The Vision Fund

The Vision Fund provides grants of up to $7,500 to support activities that advance our mission and generally have a total project budget of no more than $15,000.

Eligible activities may include capacity building efforts, pilot or demonstration projects, and/or program design, evaluation or research – e.g. board assessment/development, merger/restructuring effort and components of a strategic planning effort.  Emphasis is on increasing the organizational impact and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations.

The general selection criteria for the Vision Fund grant program are:

• Fit with the Boston Foundation’s geography, mission and values;
• Organizational need/potential of impact on organizational effectiveness;
• Strength or potential impact of the nonprofit organization in addressing community needs; and
• Organizational readiness to do proposed work.

Eligible applicant organizations are tax-exempt or operating under the fiscal sponsorship of a tax-exempt nonprofit, and primarily serve the people of Greater Boston.  Generally only organizations that are not currently receiving Boston Foundation support through the competitive or initiative funding processes are eligible for Vision Fund grants.

Grants are not awarded to individual public schools or other public agencies, but consideration is given to requests from community organizations that offer programs in collaboration with these agencies.  An eligible organization must also be operated and organized so that it does not discriminate in the hiring of staff or provision of services on the basis of race, religion, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin or disability.

How to Apply
Requests are accepted on a rolling basis and decisions are typically made on a quarterly basis (see chart for sample timeline). Please call/email if your request is especially timely to discuss which quarter your application will be reviewed in.  The Foundation will accept only one Vision Fund application from an organization in a twelve-month period.  Please be sure to attach a completed Program Budget Worksheet to your online Vision Fund application (required).

Vision Fund Grants Process: Sample Timeline

 
Contact:
Liz Doolittle
Program Associate, Nonprofit Effectiveness
Elizabeth.doolittle@tbf.org
617.338.2295