Search Through Financial Assistance Grants in Connecticut in the U.S.

Strengthening Nonprofits

Nonprofits need certain capacities to be able to meet their missions, including strong leadership, financial management, technology, fund development and communications. Providing funding to help organizations invest in these vital building blocks creates a strong operational infrastructure that builds efficiencies, improves program delivery and increases overall impact.

Building capacity in the nonprofit sector is more important than ever, as we continue to see need rise in our communities.

• 95% of nonprofits in Connecticut report that demand for services has increased in the last five years
• 40% of nonprofits state that demand has increased by more than 15%
• 73% of nonprofit executives feel they do not have the resources they need to develop their own leadership

Our approach focuses on:

• Funding key capacity building and organizational development initiatives that lead to stronger, more adaptable organizations.
• Empowering nonprofits to seek assistance that they deem to be the right fit and culturally-competent for the organization
• Prioritizing organizations who are addressing disparities within our communities
• Rejecting “readiness” myths which often further inequities in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector

Efforts we support include:

• Training and professional development opportunities to help staff or board build skills
• One-on-one coaching support with an expert in the field or professional consultant
• Organizational development projects including strategic planning, financial management systems, evaluation, fundraising, programming or communications.
• Work that increases the inclusive representation of BIPOC individuals in leadership positions on boards and nonprofit staff

Connecticut's Healthy Forests Reserve Program

The Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) helps landowners restore, enhance and protect forestland resources on private and tribal lands through easements and financial assistance.

Through HRFP, landowners promote the recovery of endangered or threatened species, improve plant and animal biodiversity and enhance carbon sequestration.

Benefits

HFRP provides landowners with 10-year restoration agreements and 30-year or permanent easements for specific conservation actions. For acreage owned by an American Indian tribe, there is an additional enrollment option of a 30-year contract. Some landowners may avoid regulatory restrictions under the Endangered Species Act by restoring or improving habitat on their land for a specified period of time.

The objectives of HRFP are to:

• Promote the recovery of endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA);
• Improve plant and animal biodiversity; and
• Enhance carbon sequestration.

Mission

The DanPaul Foundation will use its resources to help train teachers and parents in early childhood development, protect children from abuse and neglect, stimulate children's personal social responsibilities, and offer them opportunities for enrichment and growth.

The Foundation will also encourage children to be concerned and informed about the environment and the underprivileged, particularly with regard to clean air and water, and adequate housing and nutrition for all.

Beliefs

The DanPaul Foundation believes that children should have ample opportunities for enrichment in their lives, and thus strives to provide many different ways to enrich and expand children's minds through direct programs and monetary support to organizations doing similar work.

We have provided or currently provide grants related to the following program areas:

• Workshops, Conferences, + Seminars: We strive to offer educational workshops, conferences, and seminars for parents and teachers on topics related to early childhood development.
• Student Scholarships: We aim to help students attending post-secondary education institutions by providing need-based and academic scholarships.
• Scientific Endeavors: We desire to advance scientific endeavors which seek to improve the quality of life for everyone in the world.
• Clean Air + Water: We hope to pass on knowledge and practical life skills to youth regarding their personal responsibility to the environment, teaching them about issues surrounding clean air and water.
• Child Advocacy: We believe in protecting children from abuse and neglect and particularly love to support programs that provide education and assistance to children as well as organizations advocating or caring for vulnerable children.
• Homelessness: We want to encourage young people to take a personal interest in seeing that adequate housing and proper nutrition, especially for the underprivileged and homeless, are available.
• Poverty + Neglect: We seek to help those in poverty as well as educate youth about their responsibility to consider the underprivileged and take care of those most in need of life's basic essentials like adequate housing and proper nutrition.
• Refugee Enrichment: We wish to help refugee youth by supporting programs that provide them enrichment and help them transition to life in a new country.

The DanPaul Foundation provides grants to 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organizations as defined by the IRS. The Foundation is interested in providing funding to programs that directly serve the health, education, development, and welfare of the world's youth.

Grants range from a few hundred dollars up to $15,000 per calendar year.

Our Focus Areas

It takes many strategies to address the living conditions affecting health, well-being, and equity. We aim to use our resources strategically and equitably, allocating more of our resources towards parts of our community that have the most need.

We work so that all aspects of our community support the conditions required for health, well-being, and equity.

Cultivating Health Grant

Each grant made from our Cultivating Health Grant Program is different. Some grants are unrestricted and multi-year, some are restricted and limited to one year. When feasible, we look to provide flexible multi-year funding. We do not have minimum or maximum grant amounts with this program, grant amounts are determined by weighing the scope of the initiative in relation to our strategic priorities. Because we work closely with each prospective grantee and aim to communicate clearly and timely about the likelihood of funding, most applications to the Cultivating Health Grant Program are approved. Our two-stage application process also ensures that we’re only asking questions that strongly influence our funding decisions.

For capacity building or other similar requests above $30,000 FCH will consider requests for technical assistance related to:

• Partnerships, Mergers, or Acquisitions
• Strategic Planning
• Organization-wide Evaluation
• Financial Infrastructure Assessment, Cash Flow Analysis, Cost Accounting

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation only accepts unsolicited proposals for specific areas within the education, family economic stability and childhood health sectors in select countries where we work, namely the United States, India and South Africa.

As a guideline, the foundation does not fund more than 25% of a project’s budget or more than 10% of an organization’s total annual operating expenses.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has always recognized the power of providing grants to partner organizations that we knew were already working hard to improve the lives of urban children living in poverty. By aligning with organizations that are already making a difference, we continue to make an immediate impact on the lives of thousands of children.

Foundation priorities:

We fund social enterprises that directly serve or impact children or youth from urban low-income communities in the areas of education, health, and family economic stability (including livelihoods and financial inclusion). These social enterprises may be structured as for-profit or nonprofit entities.

Partnerships

We collaborate with a range of organizations focused on creating opportunities for children and families living in urban poverty, with a deep emphasis on measuring impact. Our funding advances projects already making an impact in education, health, and family economic stability. Through these enduring and long-standing partnerships, we create lasting change together.

The Sidney Stern Memorial Trust is devoted solely to the funding of charitable, scientific, medical and educational organizations.

The Board endeavors to support soundly-managed charitable organizations that give service with a broad scope, have a substantial effect on their target populations, and contribute materially to the general welfare. The Board does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

Planning and Pre-Development Projects

Historic Designation Reports

Survey and Planning Grants can be used to fund a variety of historic designation reports, including:

• National Historic Landmark Nominations
• National Register of Historic Places Nominations
• Connecticut State Register of Historic Places Nominations
• Local Historic District or Properties Reports
• Archaeological Preserves

Municipal Historic Preservation Planning Reports

These reports can assist a municipality with integrating historic preservation and a community’s cultural resources into the local planning and design process.

Pre-Development Studies

Survey and Planning Grants can be used to hire a qualified consultant to complete pre-development studies on historic resources owned by Connecticut 501(c)3 or 501(c)13 nonprofits or municipalities, or if a municipality has a financial interest in the resource. Eligible activities in this program area include the following:

• Historic Structures Reports
• Feasibility or Adaptive Reuse Studies 
• Structural Soundness Studies
• Condition Assessment Reports
• Architectural Plans and Specifications

Eligible Activities

• Historic Resources Inventories

Historic Resources Inventories create a detailed record of historic buildings, sites, structures, and/or objects within a defined geographical area, or multiple resources related to a theme, throughout the state. These documents are based on archival research, field work, and photography. Historic Designation Reports are completed by an Architectural Historian or a Historian who meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards as published in the Code of Federal Regulations, 36 CFR Part 61.

• Archaeological Surveys and Reports

The principal objective of an archeological investigation is to identify potentially significant archeological deposits located in a certain area to guide future development projects. The consultant will perform background research to identify archeologically sensitive areas and to establish a context for any archeological resources that may be identified. The investigation will include a subsequent Phase I (reconnaissance) level archeological survey which will provide systematic coverage of the property to locate evidence of archaeological deposits. It is expected that the reconnaissance survey will not only determine the presence of archaeological deposits, such as artifacts, features, and/or structural remnants; but also determine the nature and extent of those deposits by performing shovel tests and excavations as part of the investigation. Intensive-level surveys are generally conducted in order to collect sufficient archaeological data to evaluate the National Register eligibility of an identified site.

Archeological surveys shall be conducted by a consultant, as approved by the SHPO, who meets the professional qualifications standards of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, as stated in 36 CFR 61 Appendix A for Archeology. All work should be in compliance with our Environmental Review Primer for Connecticut’s Archaeological Resources. 

• Historic Designation Reports

Survey and Planning Grants can be used to fund a variety of historic designation reports including:

• National Historic Landmark Nominations
• National Register of Historic Places Nominations
• Connecticut State Register of Historic Places Nominations
• Local Historic District or Properties Reports
• Archaeological Preserves

Historic Designation Reports are completed by an Architectural Historian or a Historian who meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards as published in the Code of Federal Regulations, 36 CFR Part 61.

• Municipal Historic Preservation Planning Reports

Historic Preservation Planning Reports can assist a municipality with integrating historic preservation and a community’s cultural resources into the local planning and design process. These plans can be used to assist in developing reports that involve land use, streetscapes, traffic, and signage. These reports can also be developed to assist a municipality in creating historic preservation plans or chapters of a plan of conservation and development. An analysis of the physical, social, and economic characteristics of the area serves as a basis for recommendations which may include rehabilitation guidelines, overlay zoning, or historic designations. Municipal Historic Preservation Planning Reports should be completed by a Historic Preservation Planner with municipal planning credentials; however other consultants may be used with approval from SHPO. 

• Pre-Development Studies

Survey and Planning Grants can be used to hire a qualified consultant to complete pre-development studies on historic resources owned by Connecticut 501(c)3 or 501(c)13 nonprofits or municipalities, or if a municipality has a financial or development interest in the resource. A “Historic Resource” is defined as a property or site listed on the State or National Register of Historic Places. Reports and studies may require a team of qualified professionals that includes any combination of architect, engineer, architectural historian or landscape architect. 

Eligible activities in this program area include:

• Historic Structures Reports- document the history and existing physical condition of a property through research, photographs, physical exploration, etc. The report also provides guidance for the future use, repair,  Survey and Planning Grant Guidelines and Application Instructions maintenance, etc. of the property. These reports are completed by a 36 CFR Part 61 qualified Historical Architect or an engineer, or both.
• Historic Landscape Studies- Historic landscapes can be found in any rural, urban or suburban place. They can be designed or vernacular and include a variety of types including estates, farms, cemeteries, campuses, parks, parkways, conservation areas, or any site that reflects historic cultural activity (human interaction with the land). Eligible studies may include historic landscape inventories, cultural landscape reports, landscape management plans, view shed analyses, and documentations. Historic landscape studies are used to document an existing historic landscape to give us information about its significance and help to safeguard it from sometimes uninformed and irreversible changes. Funding will also support research to produce an historic landscape plan based on a previously existing historic landscape.
• Feasibility or Adaptive Reuse Studies- analyze the reuse potential of an existing building and identify possible new uses, financial strategies, and cost estimates. A feasibility or adaptive reuse study may include preliminary architectural plans completed by a 36 CFR Part 61 qualified Historical Architect.
• Structural Soundness Studies- assess a structure’s physical stability. Structural Soundness Studies are conducted by a 36 CFR Part 61-Qualified structural engineer or architect, and sometimes may include a landscape architect.
• Condition Assessment Reports- assess a resource’s current, existing conditions on a comprehensive basis. Condition assessments can be prepared for a variety of resources including buildings, monuments, objects, bridges, etc. A condition assessment will prioritize the work necessary to rehabilitate or restore a property and will also include cost estimates and/or a proposed budget. These reports include a discussion on building materials, failure of those materials, code violations, and ADA accessibility. For reports on buildings, the condition assessment should be prepared by a 36 CFR Part 61 qualified Historical Architect and/or engineer.
• Architectural Plans and Specifications-must meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and be prepared by a 36 CFR Part 61 qualified Historical Architect. If the applicant is planning on using the plans and specifications for a Historic Restoration Fund grant application, the documents should be prepared to Design Development Level.

Funding

Grants range from $1,000 to $20,000. 

SHPO accepts applications on a rolling basis, and all complete applications will be reviewed and considered for funding. If your application is complete, it will be placed on the next available agenda of the Historic Preservation Council, which meets each month.

Georgia-Pacific Foundation

Established in 1958, the Georgia-Pacific Foundation sets aside resources to improve life in the communities where we operate. We’ve worked with thousands of outstanding community-based programs, service projects and disaster relief efforts, focusing our investment in four areas we believe make the most impact:

• education
• entrepreneurship
• enrichment of community
• environment

Investment Priorities

• Aligns with GP’s mission and values
• Aligns with GP’s Four Focus Areas of giving: Education, Environment, Enrichment of Community and Entrepreneurship
• Serves communities where GP has manufacturing facilities
• Creates value by contributing to and positively impacting long term well-being and sustainability of GP communities

Mission

CLCC advocates for land conservation, stewardship and funding, and works to ensure the long-term strength and viability of the land conservation community in Connecticut.

Our Values

The Connecticut Land Conservation Council’s vision is to effect a verifiable and quantitative change in the social, political, and economic processes that conserve land. We believe in a future where land conservation is embraced as a community value that provides essential quality of life benefits to all people.

CLCC works with land trusts across the state to strengthen conservation efforts and provide equitable access to open space, and advocates for policies that support natural resources as a vital community asset. What distinguishes land trusts from other non-profits is the fact that they are created for the purpose of upholding their mission in perpetuity. CLCC makes sure that happens.

CLCC is committed to understanding and taking action alongside those we serve in addressing and promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental justice.

Transaction Assistance Grant Program

The Transaction Assistance Grant (TAG) Program seeks to accelerate the pace of land conservation by providing financial assistance to land trusts for transaction-related project costs. TAG responds to immediate conservation needs and is designed to get funding on the ground efficiently and effectively.

The Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (“CHEFA”) provides access to tax-exempt financing and other financial assistance to educational institutions, healthcare providers, childcare providers and other eligible not-for-profit entities.

CHEFA established the Nonprofit Grant Program to provide nonprofit organizations in Connecticut with the opportunity to access funding through competitive grants. Funding for this program is derived from CHEFA’s own resources and does not include any State funding. Through this RFP, CHEFA is inviting Letters of Interest for the FY 2025 Nonprofit Grant Program which funds:

• Capital Projects/Purchases
• Programs

What is an AgEnhancement Grant?

Each year, Farm Credit East and CoBank award grants ranging from $500 to $10,000 to help organizations promote awareness and strengthen agriculture, commercial fishing and forest products in the six New England states, New York and New Jersey. Since its inception in 1996, the Farm Credit AgEnhancement Program has awarded more than 3.5 million dollars in grants to organizations across the Northeast.

Program Goals

We support programs intended to assist all-size farms, promote diversity and create opportunities for new entrants into agriculture. Applicants that clearly demonstrate how a program, project, activity or event will have a long-term positive effect on the agriculture, forest products or the commercial fishing industries in the eight-state Northeast region are encouraged to seek funding. Statewide and regional projects are also eligible.

Program areas in which financial support may be provided include but are not limited to:

• Leadership Development Programs that develop leadership skills among young farmers and youth. This has included grants to the Future Farmers of America, 4-H, the Holstein Association’s Young Dairy Leaders Institute, Lead New York, the New Jersey Leadership Program, Beef Expo and the Cornell Dairy Fellows Program.
• Economic Viability and Enhancement Projects to promote economic development have included those by the New York Farmers Market Federation, New Hampshire Farm Link, Maine Association of Conservation Districts, the New York AgriDevelopment Corporation and the Center of Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship.
• Programs to Promote Northeast Agriculture and Recognize Accomplishments of Ag Leaders Grants to create greater awareness and develop markets for Northeast farm products have included projects of New England Green Pastures, New York Apple Association, the New England Departments of Agriculture – US Food Export Showcase and Long Island Farm Bureau.
• Build a Better Understanding of Agriculture, Forestry and Commercial Fishing Agriculture in the Classroom programs of Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, along with Ocean Adventure (commercial fishing) and Witter Museum at the New York State Fair have been awarded grants to create a greater awareness and understanding of agriculture in the Northeast.
• Economic Analysis to Foster Agriculture Economic studies, including a special report on the need for the Northeast Dairy Compact, a research effort with the State Departments of Agriculture to develop a cost of production crop insurance program, and a special survey of farm worker wages, benefits and performance standards have received grants.

Diversity and Inclusion

Farm Credit AgEnhancement welcomes submission of proposals from all parts of our society. We encourage proposals from organizations that promote or facilitate minority involvement in agriculture and agriculture related businesses. To facilitate our diversity objective, Farm Credit AgEnhancement will accept and consider one-county proposals that would otherwise not be eligible.

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

About PCLB

The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation (PCLB) was formed in 1999, by Dr. Peter Buck and his wife Carmen Lucia as a private family foundation to manage their family’s philanthropy in a thoughtful and strategic manner.

PCLB’s work is anchored by its mission statement, “giving motivated people the tools they need to help themselves.” These tools are about more than grants and include guidance, connections, convening, information, and other forms of assistance that the foundation and its grantees can provide. PCLB looks to support the highest‐quality organizations that show initiative, leadership, and innovation in solving issues that are meaningful to the family and the communities where family members live.

Program Areas

PCLB makes grants in five program areas:

• Education
• Outdoors
• Science
• Medicine
• Family Projects

Our choice of work in these program areas is guided by a desire for strategic and systemic change, by our founders’ intent, by our Board members’ interests, and by our staff’s expertise.

Within these program areas, we seek to support the highest-quality, most effective organizations that align with our broad mission of giving motivated people the tools they need to help themselves and that align with our more specific program area goals. Broadly, we provide the following types of financial support:

• General Operating: PCLB prefers to make general operating grants, to give our grantees the greatest ability to do the work they know is most important to meet our shared goals. Generally, we have general operating relationships with organizations that last for an extended period, recognizing that many of the issues on which we work take time to address.
• Restricted Support: PCLB also makes restricted grants, often to focus on areas of particular geographic interest or to support a specific department or area of work within an organization that has a broad scope.
• Big Bets: Philanthropy is uniquely positioned to take risks and try big things. In this spirit, PCLB makes a limited number of grants to fund especially large, time-limited projects that have the potential to change narratives around and trajectories of grantees’ work.
• Program-Related Investments: PCLB makes Program-Related Investments (PRIs) in the form of low-interest loans. PRIs are offered to current PCLB grantees to complete land conservation projects and to meet the facility needs of charter schools. Loans are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, within guidelines established by the Foundation.

Pathways for Older Adults

History

Grants that help older adults thrive are made possible by the East Hill Woods Fund at Connecticut Community Foundation, established in November 2009 with a contribution of $9.2 million through the sale of East Hill Woods.

As a field of interest fund, the East Hill Woods Fund provides grants to nonprofits and municipalities that offer services and opportunities for older adults living in the Foundation’s service area. A portion of the fund is also designated to train and educate future managers of senior living communities. Building community centers for our elderly is highly important in this age, they need to feel connected with their peers and others in the community, this is where construction companies like Enviro are here for neighborhoods who require modular buildings.

Purpose of Grants

To help people in our region age successfully and remain healthy, informed and engaged. Grant funding is also provided to local communities to help them prepare for the aging of the population.

Our grants to organizations working to improve quality of life for older adults typically fall into one of these general categories:

• Healthy aging
• Connecting with information, benefits and resources
• Aging successfully and safely in the community
• Education, arts and creative expression
• Waterbury BRASS (Bringing Resources to Action to Serve Seniors): A citywide collaboration
• Engaging older adults in addressing community needs
• Intergenerational projects

Possible Projects

• Develop core programs and adopt best practices that connect older adults with benefits, services and opportunities; assist with chores, home maintenance and home safety; enhance health and fitness; and build age-friendly communities that promote civic engagement and full participation for all ages.
• Hold a Town Conversation on Aging, open to the public, to discuss services, resources and opportunities for older adults in the town, identify needs and gaps, and prioritize action steps for the next several years. A $2,000 grant is available to each town in the Foundation’s service area for these conversations. This questionnaire provides a framework for the conversation.
• Connect more people over age 65+ to their libraries through Lifelong Libraries grants. Program possibilities include health, wellness, education, arts, creative expression, technology, financial security, intergenerational, and more.
• Collaborative programs that enhance services in a cost-effective manner are prioritized. Examples include a fitness program that rotates among towns and development of a coordinated transportation system.

About the Allison Keller Education Technology Program

Realizing the gains that many people with autism have achieved using the iPad, the Allison Keller Education Technology Program was created in honor of Flutie Foundation Board Member Kevin Lane Keller's daughter Allison. The goal of the program is to help fill the financial and technological gap for schools and organizations that assist individuals with autism. Since 2012, the Flutie Foundation has granted over $820,000 to 177 schools and organizations for programs specifically serving individuals with autism that have an established technology program in place or have expressed an interest in starting a program using the iPad or other technology tools.

Applications will be considered for any technology tools and/or training that improve learning outcomes or performance. Examples include but are not limited to:

• Tablets & Accessories
• Apps
• Smartboards
• Laptops
• Technology Training
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educational activities & access to STEM studies

The Flutie Foundation is seeking innovative partners who are using technology to address real needs facing the autism community. One program per public school district is eligible to be awarded an Allison Keller Education Technology grant annually. Think outside the box!

Grant Making Process

The mission of the Branford Community Foundation (BCF) is to connect people who care with causes that matter, for the purpose of preserving and promoting the quality of life in Branford, Connecticut, now and for generations to come. BCF is dedicated to our core values of integrity, inclusiveness, responsiveness, and accountability.

We fulfill our mission by building and maintaining a charitable endowment and making prudent grants that serve to address the ever-changing needs of the Branford community. Through the gracious giving of donors who are committed to our mission, we fund worthy programs that promote the quality of life in Branford.

What the Branford Community Foundation Funds

The Branford Community Foundation looks to fund organizations and projects that strengthen and improve Branford in the following focus areas:

• Basic Needs (food, emergency financial assistance, fuel and heat support, shelter)
• Health (mental health services, senior services, social services, health education, substance abuse prevention)
• Education (literacy, job training, collegiate scholarships)
• Arts (music, dance, theatre, visual, community performances)
• Environment (public spaces and land, recycling, animal and wildlife support)
• Youth (access to summer camps, children in need, early childhood education)
• Civic engagement/resources (historical preservation, volunteerism, community events and enhancements)

The Branford Community Foundation holds several “field of interest” funds, including funds dedicated to basic needs, animals, environment, cultural arts, and music. During the application review process, the Board works to match applications with corresponding fields of interest funds.

BCF seeks grants that enhance the quality of life in Branford. Grant applications should address a need within the focus area and demonstrate impact on the organization, project, community, or persons served. Applications should include some of the following elements:

• Address a documented need or concern of the focus area.
• Recognize and build on a community’s or organization’s strengths and assets.
• Build the capacity of community organizations and/or individuals to help themselves.
• Support cooperative approaches to community issues through collaborations based on shared visions and mutual responsibility.
• Encourage attracting other resources, such as matching gifts.
• Build infrastructure within the organization in order to meet its mission.

Background

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven is a philanthropic institution that was established in 1928 as the community's permanent charitable endowment. For more than three generations, thousands of donors have built our community endowment by establishing permanent funds or making gifts to existing funds that distribute grants to a broad variety of issues and organizations. These donors, past and present, make their gifts to ensure that programs and causes that matter most to them will be supported today and forever.

The Community Foundation is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States and remains the largest grantmaker in a twenty-town region located in the heart of central Connecticut. The Community Foundation is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 organization, and as such is exempt from federal income tax; donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Mission: To inspire, support, inform, listen to and collaborate with the people and organizations of Greater New Haven to build an ever more connected, inclusive, equitable and philanthropic community.

Vision: A community of expanding opportunity in which all people share a sense of common destiny and have the support and connections needed to build successful lives.

We pursue our mission by:

• Inspiring people to get involved in local issues;
• Providing leadership by mobilizing the community to address key local issues and by supporting others in their leadership roles;
• Responding to community priorities through grantmaking and in other ways;
• Raising new charitable resources to address current community priorities and for permanent endowment;
• Honoring the wishes of past donors and collaborating with current donors; and
• Growing the community’s charitable endowments by managing the financial assets entrusted to us.

Community Fund for Women & Girls

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s Community Fund for Women & Girls is providing grants (up to $15,000) to Greater New Haven serving nonprofits that provide women (including those who identify as cisgender, transgender and nonbinary) with greater economic security through programs that support:

• Women’s workforce training and employment participation
• Women entrepreneurs
• Women’s housing stability
• Innovative childcare which supports women in the workforce

Funding Priorities

Support for workforce training, job readiness and employment programs which improve women’s economic security. Priority consideration will be given to programming which includes wraparound supports (ex., cash assistance, transportation, childcare), that allow women to fully participate in training and work opportunities. Sample outcomes: Women’s increased ability to seek and maintain employment; increased ability to participate in and complete job-training programs.

Support for initiatives that help women entrepreneurs in the development and maintenance of sustainable businesses. Can include training and coaching, direct financial assistance for operational and administrative costs, business planning and marketing guidance, and/or other related services. Sample outcomes: Woman-owned business’ increased financial strength, increased operational capacity, creation of employment opportunities for women.

Support for initiatives that help women obtain or maintain housing stability. Can include rental and eviction assistance, rental down payments, furniture, utility assistance and foreclosure prevention. Sample outcomes: Women’s increased housing stability through rental assistance distributions.

Support for childcare programs which incorporate creative solutions to meet the needs of working families. Examples include alternative/extended-hour childcare; childcare-employer collaborations; childcare-training program collaborations and partnerships. Sample outcomes: Increased access to childcare for families, continued program operations for childcare/youth programming, increased collaboration amongst childcare providers and local businesses.

Travelers believes that strong communities are sustained by educational and economic opportunities — and we are dedicated to assisting our communities in generating those opportunities. With a focus on equity and inclusion, we target our giving and volunteerism to help improve academic and career success, develop thriving neighborhoods and create culturally enriched communities.

Travelers is ensuring opportunity by contributing to efforts that create strong, vibrant communities and offer pathways to success. Through corporate funding and the Travelers Foundation, Travelers targets its giving to achieve three outcomes: Academic & Career Success, Thriving Neighborhoods and Culturally Enriched Communities. Our primary focus is educating underrepresented students to lead tomorrow’s workforce. In addition, Travelers contributes to organizations that aid in developing communities through small business support and neighborhood revitalization, and that enhance lives and learning through arts & culture. 

Travelers accepts grant applications exclusively for Hartford, Connecticut and St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily for project, program and operating support and for limited capital opportunities.

Academic & Career Success

Because today’s student will be tomorrow’s co-worker, education is the primary focus of our giving. We support college and career readiness programs for underrepresented students from middle school through college and into career. 

A successful future starts in the classroom. But many people struggle to get the education they need to compete for quality jobs and to lead a fulfilling life. Our giving focuses on helping to provide a foundation for individual success and on building a skilled workforce for our industry and our communities.

Where We Give

Nearly half of our annual giving goes toward initiatives that help underrepresented students attain academic and career success. We seek to improve academic achievement gaps by focusing on low-income and minority students in grades five through 12, students in college and those seeking careers in the insurance industry.

Funding Priorities

Academic & Career Success: Travelers supports initiatives that improve academic achievement and career success for underrepresented youth, specifically targeted at public school students in grades five through 12, students in transition to post-secondary education, and students in post-secondary learning environments.

• Middle & High School Academic Achievement– Travelers funds initiatives that foster improved academic achievement for middle and/or high school students.
• Post-Secondary Preparation & Degree Attainment– Travelers supports organizations that are building awareness of and personal readiness for post-secondary education and educational initiatives that improve degree completion for underrepresented students.
• Career Awareness & Readiness– Travelers supports educational initiatives that are building awareness of and preparation for careers in insurance and financial services.

Welcome

Farmington Bank Community Foundation, which continues the 167 year legacy of the former Farmington Bank, provides financial support to non-profit organizations and community programs that help create opportunities for a better life by focusing on economic opportunities, health, and basic needs for the residents of sixteen communities in Central Connecticut.

Health & Human Services: Basic Needs

To provide a safety net for individuals and families who are traveling the path to self-sufficiency or are experiencing financial setbacks. To improve population health and conditions of daily living across all life stages. Priority will be given to organizations that:

• Provide short-term emergency assistance s including shelters, food pantries or household goods
• Support the prevention, reduction and eliminate the recurrence of child, elder or partner abuse.
• Promote access to quality preventative and routine healthcare, including screenings; to reduce health system inequities
• Improve access to healthy food and health-related income supports (such as SNAP, WIC, and HUSKY)
• Decrease homelessness

Basic Human Needs

The Foundation will consider requests requests for short-term emergency assistance including access to shelter, food, or other basic human needs.

NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants

Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) is a competitive program that supports the development of new tools, approaches, practices, and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands. Through creative problem solving and innovation, CIG partners work to address our nation's water quality, air quality, soil health and wildlife habitat challenges, all while improving agricultural operations.

There are three annual Conservation Innovation Grants funding opportunities:

National CIG Classic

National competition for projects that support the early-stage development and piloting of new tools, practices and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands.

State CIG Classic

State-level competitions for projects that support early-stage development and piloting of new tools, practices and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands. While the overall goal and approach match those of CIG Classic, CIG state competitions fund projects that target state-identified conservation priorities. Each year, NRCS state offices may elect to administer their own CIG competitions. State CIG competitions are announced separately from national competitions.

CIG On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials (On-Farm Trials)

National competition for projects that support more widespread adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation approaches in partnership with agricultural producers. On-Farm Trials Awardees provide technical assistance and incentive payments to producers to help compensate for risks associated with implementation of new conservation practices, systems and approaches. Awardees also evaluate the environmental, financial and social (to the extent possible) impacts of implementing innovative approaches. The Soil Health Demo Trial is a priority within the On-Farm Trials competition which focuses exclusively on implementation of conservation practices and systems that improve soil health.

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.

Welcome

Farmington Bank Community Foundation, which continues the 167 year legacy of the former Farmington Bank, provides financial support to non-profit organizations and community programs that help create opportunities for a better life by focusing on economic opportunities, health, and basic needs for the residents of sixteen communities in Central Connecticut.

Economic Empowerment and Sustainability

To foster pathways from poverty to prosperity for individuals and families in our communities, and to encourage diverse and robust neighborhood and community economies. Priority will be given to organizations that:

• Enhance, improve opportunities for quality employment and career prospects.
• Assist an individual or household to achieve financial security.
• Support development of a range of affordable housing options in all communities
• Improve skills and knowledge of households to make informed and effective decisions with their financial resources.
• Support the process of designing, launching and running a new business

Economic Empowerment and Sustainability: Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy and Housing

Requests that support the process of designing, launching and running a new business; efforts to improve the financial skills of households to make informed and effective decisions and supporting development of a range of affordable housing options.

About Us

Main Street Community Foundation, Inc., is a public charity committed to partnering with individuals, families and businesses who wish to build permanent charitable connections, now and for generations to come, to support and better the communities of Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott, Connecticut, USA. Founded in 1995, the foundation takes great pride in helping to make each town a better community in which to live and work.

The foundation addresses a broad range of community goals. We support meaningful dialogue on issues affecting the towns we serve. We convene community members, monitor and assess changing needs, locally and beyond and propose action on critical concerns. In this way, we are able to meet changing needs and provide support to what matters most to the people who live and work in the cities and towns of this region. As a community foundation we are committed to connecting donors with the community and to causes they care about through charitable giving. We talk with donors about their charitable interests and find ways to help them achieve their goals - often by setting up permanent endowments.

Women & Girls Fund 

The Women & Girls Fund was founded in 2001 by a group of caring and committed women. Through grantmaking, the Foundation assists women and girls with obtaining the skills and competencies to develop their potential and improve the quality of their lives. Grants will allow organizations to build internal capacity to ensure ongoing support of women and girls in the local communities. Applications will be accepted for program grants and capital requests that are related to a program that meets grant guidelines.

Grantmaking Priorities

Based on input from over 20 participating grantee and community partners, Main Street Community Foundation has identified three priority areas for the Women & Girls Fund. Preference will be given to grant requests that address these needs:

• Services for Senior Women: Programs that provide supports to senior women to increase self-sufficiency such as - basic needs, financial literacy resources, and opportunities to decrease social isolation.

• Confidence Building and Leadership: Programs that build self-esteem and self-reliance particularly in young girls and teens such as - programs that promote connections with a caring and stable adult, programs that promote financial literacy and life-skills, and programs that develop skills to be a successful leader in school, the community or in a career.

• Mental Health and Well-being: Programs that reduce anxiety and stress through non-clinical methods, teach mindfulness skills, and improve overall self-care and well-being for women of all ages.

Conservation Stewardship Program

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation.

Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop resiliency, or develop wildlife habitat, we can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. We can help you identify natural resource problems in your operation and provide technical and financial assistance to solve those problems or attain higher stewardship levels in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.

How It Works

If you are already taking steps to improve the condition of the land, chances are, CSP can help you find new ways to meet your goals.

NRCS works one-on-one with producers to develop a conservation plan that outlines and enhances existing efforts, using new conservation practices or activities, based on management objectives for your operation. Producers implement practices and activities in their conservation plan that expands on the benefits of cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving their agricultural operations.

For example, if you have been planting a cover crop, you may decide to try an enhancement for a multi-species cover crop or implement a deep-rooted cover crop to break up soil compaction and further improve the health of your soil.

CSP offers annual payments for implementing these practices on your land and operating and maintaining existing conservation efforts. Want to take it a step further? CSP also offers bundles where you can select a suite of enhancements and receive a higher payment rate.

Benefits

CSP is for working lands and is the largest conservation program in the United States. Thousands of people voluntarily enroll in the program because it helps them enhance natural resources and improve their business operation.

CSP participants are seeing real results. Some of these benefits include:

• Enhanced resiliency to weather and market volatility
• Decreased need for agricultural inputs
• Improved wildlife habitat conditions

CSP Contracts

The program represents a genuine commitment to conservation – CSP contracts are for five years, with the opportunity to compete for a contract renewal if you successfully fulfill the initial contract and agree to achieve additional conservation objectives. An NRCS conservation planner will work closely with you, throughout the entire contract process.

Contract payments are based on two components:

• Payments to maintain the existing level of conservation, based on the land uses included in the contract and an NRCS assessment of existing stewardship at the time of enrollment, and
• Payments to implement additional conservation activities.

NRCS may provide a minimum annual payment of $1,500 in any year the Chief determines the total contract payment amount is below a base level.

Connecticut Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA)

NRCS administers the conservation provisions while Agricultural Marketing Service and Risk Management Agency implement the production diversification and marketing provisions.

How It Works

Producers may construct or improve water management structures or irrigation structures; plant trees for windbreaks or to improve water quality; and mitigate risk through production diversification or resource conservation practices, including soil erosion control, integrated pest management, or transition to organic farming.

AMA is available in 16 states where participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program is historically low: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Program At A Glance

• AMA provides financial assistance up to 75 percent of the cost of installing conservation practices.
• Total AMA payments shall not exceed $50,000 per participant for any fiscal year.
• Participants are not subject to Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985.
• Participants are subject to Adjusted Gross Income provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985.
• AMA offers an additional higher cost-share for historically underserved producers.

Corporate Contributions

Community involvement and corporate citizenship are an example of Insperity’s mission in action. We are committed to helping the communities where we live and work because together, we know we can make great things happen.

Grants

Philanthropic grants are a strong part of our community outreach and aid institutions needing financial support to meet important service goals.

Event Sponsorship

Fundraising events are an important part of nonprofit support. Insperity provides event sponsorships to approved charities to assist them in meeting their financial and community goals.

Community Progress Makers Fund

Community Progress Makers is a Citi Foundation initiative aimed at supporting local community organizations connecting low-income communities to greater social and economic opportunity. The Foundation first launched the Community Progress Makers initiative in 2015 with a vision of empowering local community organizations to grow their transformative impact through unrestricted, trust-based funding. The Foundation is committing an additional $50 million to support a fourth cohort of Community Progress Makers. Through an open request for proposals (RFP) process, the Foundation will select 50 community organizations to receive the following over three years: 

• $1 million in unrestricted grant support
• Access to technical assistance from national experts and leading researchers
• Opportunities to connect and share learnings through webinars and local and national gatherings

Selection Priorities

For this funding opportunity, the Citi Foundation will prioritize organizations that demonstrate:

• Deep connections to the communities served
• Track record of partnering with other community organizations and stakeholders to achieve positive change
• Utilization of data to inform planning and the capacity to collect, analyze, and share data, results, and learnings
• Track record and innovative vision in one of the following areas of work: 
  • Affordable Housing and Access, such as efforts to promote housing affordability; home ownership; and resident support services to help people more easily access employment, education, health, and childcare.
  • Economic Development, including the provision of technical assistance to small businesses; commercial corridor revitalization efforts; and green economy strategies that promote job creation.
  • Financial Health, such as efforts in delivering financial coaching; integrated financial capability services; and savings and asset building strategies.
  • Workforce Readiness, including organizations preparing young people and/or adults for careers and entrepreneurship.