The John W. Alden Trust was established under the will of Priscilla Alden in honor of her father. In her will, Miss Alden specified that grant support should be directed toward "organizations providing care and administering to the needs of children who are blind, retarded, disabled or who are either mentally or physically ill ... or organizations engaged in medical and scientific research directed toward the prevention or cure of diseases and disabilities particularly affecting children."
Organizations serving youth (note the Alden Trust defines youth as individuals from age 0 up to 24) who are high risk by social or environmental factors and/or are engaged in behaviors that increase the likelihood of adverse health outcomes may meet the Trust's criteria if the youth they serve are experiencing measurable effects from at least two of the following recognized risk factors:
living at or below the poverty level
experiencing school failure
having known involvement with drugs or alcohol
living in a foster home or group home
living in a homeless shelter or motel
having involvement with the juvenile justice system
are pregnant or parenting.
General Guidelines and Policies
Grants are limited to organizations serving youth in Eastern Massachusetts.
The Trustees meet on a quarterly basis in February, May, August and November. Applications should be received by the 5th day of the prior month in order to be considered at the Trustees quarterly meeting.
In order to permit other worthy organizations an opportunity to benefit from the limited resources at the Trust's disposal, we suggest that any organization receiving a grant allow at least two years to elapse from the date of their last approved grant request before applying for further support from the Trust.
Grants will be considered for the following purposes: capacity building, program support, capital campaigns, multi-year projects, start-up support and general operating support. (Note: Grants for general operating support will only be considered if the entire organization is focused on serving disabled or high-risk youth, as defined above. Organizations where a service/program for disabled or high risk youth is only one component of several services will not be considered for general operating grants; those organizations should request support for their specific programs/projects.)
Grants will not be made to support endowment campaigns.
Grants generally range in amounts up to $20,000.
Proposals should be as concise and brief as possible and avoid jargon and acronyms that may not be familiar to the reader.
Applicant organizations that neglect to submit a final report on previous programs supported by the Trust should not expect to receive a favorable response on a current request.
The Trustees generally will not fund projects as the sole funder as it raises concerns about the sustainability of a program.
The Trustees will frequently require an applicant organization to seek funds to match a grant from the Trust. Such challenge grants have proven to be an incentive to organizations to develop other funding sources in the community and at the same time, to raise public awareness of their programs and activities.
The Trustees will pay particular attention to the composition of an organization's governing board which should include people from diverse backgrounds, professions and occupations and who are active and visible in the community served.
If you have received a grant and have been notified to complete a Final Grant Report, you can access the report by logging back into the application. Upon logging in, at the bottom of the Welcome page, you should see a 'Report' link associated with the request you have received funding for.