Who, How and When

The Bennett Family Foundation reviews unsolicited proposals from new organizations in the Greater Boston/Massachusetts area. For now, we are not accepting unsolicted proposals for our grants in Philadelphia.

We make most of our grants in May and November. For Boston, the grant process begins with a simple, on-line inquiry. Depending on the size of the grant request, and whether your agency is new to us or not, we may ask for additional information.

We are interested in:

• Organizations with staff expertise in their field and who measure their impact on the population they serve
• Smaller, local organizations
• Organizations that can demonstrate momentum towards sustainability of programs

In most cases, preference will be given to small local projects over national programs.

Before you begin your on-line application, please have handy:

• your organization's 1-2 sentence mission statement
• EIN (12-3456789 tax identifier)
• 3-digit NTEE code, and
• (if available) URL for any Outcomes or Annual Report that is on-line.

If you enter mission statements and program-specific descriptions that are too long they are subject to ruthless editing by our loyal AI bot. You can put longer text in your attachment.

Types of Grants

We ask you to categorize your grant proposal into one of three types:

General Operating Support

• Purpose: These grants provide unrestricted funding to cover a non-profit's overall operating expenses.
• Uses: You can allocate funds where they are most needed, whether for direct program delivery or overall day-to-day operating costs.

Program- or Project-Specific Grants

• Purpose: These grants are designated for specific programs or projects within your organization.
• Uses: These grants support initiatives with defined goals and outcomes, such as launching a new program, or for supporting a smaller program within the organization that most clearly supports our areas of interest. They require clear objectives and measurable results. In your attachments or follow-on documents, include program/project budgets and timelines.

Capacity-Building Grants

• Purpose: These grants aim to strengthen the overall infrastructure and capabilities of a non-profit organization.
• Uses: Capacity-building grants typically focus on long-term sustainability and efficiency, helping you improve internal systems, leadership, and overall capacity to deliver on your mission.  In your attachments, please include a detailed proposal that categorizes and outlines the specific needs of your organization and how the grant will address those needs. Focus on demonstrating how the grant will lead to measurable improvements in your capacity to deliver services and/or to scale programs. Include a clear plan for implementation, a timeline, and a budget that details how the funds will be used.

Outcomes and Metrics

We are interested in understanding the impact of your work, rather than just the activities or outputs. We would like to understand the outcome measures that are specific and relevant to your mission. In presenting your results, tell us how they compare with your expectations and/or benchmarking that can provide context.

You can give us this information either via a recent Outcomes Report, an annual report that includes this information, or a separate document. If it is online, you can give us the URL where we ask for it in the initial grant application.

Restrictions

Funding generally will not be provided to:

• Individuals or non-501(c)(3) organizations
• Educational institutions for their general operating funds or endowments
• Religious organizations for religious purposes
• Cities, counties or other governmental organizations
• Organizations engaged primarily in public policy or political advocacy
• National organizations or their local affiliates, except programs developed at the local level
• Application to budget deficits, debt reduction, fundraising or recognition events
• Scholarships

Absolutely no funding will be given to organizations which discriminate, either in hiring or in populations served, based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual preference, or physical or mental ability.

Other Sources We Look At

When we review grant applications, we often consider other sources of information.  We may review your profile on GuideStar and Impala. We encourage you to keep those sources up-to-date!