Best Grants for New Nonprofits in Connecticut

The ASPO Dustin Micah Harper Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Research Grant supports innovative research projects focused on recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP). This grant encourages clinical and translational studies that aim to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and understanding of RRP. Eligible candidates include medical professionals and researchers in the U.S. and Canada. This funding opportunity prioritizes junior faculty who have recently completed their training, fostering new insights in RRP research.

The GriffinHarte Foundation Grant aims to foster civil discourse surrounding contentious issues of fairness, equity, and identity. This nonprofit supports initiatives that promote understanding and respect through research and education, focusing on social and economic justice. Eligible applicants include individuals and organizations dedicated to exploring civility and its impact on community dialogues. The foundation emphasizes the importance of identity and diverse perspectives in shaping effective communication strategies. This grant presents an opportunity for meaningful engagement in vital societal conversations.

Dr. Sonny Rush Memorial Scholarship

Dr. Sonny Rush was a pioneering orthopedic surgeon and a kind friend to all his patients. He encouraged all students interested in healthcare to pursue their passion in the medical field. This scholarship was established by his family in his memory and is designed to help jumpstart a career in the healthcare field. 

Amount

• 1500

The McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation offers Teacher Development Grants to support K-12 educators in enhancing their classroom instruction. With grants up to $10,000 per year, individuals or small teams can implement innovative teaching strategies that foster critical inquiry and improve student engagement. This initiative aims to boost educational experiences for diverse learners, encouraging teachers to document and share their methods, ultimately promoting a culture of continuous professional growth.

Pre-clinical Investigation of anti-TFPI-mediated Rebalancing Mechanisms in Non-Hemophilic Bleeding Disorders 

There remains a scientific gap in understanding of the role of anti-TFP Imediated hemostatic rebalancing in the context of inherited or non-hemophilic bleeding disorders. This competitive grant program encourages competitive submissions focsed on generating preclinical/foundational data exploring the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of TFPI modulation in bleeding disorders other than hemophilia.

Geographic Scope

Brazil, China, Europe, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, USA

Funding Range and Project Length

Individual projects requesting up to $50,000 USD will be considered.

Request for study drug or compound is allowed (max $50,000 USD), additionally to the study project costs.

Maximum project length is 1 year.

The Alpha Omega Alpha/Pharos Poetry Award

To encourage students to write effective poetry. Winning poems are published in The Pharos.

The Award

Up to 5 poems will receive a $1,500 award. The winning entries will be published in The Pharos.

Edward E. Ford Foundation

The Edward E. Ford Foundation seeks to improve secondary education by supporting U.S. independent schools and encouraging promising practices. 

• We make Traditional Grants to eligible schools and Associations to help them grow and develop in pursuit of their own missions.
• We make Educational Leadership Grants to eligible schools or groups of schools that consist of larger dollar awards to fewer recipients.
• We encourage collaboration with others in both grant cycles.
• Occasionally, we may make larger, multi-­year Collaborative Innovation Grants in support of projects that have the potential to influence secondary education more broadly and positively affect our democratic society.
• Beyond grant-making, we share what we learn, sponsor strategic meetings, and work with others to identify and respond to the most pressing challenges facing the field of secondary education.

Traditional Grant for Associations

These grants are made in response to requests that can range from $25,000 to $100,000 and that must be matched by additional funds raised by the association at least 1:1.

Associations seeking placement on a Traditional Grant Agenda should be prepared to specify the anticipated dollar value of their proposal when they request placement. This can be months in advance of the date the final version of the proposal will be due, depending on the length of the queue. 

Traditional Grants are awarded based on the quality of the proposal and other considerations in terms of the association’s operation, but it does not identify certain areas of independent school work as favored. That is, you can seek guidance as to what sort of proposals have been funded in the past but association should identify their own greatest institutional need that they think the Foundation can help address.

Step-by-Step Process

• Request Agenda Placement — Please fill out the Agenda Placement form to tell the Foundation a bit more about your association and to help us determine if it is eligible for EE Ford funding.

• Agenda Placement Phone Call — If your association is eligible for Agenda Placement, we will schedule a phone call between your association’s Executive Director and the Executive Director of the EE Ford Foundation. This phone call will serve as an informal introduction and it will determine if Agenda placement is right for your association. No proposal can be considered from associations that have not reserved a place on an upcoming Agenda. If your association is placed on an Agenda, you will receive an Agenda Placement Confirmation email with further instruction.

• Executive Director Meeting — Schedule a 2-3 hour meeting between your association’s Executive Director and our foundation’s Executive Director to be held in our Brooklyn office. The Preliminary Materials will be due one week prior to this meeting (see “Preliminary Materials” under "Required Materials"). 

• Final Submission — Deadline for submission of final materials is January 30 for the April Agenda or April 1 for the June Agenda. When the Board makes its decision about a proposal, the Executive Director communicates this decision within days.

Summer Medical Internship Program (SMIP)

Fosters an interest in research by funding a summer research project conducted by a medical student.

The SIR Foundation Summer Medical Internship Program introduces medical students to interventional radiology research and medical device development. The goal of this program is to foster an interest in research by funding a summer research project conducted by a medical student.

Students applying for the program must show strong potential for a career in IR with proven academic success. Selected students will have an opportunity to intern with an interventional radiologist research mentor or corporate research and development mentor for 8 weeks during the summer.

SIR Foundation will provide a $6,000 stipend to help ease the financial burdens throughout their internship experience.

• Budget: Up to $6,000
• Grant Length: Eight weeks

Investigating the Benefit of Early Treatment with Ritlecitinib in Alopecia Areata: A Real-World Evidence Approach

Alopecia Areata (AA) is a chronic, immune-mediated condition causing nonscarring hair loss that affects about 2% of the global population and can lead to substantial psychosocial burden if disease is severe and untreated. The treatment landscape has recently evolved with the approval of ritlecitinib, a systemic therapy for severe AA in adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older, based on efficacy demonstrated in the ALLEGRO phase 2b/3 program.

Despite this advance, important questions remain regarding the optimal timing of therapy initiation. Emerging post-hoc analyses from the ALLEGRO program indicate that patients with shorter disease duration and lower baseline severity achieve higher response rates, suggesting that earlier intervention with ritlecitinib may lead to improved outcomes.

Geographic Scope

United States 

Funding Range and Project Length

Individual projects requesting up to $100,000 USD will be considered.

Maximum project length is 24 months.

Hemophilia Fellowship

This competitive grant program seeks to support an institution-based fellowship that emphasizes shared decision making (SDM), patient education, and multidisciplinary team-based care. The intent is to strengthen the hemophilia care through equitable education, and patient-centered shared decision making in a rapidly evolving treatment landscape.

Geographic Scope

• United States 

Funding Range and Project Length

• Grant funding is available to support a one year fellowship up to $100.000 USD. 

The James McKeen Cattell Sabbatical Grant, provided by the James McKeen Cattell Fund, offers supplementary financial support for psychologists' sabbaticals. This grant is designed for faculty members at U.S. and Canadian institutions who meet specific eligibility criteria, including tenure status and recent leave history. The maximum award is capped at $40,000 or half the recipient's salary, ensuring that recipients can extend their research time effectively.

The SPARK-EHS initiative aims to broaden the reach of NIEHS training by launching innovative environmental health programs for predoctoral trainees at institutions without recent NIEHS T32 funding. This initiative focuses on research regarding the impact of the environment on biological systems and seeks to translate findings into practical health solutions. Eligible institutions will receive support for developing and implementing these targeted training programs, fostering advancements in environmental health research.

The National Science Foundation's Engineering Directorate (NSF ENG) promotes groundbreaking research in chemical, bioengineering, energy, and transport systems. Key programs include Chemical Process Systems, Engineering Biological and Biomedical Systems, Energy, Water, and Resource Engineering, and Transport Phenomena. NSF ENG seeks innovative, transformative proposals that push the boundaries of foundational research, regardless of immediate commercial applications, and emphasizes diverse funding opportunities based on availability.

The MPS Astronomical Sciences Research Programs, funded by the National Science Foundation, support innovative research in astronomical sciences. These initiatives aim to enhance our understanding of the universe through core research, technological advancements, and instrumentation. Topics include solar storm prediction, the discovery of exoplanets, and the study of black holes. Proposals should reflect ambitious, transformative ideas that may not require immediate practical outcomes, fostering long-term scientific exploration.

Clinical Research Training Scholarship in Autoimmune Neurology

This award recognizes the vital importance of rigorous clinical and translational research and aims to inspire and support early-career investigators pursuing clinical studies in autoimmune neurology — specifically immune-mediated diseases of the nervous system other than multiple sclerosis.

The scope of this award encompasses research on autoimmune neurologic disorders, including neural antibody-associated diseases of the nervous system, autoimmune encephalitis, immune-mediated epilepsy, autoimmune movement disorders, inflammatory myelopathies, NMOSD, MOGAD, paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, neurological complications of cancer immunotherapies, and inborn errors of immunity/autoinflammatory syndromes affecting the nervous system.

This award will consist of a commitment of $65,000 per year for two years, plus a $10,000 per year stipend to support education and research-related costs for a total of $150,000. Supplementation of the award with other grants is permissible, but to be eligible to apply for this award, the other grant source(s) cannot exceed $75,000 annually.

The Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) Program by the NSF funds innovative research in circuit hardware, signal processing, and system architectures. It aims to advance cyber-physical systems through cutting-edge technologies, including MEMS/NEMS and neurotechnologies. The program supports applications across diverse fields such as healthcare, environmental monitoring, and smart systems. Proposals are encouraged for high-speed communications, real-time sensing, and intelligent autonomous systems, fostering significant advancements in communication and sensing capabilities.

The National Meredith Willson Awards provide multi-year operating support to organizations using music for systemic change. The Music Man Foundation will award grants of $50,000 to $500,000 to 5-10 selected organizations in 2026, focusing on their impact through music. Eligible organizations must have 501(c)(3) status, a history of music programming, and a commitment to systemic change. Applications will be evaluated on leadership, organizational capacity, and alignment with grant criteria.

The Shubert Foundation offers grants to not-for-profit professional theatre and dance companies in the U.S., focusing on general operating support rather than project-specific funding. Eligible organizations must have 501(c)(3) status and a proven track record in artistic and administrative excellence. Evaluations consider artistic achievement, community service, fiscal responsibility, and commitment to diversity and inclusion, ensuring support reaches those making significant contributions to the arts community.

The Shubert Foundation is the largest funder in the U.S. providing unrestricted grants to not-for-profit theatres and dance companies. It focuses on supporting professional dance organizations that demonstrate artistic activity, community service, and fiscal responsibility. The foundation emphasizes equity, diversity, and inclusion in its grant-making process, with a commitment to evaluating organizations based on their impact and contributions to the field. Funding is limited to U.S. organizations with established track records.

The Fred Jones Family Foundation Grant supports 501(c)(3) organizations in central Oklahoma, focusing on education, arts, and beautification projects. The foundation meets every 90 days to evaluate new donation requests. Eligible applicants must adhere to specific guidelines, including submitting a Board of Directors list with at least six members. The foundation prioritizes projects that enhance the quality of life and foster cultural growth in the region.

The Visionary Prize for Women’s Economic Empowerment, established in 2022 by Visionary Women and the Hostetler/Wrigley Foundation, honors a visionary woman leader of a nonprofit focused on advancing women's economic empowerment in the U.S. This prestigious award provides $100,000 in unrestricted funds to support the recipient's agency and its initiatives. Eligible candidates must have a minimum of four years of operation and an annual budget exceeding $500,000, actively working towards women's economic advancement.

The Pompe Disease Fund, supported by the Patient Advocate Foundation, offers vital financial assistance to individuals diagnosed with Pompe disease. This fund covers out-of-pocket healthcare costs including medication copays and health insurance premiums. Eligible patients must have a confirmed diagnosis and be receiving treatment or planning to start within 60 days. With over 3.8 million patients helped since its inception, the fund aims to alleviate financial burdens and enhance access to necessary treatments.

Scholarships

Since awarding our first $500 scholarship in 1987, the Saginaw Community Foundation has awarded college scholarships to area students totaling more than $13.7 million, thanks to our generous donors. Each year, over 500 college-bound or career and technical education students benefit from our scholarship awards.

Our single application process makes it easy to potentially qualify for one or more of our 260+ scholarships.

Cosmetology Scholarship

At a very early age in Alabama, Lee Essie Smith was a self-taught musician. After losing her mother as a young teenager, she began putting her God-given musical talent to work as a pianist for several churches. By the time she graduated from high school, she had learned the cosmetology trade and met Charlie McMillan, Jr.

After his wife’s death, Mr. McMillan continued his community service with the Democratic Party, Habitat for Humanity and Mt. Olive Baptist Church as an usher. Although he did not serve very long in the military, Mr. McMillan continues to exemplify the values and physical energy of the “Army Strong” slogan. He is the patriarch of the family – always dapper – and a regular attendee at church services.

The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, established in 1975, supports public charities with a focus on Asian art, performing arts in Richmond, VA, and graduate theological education. The Foundation prioritizes requests from organizations with historical ties to the Carpenters and those promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion and community health. It aims to enhance cultural exchange through art exhibitions, particularly in the US and China, while excluding support for private education and large public charities.

About Us

A Vibrant Region with Opportunity for All

Who We Are

The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties is a community-based social impact investor whose mission is to engage, invest, and lead—working toward a vision of community vibrancy with opportunity for all. Our team of experienced staff and dedicated trustees is committed to boldly leading and supporting transformational community investments. We channel charitable contributions from donors through nonprofit partners that are meeting current community needs and steward community resources responsibly to ensure greater capacity for the future.

No organization has all the answers, but together, with our partners and donors, we have the means and the will to chart a new course—one that will build upon generations of philanthropy and strengthen the fabric of Herkimer and Oneida counties.

Scholarship Opportunities

We help those seeking educational opportunities that will enrich their lives—and enhance our community.

Please note that scholarships administered by the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties are awarded through a variety of different mechanisms, including by school district selection, public application, or through our community partners, such as Utica Dollars for Scholars.

Joey R. Ventura Tradesman Award

Awarded by Connor Arthur Lynskey Memorial Scholarship Fund

Established in memory of Connor Arthur Lynskey, a special young man who was active in his community, excelled academically, was sports-minded and had an extraordinary way about himself. Connor was a graduate of Holland Patent Central School District in 2017. He aspired to be a physician and was attending premedical school when a drunk driver took his life on August 11, 2018. This award is also given in loving memory of Joey R. Ventura (1992-2021), an accomplished welder and welding instructor who unexpectedly passed in July of 2021 at the age of 28 years old.

Candidates are identified through an open application process.

The Pompe Disease Health Equity Fund, supported by the Patient Advocate Foundation, offers crucial financial assistance to patients diagnosed with Pompe disease. This fund helps cover out-of-pocket healthcare costs, including medication copays and health insurance premiums. Eligibility requires a confirmed diagnosis and treatment plan, along with meeting specific income criteria. With a mission to enhance health equity, the fund empowers patients to access necessary care and improve their quality of life.

The Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) Fund, established by the Patient Advocate Foundation, offers vital financial assistance to patients managing the costs of treatment for primary biliary cholangitis. This fund covers out-of-pocket healthcare expenses such as medication copays and health insurance premiums, enabling individuals to access necessary treatments. Since its inception, the foundation has empowered millions by providing personalized support and resources, aiming to improve patient care and health outcomes.