Community engagement

In August 2015, the US Foundation’s Advisory Board announced the launch of a new Catalyst Gift Initiative intended to help organizations already familiar to the Foundation that are showing meaningful and sustainable academic outcomes to move forward in a significant way toward their strategic vision.

The Initiative’s goals are to:

• Advance educational opportunities for youth from traditionally underserved communities
  
• Provide leadership support of nonprofits’ strategic plans and institutional priorities
• Seek innovative and creative solutions to address education needs in the community

Since the initiative was founded, the Foundation has award 42 major gifts totaling over US$11 million to organizations in eastern Massachusetts, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Singapore. These one-time gifts range from US$100,000 to US$500,000 and were awarded to:

2021

• Artists for Humanity
• Chicago Jesuit Academy (Chicago)
  
• Girls and Boys Brigade (Sydney)
• Girls Inc. of Lynn
• Institute for Nonprofit Practice (SF)
• Let’s Get Ready
• Philadelphia Academies
• Silver Lining Mentoring
• Steppingstone Foundation

2020

• Minds Matter of Boston
  

2019

• Child at Street 11 (Singapore)
  
• Horizons Greater Boston
• Horizons Greater Philadelphia
• Hyde Square Task Force
• LEAP for Education (Lynn)
• SCS Noonan Scholars (Chicago) (now Thrive Scholars)
• Summer Search

2018

• Bellesini Academy (Lawrence)
  
• Boston Collegiate Charter School
• Excel Academy Charter Schools
• Friends of the Children
• Jeremiah Program
• Parent Child Home Program (Malden)
• Principal Chan Free Tutorial World (Hong Kong)
• Sociedad Latina

2017

• 10,000 Degrees (San Francisco)
  
• Bottom Line
• Breakthrough Greater Boston
• Epiphany School
• Generation Citizen

2016

• 826 Boston
  
• Boston After School & Beyond
• EdVestors
• Sue Duncan Children’s Center (Chicago)
• UTEC (Lowell)
• Year Up Boston

2015

• BUILD Greater Boston
  
• Boston Debate League
• City Year Boston
• Match Beyond (now Duet)
• Nativity Preparatory School
• Steppingstone Scholars (Philadelphia)

The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for Catalyst Gifts — please see below for how to apply for our Annual Grant Program.

The US Foundation has established a third tier of grant making that will allow for the cultivation of relationships with nonprofit organizations on partnerships that are:

• Long term and far reaching
  
• Multifaceted with multiple touch points
• Targeting systemic impact
• Mutually beneficial

Bottom Line
Ongoing support of Bottom Line’s Success program to deepen impact and fuel economic mobility. Wellington hosts several events for Bottom Line students each year as part of its efforts to broaden the pipeline for prospective interns and full-time employees.

City Year
The Foundation sponsors teams at two schools each year and in return the partnership provides a multitude of community engagement, volunteer, and mentoring opportunities for dozens of employees of the firm, many of whom are connected to our young professionals business network.

Duet
The Foundation will support alumni of the Year Up Program who enroll through Duet in fully accredited, online, low-cost, flexible, and competency-based bachelor’s and Associate’s degree programs in business, communications, and health care through Southern New Hampshire University.

Institute for Nonprofit Practice
To support the professional growth and leadership development of people of color from among the educational nonprofit organizations in our grant portfolio, we again sponsor 10 Fellows in INP’s year-long program equipping the most promising nonprofit leaders with the skills, confidence, and resources they need to make their organizations effective, innovative, and sustainable.

Social Innovation Forum
After three years sponsoring tracks in SIF’s Nonprofit Accelerator Program, in 2021 we are pleased to support a new Capacity Camp for alumni organizations focused on human-resource issues for small to mid-sized nonprofits such as compliance, compensation, talent management, and employee engagement and retention, including applying a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens across all topics.

UNCF
The Foundation is proud to expand its efforts to support college completion nationally with the establishment of a scholarship for juniors and seniors enrolled in Historically Black College and Universities through a partnership with UNCF.

Year Up
Ongoing support of Year Up Boston, a career development and workforce training program through which Wellington has hired numerous interns, consultants, and full-time employees over the last many years.

The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for our Strategic Partnerships.

The US-based Wellington Management Foundation gives Annual Grants to programs that improve the educational opportunities for youth in traditionally underserved and economically challenged communities in eastern Massachusetts, greater Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco Bay area, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney. The Grant Recommendation Committee (GRC), which engages employee volunteers to conduct a review of each new applicant and long-term grantee we fund, begins each year in June, and grants are made each December.

The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for our Catalyst Gifts or Strategic Partnerships.

The US Foundation does accept a limited number of new applications for Annual Grants each year and has recently implemented a grant-making strategy that allows us to keep the pipeline open to fund new organizations and support new initiatives that seek to close the opportunity and achievement gaps in the education of youth from traditionally under-resourced historically low-income communities. This plan sets an expectation for long-term support to organizations and provides more transparency to aid them in their planning for fundraising and outreach.

New applicants for Annual Grants will only be considered for participation in the US Foundation’s grant review process if they have submitted a letter of inquiry (LOI) by our August 1 deadline. Organizations that have submitted an LOI will be prescreened by GMA Foundations, and those that best meet the Foundation’s mission and guidelines will be invited to fill out a complete grant application in August and be reviewed as part of the Foundation’s GRC process in September and October. Grants decisions are made and communicated in mid-December and funds are transferred at the end of January.

Grants to new organizations will be awarded with a three-year expectation for grant making, with funding in year one set at US$25,000 and in years two and three at US$50,000, pending successful annual check-ins. After year three, new organizations will undergo a critical review to determine continued funding, contingent on achievement of mutually agreed-upon objectives, goals, and outcomes. Those that are successful can anticipate an additional seven years of funding (10 years total) set at US$50,000 per year, pending successful annual check-ins. After 10 years, organizations must take a meaningful pause before reapplying. Funding decisions are independent of all other Wellington relationships, including private donations, Board placements, volunteer engagement, etc.

A brief Letter of Inquiry is required of all new grant applicants and must be submitted by August 1.  The form is available on GMA Foundation’s online platform, found here. Once you have logged in, click apply. The access code for the LOI is wmf20.

Please note that in 2020 the Foundation plans to limit the number of new applications to review and potentially fund. The Foundation hopes to focus on building out its portfolio of programs within the social-emotional learning space and will continue to look at ways to have a greater impact on smaller organizations. Please contact Jake Mellen at GMA Foundations for more information: jmellen@gmafoundations.com or (617) 399-1852.