The Charles Hayden Foundation

Deadline
Rolling
Description

About the Foundation

The Charles Hayden Foundation seeks to promote the mental, moral and physical development of children and youth ages five to eighteen in the metropolitan area of New York and the City of Boston. Our focus is on those institutions and programs serving youth most at risk of not reaching their full potential, especially youth in low-income communities. We support programs that have a long-term and significant impact on children.
Program Support

Program Support grants are focused on efforts to help youth develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in school and lay the foundation for satisfying and productive lives. We look for evidence of program impact on young people.

Priority is given to programs in New York City and the city of Boston that:

  • Improve and expand community-based programs offering needy school-aged youth educational, social, and recreational opportunities in the non-school-hours (after-school, evenings, weekends and summers).
  • Improve student achievement by strengthening K to 12 education. Most of this support is earmarked for strengthening core academic learning. The Foundation's focus includes charter schools in existence for at least two full operating years in New York City, Boston, Massachusetts, and Newark, New Jersey. In addition, the Foundation provides support to independent and parochial schools for improving educational programs at individual schools that predominantly serve needy students.
  • Strengthen informal educational enrichment programs offered outside of schools in institutions such as museums, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens.

Capital Support

The Foundation provides "bricks and mortar" funding for renovation, expansion, construction, and acquisition of physical facilities and purchase and repair of non-expendable equipment. Emphasis is on assisting those organizations in need of better physical facilities to improve the availability and quality of programs for young people. We recognize the problem of deferred maintenance in youth-serving facilities; however, we carefully review the record of past attention to maintenance and an organization's long-term strategy for repair and renovation.

Organizations eligible for capital grants include: youth-serving agencies and other community-based organizations whose facilities are predominantly used by and for youth; non-public educational institutions serving those students most in need; charter schools with at least two years operating experience; museums, zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens with facilities used primarily for youth-oriented activities.

Foundation Guidelines

The Charles Hayden Foundation makes contributions only to institutions that serve children and youth ages 5 to 18 from the City of Boston and metropolitan New York. Priority is given to applicants from New York City and the city of Boston. Metropolitan New York is defined as New York City, and, in New Jersey, primarily the city of Newark. Grants are also made to institutions that support youth activities outside these areas when a substantial majority of the youth served comes from within the Foundation's defined geographic catchment areas.

The Foundation's Grantmaking Focus

Our Mission Statement details our grantmaking criteria and should be read in conjunction with these Guidelines. We concentrate support on youth development and education programs that present: (1) evidence of significant program impact on young people and (2) plans for making measurable progress toward well-defined goals in a specific time frame.

Program support is generally for program expansion and creation.

Capital support is awarded for these purposes:

  • Renovation to existing buildings.
  • Construction of new buildings and additions or the purchase of existing structures.
  • Purchase of non-expendable equipment (generally excluding computers).

Attributes That The Foundation Seeks In Funded Programs

For youth development programs:

  • Relationships between youth and youth agency staff that are caring, consistent, and continue throughout the course of the youth’s long-term development.
  • Engaging, enriching and safe activities during the non-school hours.
  • Activities and counseling that help youth prepare for post-secondary education.

For school programs (including (1) charter schools and (2) independent and parochial schools that charge a maximum of $10,000/year for tuition):

  • High expectations for student's mental development, reflected in a challenging course of study that emphasizes reading, writing, mathematics and other core skill and content areas.
  • Active engagement of parents in their children's education at home and in schools.
  • Collaboration with other organizations and programs that can contribute to student's learning.
  • Activities and counseling that help youth prepare for post-secondary education.
  • Track record of increased student academic achievement.

We Require Applicants To Use The New York Area Or AGM (Boston Area) Common Application Forms.
Applications Must Include:

   1. The Foundation requires using the common proposal form:
      The New York/New Jersey form
      The Massachusetts form.
   2. A concise description of the proposed project and its goals.
   3. The number and ages of the youth to be served.
   4. Program budget, or total costs (including professional estimates for capital projects).
   5. An indication of what will be done if not all of the needed funds are raised. Similarly, if the request is for partial funding of the total amount of a project, the plans for raising the balance of those costs should be indicated.
   6. The sources, if needed, for additional operating funds once a capital project is completed.
   7. A copy of the most recent audited financial report and an operating budget, including a breakdown on revenue sources and amounts, for the current and previous fiscal years.
   8. A copy of the Internal Revenue Service letter determining tax-exempt status.
   9. The project's expected outcomes and criteria the applicant prefers that the Foundation apply in evaluating the completed project.
  10. Other printed material concerning the activities and history of the institution.
  11. Interviews, if required or requested, are not arranged until the written grant application has been submitted and the preliminary review is completed.

Current Board-Approved Policy Guidelines Preclude Grants For:

   1. Individuals.
   2. Endowments.
   3. Institutions that have recently received a capital grant from the Charles Hayden Foundation must wait two years from the date of their award letter before seeking additional capital assistance.
   4. Religious organizations and theological institutions, unless programs are oriented toward community youth.
   5. Institutions of higher education - except to support work on pre-collegiate programs (other than recruitment programs for a particular college).
   6. Hospitals, hospices and projects that are essentially medical in nature.
   7. Arts exposure programs.

Requests Should Be Sent To:

Kenneth D. Merin
President and CEO
Charles Hayden Foundation
140 Broadway
51st Floor
New York, NY 10005

Copies of Proposals and All Related Follow-up Correspondence From Boston Area Agencies Must Also Be Sent To:

Mary Phillips
Boston Program Officer
Charles Hayden Foundation
c/o Grants Management Associates
77 Summer St., 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02110-1006
 
School Application Form

To be completed only upon invitation. Uninvited responses will be discarded upon receipt.