I. Overview
Jane’s Trust made 64 new grants in 2007. When combined with multiple year payments for previously approved grants, the Trust awarded its full fixed annual payout of $9,025,061.62. While the Trustees do not allocate a specific amount to each program or geographic area, they aim to make grants that are roughly even across the four program areas and five states. The 64 new grants were awarded to organizations in all the geographic areas of interest to Jane’s Trust. The majority of new grants made in 2007 were for one or two years of support. The average new grant in 2007 was $156,652 (not including staff discretionary grants, which typically support memberships and are substantially smaller). The statistics for grants in each program area are summarized below.
Beyond the specifics outlined in the Trust’s guidelines, the Trustees consider several factors when making grant awards. They are particularly interested in promoting access to cultural, educational, environmental and health and welfare programs, services and opportunities for underserved populations. The Trustees apply a very broad definition of underserved, taking into account socio-economic, demographic, geographic and other factors which prohibit individuals in urban and rural areas from accessing appropriate services and opportunities. The Trustees ask applicants to define the most pressing issues for their organizations, define solutions and come to the Trustees with their organizational priorities. The Trustees are interested in collaborative solutions to long-standing problems. They also look carefully at the timing of operating, capital, endowment and program requests, preferring to make grants which provide core support and also address long-term sustainability of organizations, buildings and programs. The Trustees will occasionally consider making grants which combine capital and operating support, to assist with multiple needs of an organization. The Trustees also prefer to fund organizations which have not yet received Jane’s Trust funding, before making another grant to a previously funded organization. The Trust also made several challenge grants in 2007, as a way to encourage additional funding for capital campaigns and programs and to help organizations achieve sustainability.
Below is a summary by program area of Jane’s Trust’s 2007 grants, with additional detail on each program. A complete grants list is available by clicking here. We hope that this information, in combination with the Frequently Asked Questions and Trust guidelines, will provide sufficient information regarding Jane’s Trust’s priorities and giving history.
A. Arts & Culture
Jane’s Trust awarded $1.9 million in 12 arts grants in 2007 (including three trustee discretionary grants totaling $300,000), with an average grant size of just over $160,000. The Trust made four single year grants, seven two year grants and one three year grant to organizations in all of the states where Jane’s Trust makes grants. The Trust funded four capital projects for renovations and repairs to historic buildings and construction of new arts facilities in Vermont, Maine and Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Trust also made a challenge grant in combination with a capital grant to support operations in a new theatre in Cambridge. The Trust made five project grants, to expand access to the arts for underserved youth and adults in western Massachusetts and Tampa, Florida, to develop a New England-wide public art network, to implement creative economy projects in Rutland, Vermont and to support an historic preservation field services program in Massachusetts. Operating grants will support the implementation of core programs and services in northern New Hampshire and with Native American tribes in Maine.
B. Education
Jane’s Trust made 13 new education grants in 2007, totaling $2.1 million in multi-year support. The grants included five operating grants focused on expansion and capacity building, four project grants and four capital grants. The Trust’s education grants in 2007 addressed a wide range of educational issues affecting underserved children, youth and adults. The Trust supported two early childhood literacy programs working to prepare young children in Maine and Massachusetts for success in school, as well as two programs focused on youth in Massachusetts who have dropped out or are likely to drop out of high school. Jane’s Trust also funded two organizations providing high quality out of school time learning opportunities for disadvantaged students in Florida and New Hampshire, and an organization broadly supporting that field in New Hampshire. Additionally, the Trustees awarded two grants promoting the positive educational, professional and personal development of women and girls by funding the replication and distribution of programs developed at nonprofits in Vermont and Maine. Finally, the Trustees awarded a capital grant to a Boston-based organization offering a variety of educational opportunities for immigrant families.
C. Environment
Jane’s Trust made 14 new environment grants in 2007 totaling nearly $1.9 million (including five trustee discretionary grants totaling $550,000), supporting a range of capital, operating and project needs in Massachusetts, northern New England and Florida. The Trust’s environment grants have supported a broad range of land, water and habitat conservation projects, including protection of aquatic species and the Everglades in Florida and collaborative land conservation and economic development projects in northern New England. The Trust made a large capital commitment to a grant and loan fund to support community forests in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. The Trust is also supporting environmental justice and community wellness projects in Boston and Florida and job training and sustainability efforts in Vermont and New Hampshire, including a capital grant for the construction of a biodiesel production, testing and research facility in Keene, NH. Finally, the trustee discretionary grants mentioned above were made to organizations in Florida, Maine and Vermont.
D. Health & Welfare
Jane’s Trust approved 21 new health and welfare grants in 2007 totaling $3.5 million (including nine trustee discretionary grants totaling $650,000). The grants included 13 operating grants, three capital grants, three endowment grants and two grants which combine operating, capital and endowment funding. The health and welfare grants support organizations working to improve the quality of the lives of vulnerable individuals and families in the five states where Jane’s Trust makes grants. In Florida, Jane’s Trust made several grants to support health care services for low income people and elderly people in Sarasota County. The Trust is funding a new center for conservation medicine in Palm Beach County, Florida, connecting animal, human and ecological health. In Vermont, the Trust is supporting community-based mental health programs, new hospital facilities and hunger and poverty alleviation. In Maine, Jane’s Trust is providing support for a new system of community-based care for infants and children affected by alcohol and drug addiction, as well as workforce and parent training in Washington County. In Massachusetts, the Trust is supporting domestic violence prevention through community organizing and local empowerment, parenting training, health care training and research, affordable housing and legal advocacy around barriers to health care access for people with disabilities. Jane’s Trust made five multi-state grants, including projects to encourage environmentally-responsible, reliable transportation and self sufficiency for seniors. In northern New England, the Trust is supporting reproductive health care access, services for young survivors of cancer and training and scholarships for low-income nonprofit workers.