and ready to clock in for a good ole' 9-5 job. And in fact, the State Street Foundation has thirty-nine community support committees in twenty-six different countries working to make that possible.

In a recent year, State Street was named the top charitable contributor in the state of Massachusettes. In 2012, State Street provided more than $21 million in charitable contributions. State Street Executive Vice President, Alison Quirk, added,  "Last year, our employees globally gave more than 87,000 hours of volunteer time to nonprofit groups and donated approximately $2.7 million through State Street's Matching Gift program and Global Giving Campaign." The foundation was also named in Working Mother magazine's "100 Best Companies" list because of its progressive programs, child care, and paid family leave.

The history of the State Street Corporation goes back to 1792, making it the second oldest financial institution in the whole country. However the corporation foundation has only been operating on the grant scene since 2006. The foundation almost exclusively operates to provide funding for training programs that make disadvantaged people employable and therefore, self-sufficient and productive members of society. The main targets of State Street grants tend to be people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, youth, and the economically disadvantaged.

Current areas of focus are education, job readiness, college success, credentials, work experience, and employment. Education and workforce development are the two two funded categories.

Boston-based non-profits get a lot of special attention because the corporation is based here, but the foundation also spreads its love around to the other locations where it conducts company operations. This includes the states of California, Illinois, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as a scattering of countries in Europe and Asia. Overall, it awards grants to nonprofits and NGOs in 26 countries. To show how global of a corporation State Street really is, the foundation even accepts grant proposals in French, German, Italian, and Polish.

State Street grants tend to be between $500,000 and $750,000, and the foundation gives out several hundred of those each year. Some past grants in the Boston area include $1.9 million to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, $250,000 to Action for Boston Community Development, $250,000 to Year Up Inc., and $200,000 to the Boston Foundation.

At the end of a recent year, the foundation claimed over $53 million in assets and over $12 million in total giving.

The foundation has considered proposals that ask for everything from annual campaign funds to building renovations, emergency funds, program development, and sponsorships. The grantmaking process is separate for domestic and international causes, so your organization will only be competing against your closer neighbors.

Organizations have a two-step application process to follow, which includes a preliminary grant application and a full grant application. To get the ball rolling, just log on to the foundation's online portal and provide all the right answers on the eligibility quiz. If you pass, you complete a preliminary application, wait eight weeks for approval, fill out a full application, and wait another 12 weeks for approval. Everything's done online, and State Street accepts applications on a rolling basis throughout the year.

The philanthropic process is fairly segmented within the State Street Corporation, and there's plenty of separate support committees, donor programs, volunteering programs, community event sponsorships, and community development initiates to keep its thousands of employees busy. Don't get lost in the web and stick to the grantmaking program if you run a Boston non-profit. It helps to be computer-savvy when applying for a State Street grant, and the best way to ask a grant-related question is via online form.

PEOPLE:

• Amanda Northrop, Vice President of Grants

LINKS: 

• Nonprofit Grants

OVERVIEW: Although the Stoneman Foundation once exclusively served education, health, and Jewish causes in Boston, the next generation of Stonemans has expanded to other issues and regions. The foundation does not make itself very accessible to grantseekers, so organizations will have to work through the the family's attorneys or philanthropic advisory group. Stoneman awards around $5 million $7 million in annual grants.

IP TAKE: Since the younger Stonemans feel an obligation to keep Boston organizations on the front burner, education and poverty organizations have a good chance at $10,000 or $20,000. Make sure your program pitches a solution to a problem and doesn't just mask the symptoms.

PROFILE: Few families have articulated and published a formal legacy statement, but the Stoneman Family is one that has. Sidney Stoneman, cofounder of the General Cinema movie chain and honorary director of Harcourt General, established a foundation in 1957 and named it after his parents, Anne and David. For about 30 years, Stoneman ran his foundation quietly with his wife and dished out money to the Boston Orchestra, medical centers, and Jewish causes in Boston, where the couple lived. However, more formality was deemed necessary when the Stonemans tried to make philanthropy a family affair.

The Stoneman Foundation made the history books as an example of how donors can address charitable issues and family issues at the same time. Stoneman's daughters and grandchildren wanted to take the foundation in a different direction by sending funds to grassroots organizations serving poverty-stricken populations in the southern United States. To make everyone happy, Stoneman devised a power-sharing agreement that split the foundation's assets in half between him and his wife and the younger generations.

According to the legacy statement that was approved by the board in 1997, a fair amount of funds must always stay in Boston and with Jewish organizations. After some legally binding documents were passed around and signed, the Stoneman Foundation was solidified as a family affair with guidance but not requirements. As the statement goes, a majority of the board members must be relatives or otherwise the foundation will be liquidated.

If you want to get in touch with the family today, though, you'll have to go through its lawyers first. Grants Management Associates was hired back in 1989 to administer the grantmaking. The foundation remains a family affair, and a very private one at that.

Most Stoneman grants in the past have gone to education, human services, and Jewish causes in the Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, D.C. areas. These grants are usually for general support, program development, and investment loans, and they range from $3,000 to $900,000 a piece, with the average at about $10,000. The foundation usually awards less than 100 grants like these each year, making Stoneman considerably smaller than some of the other big players around Boston.

The current goal of the foundation is an economic justice one: to help low-income people achieve independence and self-sufficiency. At the end of 20a recent year, the foundation reported over $123 million in assets and more than $4.9 million in total giving. Overall giving has remained fairly steady over recent years.

As a general rule, Stoneman likes to address underlying causes rather than treat symptoms with its grants. Pitch a program that uses entrepreneurial approaches to providing leadership opportunities for disadvantaged populations and leverage additional funding. Historically, Stoneman has required an initial 1-2-page letter of inquiry, with full application forms completed later For more information, contact Mott Philanthropic LLC's Julia M. Toulmin at 617-927-5700 or the Office of Goulston & Storrs at 617-482-1776.

PEOPLE:

• Julia M. Toulmin, Mott Philanthropic Grants Manager

LINKS:

• Living the Legacy

OVERVIEW: The Swartz Foundation was formed by Sidney Swartz's portion of the Timberland Company fortune. The foundation contributes almost exclusively to Jewish-related causes but keeps involved with medical research institutions in the Boston area as well.

IP TAKE: Catching an attorney — a partner, for that matter — on the phone is no easy feat. However, Robert Shapiro is pretty much the only way into the Swartz Foundation. If you're doing a little Internet research on the foundation, be sure to look for the Boston Swartz's and not the Swartz Foundation or Swartz Trust that are both based in New York.

PROFILE: If you've ever been in the market for a good pair of work boots, you're already a little familiar with the Swartz Foundation. The foundation's donor, Sidney Swartz, is the son of the sturdy shoe-making entrepreneur who started the Timberland Company. Sidney's dad started off his career in the shoe business by becoming an apprentice stitcher in Boston. When Sidney took over the family business, he had enormous success transforming Timberland into a lifestyle brand that also makes clothes, watches, glasses, and leather goods.

Sidney and his wife, Judith, started the philanthropic foundation in 1994 to channel their wealth toward charity, but they keep their business pretty low-key and tight-lipped. The Swartz Foundation doesn't have a website or any published guidelines for grantseekers. Instead, it lists its attorney's name and address on contact forms.

The vast majority of Swartz Foundation funds go to Jewish temples and Jewish-based organizations in the Boston area. Medical research organizations also receive a good portion of Swartz grants each year. One of the couple's newsworthy grants was a $50 million award to create an emergency medicine center at Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, which was appropriately named after them.

Most of the past grants in the Boston area have gone to the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, with the grants ranging from $32,000 to $3.2 million. The foundation does consider other non-profit organizations in the city for grants, but recipients are almost always rooted in the Jewish faith. Swartz doesn't give out a lot of grants each year, but the grants are huge when they are awarded.

At the end of a recent year, the foundation reported over $198 millionin assets and $667,350 in total giving. For comparison, the funder claimed $212 million in assets and more than $12.3 million in total giving the previous year.

Although Sidney Swartz instilled a sense of philanthropy in his son, who took his turn running the Timberland business, the foundation isn't a family affair by any means. Before he sold off the company for $2 billion, Jeffrey Swartz made corporate responsibility a priority in the family business. And when the idealistic Jeffrey retired at the age of 51 to find his purpose in life, he set out to save the world on his own terms.

It may not be easy to get hold of someone at the Swartz Foundation, but there is money to be won if you're running a Jewish organization in Boston. For more information, contact Ropes & Gray's Robert Shapiro at 617-951-7000.

PEOPLE:

• Janet C. Taylor, Philanthropic Adviser
• Sidney Swartz, Donor
• Robert N. Shapiro, Partner at Ropes & Gray LLP

LINKS:

• FAQ Profile
• Company Profile

OVERVIEW: This funder supports Greater Boston nonprofits working in healthy food accessibility and programs that get urban youth involved in farming and gardening. It’s also a strong supporter of teacher training in Boston Public Schools.

FUNDING AREAS: Community health and wellness, education policy and practice, teacher preparation, access to healthy foods, youth gardening and farming

IP TAKE: Innovative ideas for urban farming and teacher preparation may catch Trefler’s attention in Boston. Less is more, so keep your communications short and to the point.

PROFILE: Established in 1996, this is a private family foundation that focuses a great deal of its support in the Boston area. Some targeted support is provided nationally and internationally, too. Pam and Alan Trefler started the foundation through a “deep, long-term engagement at Dorchester High School, a district high school in the Boston Public School system that was facing grave academic and administrative challenges.” Dorchester Academy is what the post-restructuring entity is called, and a place where the couple focuses on food and nutrition support. Alan Trefler founded Pegasystems and built the company into a $600 million provider of strategic applications with 3,000+ employees in 30 global offices.

There are two priority areas at the Trefler Foundation: Community Health & Wellness and Education & Youth Development. The funder’s health program focuses on urban communities and supports programs that improve school food, prepare healthy meals, and teach inner-city youth about gardening and farming. You can view past Health & Wellness grants by theme on the foundation website, and new partnerships to benefit neighborhood wellness are ongoing. Trefler also funds research on colorectal cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital and access to screenings at MGH/Chelsea.

Trefler’s education program is centered on local public education. The foundation has played a big role in restructuring Boston district high schools, most notably Dorchester High School. In the past, most education funding backed policy strategies to transform teacher education. Trefler has been part of a group of Massachusetts funders dedicated to teacher preparation. Teacher prep programs are ranked by state and institution on a national scale, and this is a cause that Trefler has been very interested in. But more recently, the foundation has taken more interest in youth violence prevention than teacher prep.

The funder has also become involved in international education by supporting a small village in Kenya. The village is called Koru, and Trefler has made a multi-year commitment for construction of a new school building and provision of literature and curriculum materials.

Pam Trefler describes the foundation’s theory of change behind its grantmaking like this: “Dollars spent wisely investing in areas of need to create sustainable change—basically, teach a man to fish.”

Past Trefler support has gone to Year Up, Boston Partners in Education, Summer Search, East Boston High School, and Fenway High School. The foundation launched an initiative called Teach Next Year that prepares high school teachers for the classroom by collaborating with the University of Massachusetts Boston in a unique master’s degree and licensure program. Past grantees can be viewed on the foundation website.

According to Pam, “Our grantees, as a group, tend to be innovative, vibrant, focused, data- and mission-driven organizations. In other words, our grantees understand that 'not-for-profit' doesn’t mean 'not-for business.'”

Unfortunately, the foundation does not accept unsolicited grant proposals. However, it’s entrenched in the Boston community and always keeping an eye out for new innovators.

Pam Trefler offered me a piece of advice that she would share with prospective grantees:

While we don’t accept unsolicited grant requests, we are deeply committed to finding the most innovative and effective change makers in all the areas that we focus on. That being said, we always value an organization that can succinctly define their work and effectiveness without submitting a tome. It shows you have understanding and a focus of your mission—in other words, less is often more!

General questions can be directed to the foundation at 617-454-1135 or via email at info@treflerfoundation.org.

PEOPLE:

• Christine Green, President
• Pam Trefler, Founder, Director, Managing Trustee
• Alan Trefler, Founder

LINKS:

• Community Health & Wellness
• Education Policy & Practice

IP POSTS:

• The Boston Philanthropist Behind a Start-Up Aiming to Get People to "Shop for Good"

OVERVIEW: The Vela Foundation supports nutrition, health and fitness programs in Eastern Massachusetts. Although the foundation is based in Boston, the nearby cities of Dorchester, Roxbury, Everett, Allston, Dartmouth, Fall River, and Jamaica Plain are also common grantee locations. The average grant is between $5,000 and $15,000.

FUNDING AREAS: Health, nutrition, fitness, access to healthy foods

IP TAKE: The Vela Foundation has been funding more nutrition education programs than anything else lately. Many of these nutrition programs have a parent-child focus to support the prevention of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Family cooking and fitness classes are often favored by Vela.

PROFILE: With a focus on improving nutrition and wellness in eastern Massachusetts, the Vela Foundation aims to tackle health conditions associated with obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Formerly known as the Bernadette T. Rehnert Charitable Trust, the Vela Foundation was established in 2007 in Boston.  

Since its inception, the Vela Foundation has funded organizations that improve access to healthy foods and encourage fitness through nutrition education and physical activity. The grantmaking emphasis is on underserved communities in eastern Massachusetts, and the staff looks for programs that improve nutrition literacy, access to healthy foods, and improved fitness. Preference is generally given to nonprofits that incorporate a strong family engagement principle in fitness programs and also to advocacy programs that promote systemic change. It’s certainly not uncommon to see this smaller foundation collaborate with other organizations and funders that have similar priorities.

Bernadette T. Rehnert is the founding trustee of the foundation, and she’s also served on the Board of Directors of FUEL Education in Boston and as a Board Member for the Boys and Girls Club of Boston. As a long-time supporter of charity, Rehnert has contributed to local grassroots efforts, including donating 150 turkeys to low-income families at Thanksgiving. "It's not only in lower-income communities. There are areas right around here, in Waltham, for instance, where people go hungry," she said about the widespread hunger in the region.

At the end of 2011, the foundation reported over $1.6 million in total assets and just over $14,000 in total giving. That year’s giving expenditures went toward just three grants. Foundation grantmaking has been on the rise since then.

At the end of a more recent year, the foundation had over $4.9 million in assets and gave away more than $177,000. One nutrition education grants in Boston went to Home for Little Wanders and a food assistance grant to Women's Lunch Place. Vela also made physical activity grants to Community Rowing, Inc. in Brighton and MetroLacrose in Jamaica Plain. In addition to Boston, the nearby cities of Dorchester, Roxbury, Everett, Allston, Dartmouth, Fall River, and Jamaica Plain are also common grantee locations. Pretty much all grants have been between $5,000 and $25,000. A list of recent grants can be found here.

To apply for a Vela grant, your organization needs to serve eastern Massachusetts. Letters of inquiry are accepted on a rolling basis. Only digital submissions are accepted, and you can fill out the online contact form with general questions. Check out the foundation's news section for recent updates.

PEOPLE:

• Bernadette Rehnert, Founding Trustee

LINKS:

• How to Apply
• Foundation News

OVERVIEW: The Wagner Family Foundation was established from Herbert S. Wagner III's success as an investment banker with the Baupost Group in Boston. Although the foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications, it awards much of its grant money to Massachusetts organizations in education, medicine, and human services.

IP TAKE: The Wagner Family Foundation's operations are generally handled by its law firm, with seemingly little family involvement. Elementary and secondary education proposals are your best bet for catching Wagner's attention if your call gets put through.

PROFILE: Herbert S. Wagner III could perhaps write the book on investment banking, and he very well might do so now that he has left his $20 billion firm. Until 2012, Wagner was managing director of the Baupost Group, overseeing billions of dollars of mortgage debt, structured products, and equity investments. Before that, he rose through the ranks at Appaloosa Management L.P., Putnam Investments, and the First National Bank of Chicago (a.k.a. JPMorgan Chase). He's accumulated so much wealth along the way that he called it quits to manage it all.

Wagner and his wife, Charlotte, established the Wagner Family Foundation in 2003 to make their charitable giving official. Most Wagner grants make their way to elementary and secondary school programs, universities, hospitals, and human services organizations. Massachusetts is the focal point of the foundation, so Boston-based organizations will compete only against their neighbors for funding.

Past grants around the city have included $1.75 million ot Partners in Health, $350,000 to Facing History and Ourselves and $275,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Boston. At the end of a recent year, the foundation reported over $97 million in assets and over $4.5 million in total giving. For comparison, the funder claimed $91.7 in assets and more than $3.2 million in total giving the previous year.

Unfortunately for grantseekers, the Wagner Foundation doesn't have a website or appear to accept grant applications. Since Herbert likes to stay local, it's safe to say that he contributes to familiar organizations that have a proven track record of success and a reputation to match. The foundation usually gives out 25 to 50 grants each year totaling $3 to $4 million, with most grants ranging from $2,500 to $2 million. Herbert has been actively involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston as a board member as well.

Even though Herbert is "retired," he prefers to not field your phone calls with grant questions. He's hired the law firm of Nutter McClennen & Fish to handle the foundation's operations. He lives in Cambridge with his family, but he has always seemed to have a soft spot in his heart for inner-city Boston kids. To get in touch, try putting in a call to 617-439-2498 or sending an old fashioned letter to P.O. Box 51400, Boston, MA 02205-1400. 

PEOPLE:

• Herbert S. Wagner III, Donor
• Charlotte R. Cramer Wagner, Trustee

LINK:

• Contact Information
• Find the Company
  

OVERVIEW: The Yawkey Foundation is a longtime Boston funder, typically providing more than $20 million in annual funding to area nonprofits. The majority of its grantmaking is around health, education, and youth programs, although Yawkey supports a wide range of causes. Of note, the foundation only works with organizations it has funded in the past.

IP TAKE: Even though a majority of Yawkey's grants go to health-care organizations, about $1 million goes to conservation and wildlife causes each year. Since this program area is often overlooked by Boston foundations, keep Yawkey in mind if you're an environmentalist.

PROFILE: If you live in Boston, there's a good chance you've heard the name Yawkey, especially if you root for the Red Sox. For outsiders, the Yawkey family was the longtime owner of the franchise. But the storied franchise is just a small part of the Yawkeys' legacy. In 2002, the Red Sox was sold, giving the Yawkey Foundation a $380 million cash infusion. Although Tom and Jean Yawkey have died, they left behind a fortune to go toward philanthropy, primarily in the Greater Boston area. 

Yawkye Foundation I is focused on Georgetown County, South Carolina, so we'll be focusing on Yawkey Foundation II here in this Boston profile.

The Yawkey Foundation II now holds assets of roughly $458 million and contributes around $21 million to local nonprofits and organizations. The majority of funding "emulates the Yawkeys' tradition of giving," focusing on education, health care, human services, youth and amateur athletics, arts and culture, and conservation and wildlife.

The remaining grant funds are awarded to the arts and culture (8%) and conservation and wildlife (4%) programs. Although those percentages don't seem like much, they still add up to about $2 million a year in grants for arts and culture and $1 million for conservation and wildlife. 

Unfortunately, Yawkey has a few barriers when it comes to getting funding. Currently, the foundation only accepts grant applications from organizations it has worked with in the past. For most qualifying organizations, grant funding is available up to $25,000.

Although Yawkey asks that grantseekers limit their request for funding to $25,000, a look at the foundation's long list of recent grantmaking seems to show this limit is not a hard-and-fast rule. It's true, about 60% of all Yawkey grants made annually come in at $25,000. But the remaining 40% range from $30,000 to $525,000, with a handful, such as those mentioned above, coming in at more than $1 million.

Check the grant guidelines page and the news page for current updates on the grantmaking process. Current application deadlines can be found here. Questions from grantseekers can be directed to Nancy Brodnicki, Yawkey Foundations' programs administrator, at (781) 329-7470.

PEOPLE:

• James Healey, President
• Kristen Whelan, Yawkey Scholars Program

LINKS:

• Grant guidelines
• Application process

IP POSTS:

OVERVIEW: The Sidman Family Foundation's Boston grantmaking involves supporting local hospitals, Jewish organizations, and more. Personal connections seem to animate much of this family's giving. 

FUNDING AREAS: Health & Human Services, Jewish Causes, Education & Youth, Arts & Culture 

IP TAKE: The foundation keeps a low-profile and does not appear to accept unsolicited proposals. Networking will be key for getting on this funder's radar.

PROFILE:  The Sidman Family Foundation is steered by the Sidman family who have strong ties to the Boston area. The foundation's president is Paula Sidman. Paula's father, the late Norman B. Leventhal was a real estate developer who helped shape the Boston skyline. Paula's husband, the late Edwin Sidman, meanwhile, joined Leventhal's company. 

The family foundation is also steered by Paula's daughter, Hope Sidman, CEO of H2O Applied Technologies, and Paula's son, Matthew Sidman, founder of hedge fund firm Three Bays Capital. In the most recent fiscal year on record, the foundation gave under $40,000, an usually low amount. In prior recent years, however, the foundation gave away in the neighborhood of $1 million annually.

The foundation's Boston grantmaking involves health and human services outfits like Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Children's Hospital Trust, which has received particularly large sums recently.

The Sidmans also support Jewish organizations in Boston, forces which involve several generations of family members. There's the Leventhal-Sidman JCC in the Boston area. The Sidmans, via their foundation, continue to support the JCC of Greater Boston. Other grantees have included and Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, where Edwin once served as chair.

The Sidmans help fund education and youth outfits in Boston like Boys & Girls Club of Boston, Jump Start, Neighborhood House Charter School, and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. Away from Boston, the Sidmans support Matthew and Hope's alma mater, Duke University.

It's worth mentioning that Norman Leventhal was active with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, which the Sidmans have supported through their foundation. The family has also supported local arts and culture in Boston, including the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library. 

PEOPLE: 

• Paula Sidman, President/Director
• Hope Sidman, Treasurer/Director
• Matthew Sidman, Assistant Treasurer 

CONTACT:

The Sidman Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family, but below is an address:

OVERVIEW: This funder supports health, education, and economic mobility causes in the Greater Boston area. It provides small and mid-sized capital grants that local groups can apply for.

FUNDING AREAS: Health, education, economic mobility

IP TAKE: Parks and green spaces are emerging as big causes for this Boston-focused funder, so there’s a great opportunity here for mid-sized local organizations that have capital needs.

PROFILE: The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation (RSSFF) is all about assisting economically disadvantaged families and individuals in Greater Boston. The founders lived their lives in Boston and were committed to supporting people in their home communities. They established a foundation in 1970 from the sales of the family businesses, Harcourt General and Neiman Marcus.

The foundation’s key funding areas are health, education and economic mobility. The health program supports biomedical research and expansion of access to care at safety net institutions. Low-income residents of Greater Boston are the grantmaking target, and Boston’s world-class institutions typically receive the biomedical support. Quality of diabetes care is important to this funder.

Urban education grants are awarded to groups who emphasize advancement for socio-economically disadvantaged youth. This is a supporter of non-traditional public schools working to close Massachusetts’ achievement gap. RSSFF often awards grants for teacher and administrator development and to replicate charter schools to expand their facilities.

The foundation awards economic mobility grants to groups that help low-income individuals learn the skills they need to move up and have more opportunities for careers and in life. Funding in this category is focused on English as a second language programs and support for people who were formerly homeless.

Overall, RSSFF awards about $15 million in grants each year. It awards mid-sized capital grants for projects with budgets between $250,000 and $3 million. This is for discrete and identifiable projects, like parks, community facilities and public art installations. It also awards small capital grants to groups as one-time expenses to boost nonprofits’ ability to achieve their mission. These grants commonly go towards purchase of vehicles, equipment and facility improvements, and are designed for agencies with operating budgets under $3 million.

Nonprofits in the Boston area can apply for mid-sized capital grants and small capital grants. However, all other grants are made by invitation only. The grant guidelines for these two programs can be found on the funder’s website. All applicants must serve people in the Greater Boston area.

This foundation is run by three generations of the Smith family, and the staff is based in Newton. Keep up with the foundation in its news section. General questions can be directed to (857) 404-0700 or info@smithfamilyfoundation.net.

PEOPLE:

• Lynne J. Doblin, Executive Director
• Shanna Shulman, PhD, Senior Program Officer
• Amy Hampe, Program Associate
  

LINKS:

• Grant Eligibility
• Apply for a Grant

IP POSTS:

• The Tragic Story Behind the Smith Family Foundation’s New Boston Park Grant
• Richard & Susan Smith Family Foundation Focuses on Charter Schools
• This Wellness Center Got a Big Boost from the Richard & Susan Smith Family Foundation

OVERVIEW: The State Street Foundation is an investment corporation philanthropy that awards grants to education and workforce development organizations both locally and globally. Grant applications are accepted by online submission throughout the year from organizations based in places where the company operates.

FUNDING AREAS: Education, job skills, college success, credentials, work experience, adult literacy, workforce development

IP TAKE: Pitch a proposal that focuses on getting high school students ready for college the workforce. State Street wants to work with organizations that crank out productive members of society by putting kids into traditional and secure employment environments.

PROFILE: You could say that the State Street investment and securities giant is already trying to train a future generation of employees. The Boston-based financial services holding company is using its grantmaking budget to get people educated and ready to clock in for a good ole' 9-5 job. And in fact, the State Street Foundation has thirty-nine community support committees in twenty-six different countries working to make that possible.

In a recent year, State Street was named the top charitable contributor in the state of Massachusettes. In 2012, State Street provided more than $21 million in charitable contributions. State Street Executive Vice President, Alison Quirk, added,  "Last year, our employees globally gave more than 87,000 hours of volunteer time to nonprofit groups and donated approximately $2.7 million through State Street's Matching Gift program and Global Giving Campaign." The foundation was also named in Working Mother magazine's "100 Best Companies" list because of its progressive programs, child care, and paid family leave.

The history of the State Street Corporation goes back to 1792, making it the second oldest financial institution in the whole country. However the corporation foundation has only been operating on the grant scene since 2006. The foundation almost exclusively operates to provide funding for training programs that make disadvantaged people employable and therefore, self-sufficient and productive members of society. The main targets of State Street grants tend to be people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, youth, and the economically disadvantaged.

Current areas of focus are education, job readiness, college success, credentials, work experience, and employment. Education and workforce development are the two two funded categories.

Boston-based non-profits get a lot of special attention because the corporation is based here, but the foundation also spreads its love around to the other locations where it conducts company operations. This includes the states of California, Illinois, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as a scattering of countries in Europe and Asia. Overall, it awards grants to nonprofits and NGOs in 26 countries. To show how global of a corporation State Street really is, the foundation even accepts grant proposals in French, German, Italian, and Polish.

State Street grants tend to be between $500,000 and $750,000, and the foundation gives out several hundred of those each year. Some past grants in the Boston area include $1.9 million to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, $250,000 to Action for Boston Community Development, $250,000 to Year Up Inc., and $200,000 to the Boston Foundation.

At the end of a recent year, the foundation claimed over $53 million in assets and over $12 million in total giving.

The foundation has considered proposals that ask for everything from annual campaign funds to building renovations, emergency funds, program development, and sponsorships. The grantmaking process is separate for domestic and international causes, so your organization will only be competing against your closer neighbors.

Organizations have a two-step application process to follow, which includes a preliminary grant application and a full grant application. To get the ball rolling, just log on to the foundation's online portal and provide all the right answers on the eligibility quiz. If you pass, you complete a preliminary application, wait eight weeks for approval, fill out a full application, and wait another 12 weeks for approval. Everything's done online, and State Street accepts applications on a rolling basis throughout the year.

The philanthropic process is fairly segmented within the State Street Corporation, and there's plenty of separate support committees, donor programs, volunteering programs, community event sponsorships, and community development initiates to keep its thousands of employees busy. Don't get lost in the web and stick to the grantmaking program if you run a Boston non-profit. It helps to be computer-savvy when applying for a State Street grant, and the best way to ask a grant-related question is via online form.

PEOPLE:

• Amanda Northrop, Vice President of Grants

LINKS: 

• Nonprofit Grants

OVERVIEW: Although the Stoneman Foundation once exclusively served education, health, and Jewish causes in Boston, the next generation of Stonemans has expanded to other issues and regions. The foundation does not make itself very accessible to grantseekers, so organizations will have to work through the the family's attorneys or philanthropic advisory group. Stoneman awards around $5 million $7 million in annual grants.

IP TAKE: Since the younger Stonemans feel an obligation to keep Boston organizations on the front burner, education and poverty organizations have a good chance at $10,000 or $20,000. Make sure your program pitches a solution to a problem and doesn't just mask the symptoms.

PROFILE: Few families have articulated and published a formal legacy statement, but the Stoneman Family is one that has. Sidney Stoneman, cofounder of the General Cinema movie chain and honorary director of Harcourt General, established a foundation in 1957 and named it after his parents, Anne and David. For about 30 years, Stoneman ran his foundation quietly with his wife and dished out money to the Boston Orchestra, medical centers, and Jewish causes in Boston, where the couple lived. However, more formality was deemed necessary when the Stonemans tried to make philanthropy a family affair.

The Stoneman Foundation made the history books as an example of how donors can address charitable issues and family issues at the same time. Stoneman's daughters and grandchildren wanted to take the foundation in a different direction by sending funds to grassroots organizations serving poverty-stricken populations in the southern United States. To make everyone happy, Stoneman devised a power-sharing agreement that split the foundation's assets in half between him and his wife and the younger generations.

According to the legacy statement that was approved by the board in 1997, a fair amount of funds must always stay in Boston and with Jewish organizations. After some legally binding documents were passed around and signed, the Stoneman Foundation was solidified as a family affair with guidance but not requirements. As the statement goes, a majority of the board members must be relatives or otherwise the foundation will be liquidated.

If you want to get in touch with the family today, though, you'll have to go through its lawyers first. Grants Management Associates was hired back in 1989 to administer the grantmaking. The foundation remains a family affair, and a very private one at that.

Most Stoneman grants in the past have gone to education, human services, and Jewish causes in the Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, D.C. areas. These grants are usually for general support, program development, and investment loans, and they range from $3,000 to $900,000 a piece, with the average at about $10,000. The foundation usually awards less than 100 grants like these each year, making Stoneman considerably smaller than some of the other big players around Boston.

The current goal of the foundation is an economic justice one: to help low-income people achieve independence and self-sufficiency. At the end of 20a recent year, the foundation reported over $123 million in assets and more than $4.9 million in total giving. Overall giving has remained fairly steady over recent years.

As a general rule, Stoneman likes to address underlying causes rather than treat symptoms with its grants. Pitch a program that uses entrepreneurial approaches to providing leadership opportunities for disadvantaged populations and leverage additional funding. Historically, Stoneman has required an initial 1-2-page letter of inquiry, with full application forms completed later For more information, contact Mott Philanthropic LLC's Julia M. Toulmin at 617-927-5700 or the Office of Goulston & Storrs at 617-482-1776.

PEOPLE:

• Julia M. Toulmin, Mott Philanthropic Grants Manager

LINKS:

• Living the Legacy

OVERVIEW: The Swartz Foundation was formed by Sidney Swartz's portion of the Timberland Company fortune. The foundation contributes almost exclusively to Jewish-related causes but keeps involved with medical research institutions in the Boston area as well.

IP TAKE: Catching an attorney — a partner, for that matter — on the phone is no easy feat. However, Robert Shapiro is pretty much the only way into the Swartz Foundation. If you're doing a little Internet research on the foundation, be sure to look for the Boston Swartz's and not the Swartz Foundation or Swartz Trust that are both based in New York.

PROFILE: If you've ever been in the market for a good pair of work boots, you're already a little familiar with the Swartz Foundation. The foundation's donor, Sidney Swartz, is the son of the sturdy shoe-making entrepreneur who started the Timberland Company. Sidney's dad started off his career in the shoe business by becoming an apprentice stitcher in Boston. When Sidney took over the family business, he had enormous success transforming Timberland into a lifestyle brand that also makes clothes, watches, glasses, and leather goods.

Sidney and his wife, Judith, started the philanthropic foundation in 1994 to channel their wealth toward charity, but they keep their business pretty low-key and tight-lipped. The Swartz Foundation doesn't have a website or any published guidelines for grantseekers. Instead, it lists its attorney's name and address on contact forms.

The vast majority of Swartz Foundation funds go to Jewish temples and Jewish-based organizations in the Boston area. Medical research organizations also receive a good portion of Swartz grants each year. One of the couple's newsworthy grants was a $50 million award to create an emergency medicine center at Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, which was appropriately named after them.

Most of the past grants in the Boston area have gone to the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, with the grants ranging from $32,000 to $3.2 million. The foundation does consider other non-profit organizations in the city for grants, but recipients are almost always rooted in the Jewish faith. Swartz doesn't give out a lot of grants each year, but the grants are huge when they are awarded.

At the end of a recent year, the foundation reported over $198 millionin assets and $667,350 in total giving. For comparison, the funder claimed $212 million in assets and more than $12.3 million in total giving the previous year.

Although Sidney Swartz instilled a sense of philanthropy in his son, who took his turn running the Timberland business, the foundation isn't a family affair by any means. Before he sold off the company for $2 billion, Jeffrey Swartz made corporate responsibility a priority in the family business. And when the idealistic Jeffrey retired at the age of 51 to find his purpose in life, he set out to save the world on his own terms.

It may not be easy to get hold of someone at the Swartz Foundation, but there is money to be won if you're running a Jewish organization in Boston. For more information, contact Ropes & Gray's Robert Shapiro at 617-951-7000.

PEOPLE:

• Janet C. Taylor, Philanthropic Adviser
• Sidney Swartz, Donor
• Robert N. Shapiro, Partner at Ropes & Gray LLP

LINKS:

• FAQ Profile
• Company Profile