Search Through Grants for Charities in Vermont in the U.S.

Charitable Contributions

Costco Wholesale’s primary charitable efforts specifically focus on programs supporting children, education, and health and human services in the communities where we do business. Throughout the year we receive a large number of requests from nonprofit organizations striving to make a positive impact, and we are thankful to be able to provide support to a variety of organizations and causes. While we would like to respond favorably to all requests, understandably, the needs are far greater than our allocated resources and we are unable to accommodate them all.

Warehouse Donations:

Warehouse donations are handled at the warehouse level - please consult your local warehouse for up-to-date information regarding their donations contacts and review process.

Grant Applications

If the request is under consideration, you may be contacted by staff for any additional information needed. Applications are reviewed within 4-6 weeks, and decisions are made based on several factors, including: type of program; identified community need not otherwise available; indication that evidenced based data will establish measurable results of intended outcomes; community collaboration; broad base of financial support; project budget and operating expenses.

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.

Global Impact Cash Grants

Cisco welcomes applications for Global Impact Cash Grants from community partners around the world who share our vision and offer an innovative approach to a critical social challenge.

We identify, incubate, and develop innovative solutions with the most impact. Global Impact Cash Grants go to nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that address a significant social problem. We’re looking for programs that fit within our investment areas, serve the underserved, and leverage technology to improve the reach and efficiency of services. We accept applications year-round from eligible organizations. An initial information form is used to determine whether your organization will be invited to complete a full application.

Social Investment Areas

At Cisco, we make social investments in three areas where we believe our technology and our people can make the biggest impact—education, economic empowerment, and crisis response, the last of which incorporates shelter, water, food, and disaster relief. Together, these investment areas help people overcome barriers of poverty and inequality, and make a lasting difference by fostering strong global communities.

Education Investments

Our strategy is to inclusively invest in technology-based solutions that increase equitable access to education while improving student performance, engagement, and career exploration. We support K-12 solutions that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as well as literacy. We also consider programs that teach environmental sustainability, eliminate barriers to accessing climate change education, and invite student engagement globally to positively affect the environment.

What we look for:

• Innovative early grade solutions using the internet and technology to bridge the barriers preventing access to education for underserved students globally.
• Solutions that positively affect student attendance, attitudes, and behavior while inspiring action by students to improve learning outcomes, whether they participate in person, online, or in blended learning environments. 
• Solutions with high potential to replicate and scale globally, thereby increasing the availability of evidence-based solutions that support student-centricity, teacher capacity in the classroom, and increased parental participation to help students learn and develop.

Economic Empowerment

Our strategy is to invest in early stage, tech-enabled solutions that provide equitable access to the knowledge, skills, and resources that people need to support themselves and their families toward resilience, independence, and economic security.

Our goal is to support solutions that benefit individuals and families, and that contribute to local community growth and economic development in a sustainable economy.

We target our support in three interconnected areas:

• Skills development to help job seekers secure dignified employment and long-term career pathways in technology or other sectors, including environmental sustainability/green jobs.
• Inclusive entrepreneurship with small businesses as engines of local growth as well as high growth potential start-ups as large-scale job creators nationally and internationally, in technology or other sectors, including environment sustainability/green businesses.
• Banking the unbanked through relevant and affordable financial products and capacity building services.

Cisco Crisis Response

We seek to help overcome the cycle of poverty and dependence and achieve a more sustainable future through strategic investments. We back organizations that successfully address critical needs of underserved communities, because those who have their basic needs met are better equipped to learn and thrive.

What we look for:

• Innovative solutions that increase the capacity of grantees to deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently
• Design and implementation of web-based tools that increase the availability of, or improve access to, products and services that are necessary for people to survive and thrive
• Programs that increase access to clean water, food, shelter, or disaster relief and promote a more sustainable future for all
  • By policy, relief campaigns respond to significant natural disaster and humanitarian crises as opposed to those caused by human conflict. Also by policy, our investments in this area do not include healthcare solutions.

Climate Impact

Our strategy is to invest US$100 million in Cisco Foundation funds over the next decade to help reverse the impact of climate change, working toward a sustainable and regenerative future for all.

The commitment includes both grant and impact investment funding for early-stage climate innovation. Both categories of support will be focused on bold climate solutions, and the grants side will also concentrate on community education and activation. Grants will go to exceptionally aligned nonprofit organizations, while impact investments will go to highly promising for-profit solutions through the private sector and climate impact funds.

Funding comes from the Cisco Foundation and will focus on:

• Identifying bold and innovative solutions that:
  • Draw down the carbon already in the atmosphere
  • Regenerate depleted ecosystems and broadly support the transition to a regenerative future
• Developing curricular initiatives to spur community engagement that can lead to measurable behavioral change and collective action

We will prioritize organizations that can achieve, measure, and report outcomes such as:

• Reduction, capture, and/or sequestering of greenhouse gas and carbon emissions
• Increased energy efficiency and improved mapping and management of natural resources, such as ecosystem restoration, forest treatments, reforestation, and afforestation that also will help repair our water cycles
• Transition to inclusive, just, coliberatory, and regenerative operating models, ways of being, and ways of organizing economies
• Creation of, and increase in, access to green jobs and job training
• Changes in community and individual behavior that lead to carbon footprint reduction, community climate resilience, and localized roadmaps to a sustainable shared climate future for all

The Labcorp Charitable Foundation

We believe every person deserves equitable care and education.

In 2020 Labcorp established a private charitable 501(c)(3) foundation to advance our desire to bring quality healthcare access to all by supporting education and our local communities. 

Common grant opportunities include:

• Supporting food pantries and meal programs
• Providing healthcare and patient services for underserved populations
• Encouraging STEM programming
• Advocating for healthy lifestyles through ongoing medical research and screening

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.

Background

Since 2005, the Richard E. and Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation has been one of the most active private foundations in Vermont. We use our resources to ease hardship, help people overcome barriers to success, and drive innovative change.

We are a small, nimble organization. We spend aggressively, granting at nearly triple the rate of most other foundations nationwide. Our mandate is to spend our resources efficiently, and in partnership with the people and organizations that are doing the best work in their communities and fields.

In 2010, the Foundation was recognized for its thoughtful strategy and effective partnerships with the AFP-NNE National Philanthropy Day Outstanding Foundation of the Year Award. Foundation initiatives have been featured in national publications including EdWeek: Technology Counts and the Middle School Journal.

A key element of the Foundation’s investment strategy is our commitment to using our dollars to address today’s challenges. Instead of setting funds aside as a permanent endowment, the Tarrant Foundation intends to fully expend its resources and sunset its grantmaking by the year 2040.

Tarrant Foundation Strategies

The Tarrant Foundation awards between 50 – 70 competitive grants annually. Because we believe we can have the most impact by concentrating these funds in Vermont, applications are accepted only from Vermont organizations.

While we acknowledge the many pressing needs facing Vermont, and the many effective interventions targeting those needs, our grantmaking is primarily focused on the following populations and strategies:

Youth: Resilience and Aspiration

Our primary interest here is programs that support school-age youth to develop the dispositions, skills and resources they will need to move productively into adulthood. Our focus includes: achievement gap, job readiness, mentoring, out-of-school time, financial literacy, emergency & transitional housing, and community–based addiction recovery. 

Working-Age Adults: Employment and Financial Independence 

We support strategies that promote and facilitate the journey to economic independence, and that ultimately reduce reliance on public assistance. Our focus includes: job training/retention, financial literacy, homelessness prevention, and community-based addiction recovery.

Seniors: Comfort and Dignity in Aging

We believe in ensuring that seniors’ most basic needs are met, and in community-based supports that promote wellbeing and fight the premature limitation of independence. Our focus includes: independent living, nutrition, and activity & enrichment.

Communities: Local Resources and Investments

Some small grants are available to complement Vermont communities’ own investments in important local resources and services. Here we look for programs with evidence of strong local financial and/or volunteer support.

What We Look For

We partner with organizations that have a deep understanding of the community needs they seek to address, and a demonstrated track record of effective strategies and interventions.

As we evaluate proposals, we also look for:

• Strong leadership
• An entrepreneurial mindset
• Efficiency
• A focus on action and outcomes
• A balanced blend of funding sources to create greater long term stability
• Organizations that are committed to maximizing the impact of our investment

About

The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative catalyzing social impact on a grand scale. Every year we select and nurture a group of big, bold solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges, and with the support of an inspiring group of donors and supporters, come together to get them launched.

Housed at TED, the nonprofit with a long track record of surfacing ideas worth spreading, and with support from leading social impact advisor The Bridgespan Group, the funding collective is comprised of several respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy.

Our goal is to match bold ideas with catalytic resources.

• We encourage the world’s inspirational changemakers to dream bigger than ever before.
• Help shape their best ideas into viable multi-year plans.
• Present those solutions in a compelling way to potential supporters.

The Process

Every year, The Audacious Project works with proven change-makers to surface their best, boldest ideas for tackling global problems.

Sourcing & review

Projects are sourced from public applications and a global network of partners and donors. They are narrowed down to a group of finalists whose ideas are representative of a broad range of geographies and issue areas while elevating leaders with proximity to the communities they serve.

Idea shaping & investment support

Each finalist project goes through a rigorous ideation, due diligence, and investment support process, to ensure their proposal is achievable and compelling.

Funding & launch

Finalist projects are presented privately to groups of donors and are then publicly unveiled at TED. Funded projects then pursue their plans and share regular updates on key milestones reached with donors and the public.

Is Your Idea Audacious?

• Are you a changemaker with a bold vision?
• Are you a non-profit with an experienced team equipped to receive large scale philanthropic support?
• Is your idea a proven concept that aspires to create a better world?
• We look for ideas that cover a wide range of issues, from global health and climate change, to social justice and education.

What Makes An Idea Audacious?

Inspire

• Transformative vision
  • Your idea should capture a bold vision for tackling one of the world's most urgent topics.
• Creating a better world
  • It is your opportunity to take a giant leap forward; you may be tempted to think incrementally, but remember for it to be bold, your idea should offer significant, enduring impact.
  • This vision should bring us much closer to your version of an ideal world in a matter of years rather than generations.
• Innovative and original
  • There should be a unique aspect or creative element to your approach that challenges convention or status quo or changes the narrative for the greater good.

Convince

• Proven concept
  • There should be evidence that the idea will have impact based on a track record of past success, a demand from those that would be affected, and justified confidence that results can be sustained in the future.
• A bold vision that has clear outcomes
  • There should be a sense of where you will be at the end of a multi-year funding term and the strategy, resources and timeline required to achieve it. We want to hear about the changes that would take place because of your idea, not just the components that go into implementing it.

• Established support
  • You and your capable and confident team have the backing of a nonprofit, NGO, or institution (or is part of a collaboration between multiple such entities). This organization should be able to receive philanthropic funds and have the core infrastructure necessary to support the work. (Note: Past projects have had an annual operating budget of $1 million or more.)

Please refer to FAQ for additional guidelines.

We have strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the country that are working to advance economic mobility and social progress in low- and moderate-income communities. Our focus areas include basic needs like food and housing, workforce development and education, and community development. In addition to our philanthropic investments, we also encourage our employees to make a difference by offering robust employee giving and volunteering programs, including the opportunity to direct funds to organizations they support through volunteer efforts, and a matching gifts program that doubles their individual giving to causes they care about. Last year, we invested $350 million in the communities we serve, and employees contributed more than 1 million volunteer hours and directed $65 million through individual giving and matching gifts to support nonprofits.Through our regional U.S. sponsorships, we support the economic, social and cultural life of the places we live and work. We provide an extensive program of arts and sports sponsorships to help maintain vibrant, healthy communities.Sponsorships supporting communitiesBank of America welcomes your sponsorship proposal for opportunities that make our communities a better place to live and work. We are particularly interested in providing support to address needs vital to the health of our communities through a focus on:

• preserving neighborhoods;
• educating the workforce for 21st century jobs;
• addressing critical needs such as hunger and emergency shelter;
• arts and culture;
• the environment; and
• diversity and inclusion programs.

Grants are made at the Foundation’s discretion based on our current funding strategies focused on housing, jobs and hunger. 

Helping Build Better Futures

Our mission is to deliver great value to our customers every day. For over four decades, our deep commitment to the principles of providing value and caring for others has helped define our culture. It extends beyond the walls of our stores, distribution centers, and offices, and into our local communities around the world. The intersection of these principles defines our global community mission:

Deliver great value to our communities by helping vulnerable families and children access the resources and opportunities they need to build a better future.

Our Social Impact Areas

We bring our community relations mission to life around the world by focusing our giving on four social impact areas where we believe we can have the most impact and are critical to helping families and children succeed and thrive.

Basic Needs

We are passionate about supporting nonprofit organizations that help fill critical basic needs such as a warm meal, clean clothing, and a safe place to sleep for vulnerable families.

Education & Training

Our efforts have focused on quality enrichment and extracurricular programs that provide skills, resources, and opportunities to support school and career success for children, teens, and young adults.

Patient Care & Research

We support organizations that deliver services to families and children facing health challenges and life-threatening illnesses.

Empowering Women

We support programs that provide services ranging from help for those fleeing domestic violence, to others that offer education, training, and job placement resources.

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

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.

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

The One Hive Foundation is a private foundation that supports nonprofit research and community partners to promote pollinator health and ecologically responsible agriculture. One Hive’s mission is to promote pollinator health and ecologically responsible agriculture.

We fund research and non-profits to:

• Increase available data on the impact of our actions on the environment
• Accelerate solutions that combine science, innovation, and respect for the environment
• Support the next generation of diverse farmers who will foster ecologically responsible agriculture practices into the future

We function as a hub of collaboration by::

• Sharing research findings
• Facilitating communication among partners and funders
• Raising public awareness

The One Hive Foundation Grant

In 2022, One Hive Foundation launched its grantmaking, providing grants to organizations in Vermont and beyond. We recognize the enormous amount of time researchers and nonprofits spend seeking funds and reporting on grants. One Hive Foundation has a streamlined application and reporting process so that experts in the field can spend more time doing the work of our shared missions (and what really matters!).

One Hive will accept requests that align with our Mission, Vision, and Values and one or more of our focus areas:

• Scientific research focused on the threats to native and managed pollinators and efforts to improve pollinator health.
• Public education and advocacy focused on pollinator awareness, food security, water quality, and pesticide use reduction.
• Projects that seek to translate scientific research for the general public understanding (including through independent journalism).
• Initiatives that seek to link scientific research and public policy.
• Projects that replicate successful, collaborative approaches to public education, policy, and advocacy.
• General operating support to build capacity of advocacy or membership organizations related to pollinator health and/or beekeeping.
• Programs to nurture a diverse collaborative, and well-networked next generation of farmers (including beekeepers), scientists, and advocates.
• Projects that examine agricultural impacts to public health (including but not limited to pesticide exposure, disease vectors, nutrition, and ecojustice).
• Projects that partner with businesses to improve pollinator conservation practices across supply chains, facilities, and consumer education.

The One Hive Foundation has a primary geographic focus in Vermont, followed by the northeast, but will also consider requests for work in other states across the US as well as Canada that support the Foundation’s focus areas as noted above. Foundation will consider requests of up to $75,000 per year and anticipates making grants at a variety of dollar amounts, including small grants. 

About the Foundation

Jesse W. Couch lived a life of zeal, honor, and dedication to the betterment of his community. The Couch family now humbly stewards the foundation he created to carry on his legacy of service for future generations. We believe that impact is best accomplished through partnerships with local organizations that know the people and communities they serve. We invest in and support efforts to protect the environment, further conservation and preservation initiatives, and save historical architecture that preserves community heritage. We also support initiatives that promote wellness and mental health and organizations seeking to provide and further education for all communities.

Annual Grant Focus

Each year, we seek to partner with and support non-profit organizations making an impact in the focus areas listed here.  The focus areas for 2025 are:

• Animal Wellbeing: We are dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations that nurture compassion and respect for all living animals. We must have animal-focused organizations that advocate for animal rights and provide humane treatment across all spectrums.
• Early Childhood Education: We are looking for schools that are providing young children with a creative and balanced approach to education. Things we love in early childhood curriculums:
  • Life Skills
  • Collaboration With Their Peers and Teachers   
  • Having Fun   
  • Montessori Teachings   
  • Project Based Teachings   
  • Diversity   
  • More Time Outside   
  • Less Screen Time
• Teachers: Teachers are essential to providing children with the best possible education. We must invest in their future and are always looking for teams that help them succeed in educating future generations.
• Get Outside: Being outside can improve memory, fight depression, lower blood pressure, and more! We support organizations that facilitate and encourage more outdoor activities that help create healthier communities. 

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation Vision

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation, "A Foundation for All", was established in 2002. It was begun in order to give a clear voice for those who wish to be a part of the many, worthy, forces for change in our world.

We are a foundation whose purpose is to look ahead towards the future, giving the past its due by remembering where we came from, and how much we can all accomplish together. We aim to make the critical difference on our planet by recognizing and having respect for our ever changing world. We respect all Life, the Environment, and all People, no matter who they are.

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,
• environment,
• enrichment and
• entrepreneurship.

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

The Lawrence Foundation is a private family foundation focused on making grants to support environmental, human services and other causes.

The Lawrence Foundation was established in mid-2000. We make both program and operating grants and do not have any geographical restrictions on our grants. Nonprofit organizations that qualify for public charity status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or other similar organizations are eligible for grants from The Lawrence Foundation.  

Grant Amount and Types

Grants typically range between $5,000 - $10,000. In some limited cases we may make larger grants, but that is typically after we have gotten to know your organization over a period of time. We also generally don’t make multi-year grants, although we may fund the same organization on a year by year basis over a period of years.

General operating or program/project grant requests within our areas of interests are accepted. In general, regardless of whether a grant request is for general operating or program/project expenses, all of our grants will be issued as unrestricted grants.

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural and performing arts programs; schools and hospitals; educational, skills-training and other programs for youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and programs.

Centene Charitable Foundation

Successful corporate citizenship happens when companies invest in the local organizations that know their communities best. The Centene Foundation works with our local partners on initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person and community development.

Vision

Centene’s purpose is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. The Centene Foundation is an essential part of how we pursue this purpose. We achieve measurable impact for the communities we serve through partnerships and philanthropy efforts that invest in initiatives with holistic approaches to dismantling barriers to health.

Areas of Focus

Reflecting Centene’s commitment to the needs of those who rely on government-sponsored health care and to addressing social determinants of health and health equity, preference will be given to initiatives in three distinct areas of focus.

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

The Foundation is dedicated to providing financial assistance to organizations committed to improving our world. Solutions to the problems of today's world still lie in the values of innovation, practicality, hard work, and compassion.

The Foundation considers applications for grants in the following areas:

• Education
• Social Service
• Health care
• Civic and cultural
• Environmental

The categories above are not intended to limit the interest of the Foundation from considering other worthwhile projects. In general, the Foundation guidelines are broad to give us flexibility in providing grants.

The majority of our grants are made in the U.S. However, like Dr. Scholl, we recognize the need for a global outlook. Non-U.S. grants are given to organizations where directors have knowledge of the grantee.

About the Foundation

It was fitting — and only natural — that, upon her death in 1974, Marian Woodward Ottley would establish by Will, the David, Helen, and Marian Woodward Fund in loving memory of her parents, and in her words, “In order to carry out their wishes and mine in attempting to make this a better world for those who come after us.”Her Will created a distribution committee to direct the trustee to distribute income and principal exclusively to or for the benefit of non-profit institutions, corporations, and associations that are located in New York and in the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont that are organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, charitable, or scientific purposes. The Fund also awards grants to governmental agencies.

The distribution committee has attempted to carry out Mrs. Ottley’s wishes. It will continue to do so in an effort to make this a better world for those who come after her generous family.

David, Helen and Marian Woodward Fund (Watertown) Grant

The David, Helen and Marian Woodward Fund (Watertown) makes grants to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations in New York and in the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Mission

As stated in the Will of Marian Woodward Ottley, the fund’s mission is “to make this a better world for those who come after us.”

Program Areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities
• Education
• Environment, animals
• Health
• Human services
• Public/society benefit
• Religion

National Life Group Foundation

At National Life, we believe strong connections are the ties of strong communities. We also believe being a good corporate citizen is about more than writing checks. It’s about listening to the needs of our community and offering to help however we can. 

We offer grants to nonprofits, but we also empower our employees to give their time by making it possible for them to volunteer for and donate even more to the organizations they care about. We are proud to support nonprofits where our employees live and work (Vermont and Texas), and also of our work empowering educators and students nationwide through our LifeChanger of the Year program and the National Coalition of Safe Schools. We make a difference in many other ways too, including our Do Good Fest and our corporate cause: to help end childhood hunger in Vermont.

What We Fund

The Foundation’s annual budget is $2 million. While this is substantial, there is a lot of need in our communities, so our giving is focused. Our grants vary in size and we rarely fund an entire program.

We look for proposals that have:

• a well-planned approach to underlying issues or needs
• a base of support
• metrics to support success

We do not fund new programs. We instead focus on proven programs. We favor programs that focus on childhood hunger and children and families, but we also consider those in the health and human services, the environment, education, and the arts and recreation.

Our Purpose

Innovative ideas, multi-sector partners, and creative solutions. At HRiA, we improve population health by catalyzing social change within and among individuals, institutions and communities.

As a public health institute, a belief and commitment to equity is central to our work. We believe that good health is a right, not a privilege. So, how do we as a society attain health equity? How do we ensure health and safety in the places where we live, work, and play? How do we ensure equitable access to information, fair distribution of resources, adequate investment in biomedical research, and empowerment of citizens? This is our work.

For HRiA, health equity is where population health, policy, research, and practice come together. We work at the junction of these approaches helping clients and funders in private philanthropy; local, state, and federal government; community organizations; and health care systems address and solve some of the nation’s most fundamental health challenges.

Our Vision

A world where social conditions and equitable resources foster healthy people in healthy communities.

Our Mission

To help people live healthier lives and create healthy communities through prevention, health promotion, policy and research.

Fanny Holt Ames and Edna Louise Holt Fund

The Fanny Holt Ames and Edna Louise Holt Fund (the Holt Fund) was created at Edna Louise Holt’s instructions, and established in 2000, with Bank of America as the Trustee. Miss Holt and her sister were longtime residents of Grafton, Vermont; they held a deep and abiding concern for the health and well-being of the residents in the communities where they lived. The Fund’s objective is to meet the health and medical needs of Grafton, Vermont and surrounding towns with primary consideration given to Grace Cottage Hospital. The Trustee has contracted with Health Resources in Action to support the charitable purpose of the Holt Fund.

To date, the Holt Fund has invested more than $18.7 million in programs to improve community health outcomes in Grafton, Vermont and surrounding towns. The 2025-2026 grant application process is Open for Traditional and Housing grant opportunities.

Grant Category

Traditional:

• Small Grants – Applicants may apply for single-year grants of up to $15,000 for discrete projects or programmatic expenses. Applicants must complete the parts of the online application required for small grants.
• Large Grants – Applicants may apply for single- or multi-year requests (up to three years) of over $15,000 for program or project support, operating expenses (for organizations with annual budgets less than $1 million), or capital support.

Housing Initiative: 

• Established in 2019 in response to community input and demonstrated need to invest in initiatives or projects related to housing as a social determinant of health.
• Applicants may apply for a single- or multi-year request (up to three years), up to $100,000 per year

Our Purpose

Innovative ideas, multi-sector partners, and creative solutions. At HRiA, we improve population health by catalyzing social change within and among individuals, institutions and communities.

As a public health institute, a belief and commitment to equity is central to our work. We believe that good health is a right, not a privilege. So, how do we as a society attain health equity? How do we ensure health and safety in the places where we live, work, and play? How do we ensure equitable access to information, fair distribution of resources, adequate investment in biomedical research, and empowerment of citizens? This is our work.

For HRiA, health equity is where population health, policy, research, and practice come together. We work at the junction of these approaches helping clients and funders in private philanthropy; local, state, and federal government; community organizations; and health care systems address and solve some of the nation’s most fundamental health challenges.

Our Vision

A world where social conditions and equitable resources foster healthy people in healthy communities.

Our Mission

To help people live healthier lives and create healthy communities through prevention, health promotion, policy and research.

Fanny Holt Ames and Edna Louise Holt Fund

The Fanny Holt Ames and Edna Louise Holt Fund (the Holt Fund) was created at Edna Louise Holt’s instructions, and established in 2000, with Bank of America as the Trustee. Miss Holt and her sister were longtime residents of Grafton, Vermont; they held a deep and abiding concern for the health and well-being of the residents in the communities where they lived. The Fund’s objective is to meet the health and medical needs of Grafton, Vermont and surrounding towns with primary consideration given to Grace Cottage Hospital. The Trustee has contracted with Health Resources in Action to support the charitable purpose of the Holt Fund.

To date, the Holt Fund has invested more than $18.7 million in programs to improve community health outcomes in Grafton, Vermont and surrounding towns.

Grant Categories

Traditional:

• Small Grants – Applicants may apply for single-year grants of up to $15,000 for discrete projects or programmatic expenses. Applicants must complete the parts of the online application required for small grants.
• Large Grants – Applicants may apply for single- or multi-year requests (up to three years) of over $15,000 for program or project support, operating expenses (for organizations with annual budgets less than $1 million), or capital support.

Program Overview

For the purpose of the Holt Fund, the term “medical needs” encompasses a broad range of activities including but not limited to: the social determinants of health (i.e., housing, education, food access, etc.); the provision of chronic, acute and long-term care services; diagnostic screening; emergency medical services; community-based prevention and health promotion activities; treatment; and health education efforts.

The Holt Fund makes grants on an annual basis to support programs and organizations that: seek to address health inequities within the Holt service area; improve access to care, particularly for vulnerable populations; and focus on prevention, health education, intervention, treatment, evaluation, and a personalized approach to care. In addition, the Holt Fund supports grants to build the organizational capacity of individual organizations or partnerships that provide health and medical services within the Holt catchment area.

Selection Critera

Applications to the Fanny Holt Ames and Edna Louise Holt Fund will be reviewed based on the following criteria for all grant categories:

• Adherence to the mission of the Holt Fund
• Significance of need
• Demonstration of how approach addresses health inequities for population(s) served
• Evidence that approach is feasible and appropriate to the proposal’s aims
• Ability of applicant to measure impact of grant funds on proposed need
• Evidence that the outcomes are well-conceived, realistic and measurable
• Ability of applicant to demonstrate sufficient experience and capacity to conduct program/project
• Use of collaborative approach(es) where appropriate

In addition, Large Grant requests will also be reviewed on the following criteria:

• Likelihood that the proposed program/project will have a lasting impact on the need
• Ability of the applicant to sustain the program/project once Holt funding ends

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.