Welcome to the Grant Center

As of 2008, the Foundation focuses its grantmaking on partnerships, programs, research, and intermediary organizations that support underserved learners and/or build knowledge about dramatically improving the level and variety of outcomes for New England’s learners.  The majority of the Foundation’s grants are made through its new strategic initiatives.

The Foundation’s new strategic initiatives are:

• Early Learning

• Time for Learning

• Pathways to Higher Learning

• Adult Learning

• Systems Building

The Foundation expects that its new strategic direction will lead to a re-examining of long-held assumptions about the way students are educated (what they are taught, when, where, how, and by whom).

Based on what is learned in the initial phase of the Foundation's new strategic direction (a period that may be measured in years), decisions will be made that lead to a substantive, and somewhat narrowed, long-term strategy. Continued support for funded programs may then be determined by both the program’s success (based on agreed upon criteria) and its continued alignment with the Foundation’s evolving long-term strategy. It will be a process of support, learning, culling, and focusing for the future.

Engaged Grantmaking

The Foundation has historically added value to its strategic initiatives through an approach called engaged grantmaking, which is currently distinguished by the following characteristics:

• Multi-year funding:  The Foundation aims to determine the best funding entry points for each of our initiatives and for the organization as a whole.  To allow for flexibility, the majority of new commitments are short-term (1-2 years).  As the Foundation learns where resources can make the most impact our grants will become more long-term. 
  
• Support for organizational capacity: The Foundation seeks to identify organizations that have been successful as a parallel support to public education and to investigate their interest and readiness and, if appropriate, support them in adapting their approaches (and their organization) to influence or become more “mainstream.”  While different from the original meaning of “supporting organizational capacity,” the intent remains the same – to help to improve grantee performance through assistance.
  
• Clusters: The Foundation is expanding its “cluster” concept, instituted in 2000 for grantee organizations, to groups of education experts. Beginning this year, it is holding convenings for educators, policymakers, business and community-based leaders, and others to share experiences, knowledge, and visions. These conversations will educate the Foundation and participants on key “hot points” in education.  Hearing a collective voice from a variety of perspectives will help the Foundation tighten its focus.
  
• Evaluation: The Foundation’s focus on evaluation is now a two-tiered approach.  While it continues to support and expect grantees to evaluate their work, the Foundation is also making investments in a system for tracking progress against organizational benchmarks.  Gathering data from both approaches will give the Foundation a more precise account of how investments are progressing.
  

Intermediaries

The Foundation sometimes utilizes and funds intermediary organizations in order to provide technical assistance, training, and support for program evaluation and improvement to Foundation-supported organizations.