Small Grants Program

Due to increasing requests, The Community Foundation increased the amount of funding available in one of its small grants programs known as Grants $5,000 and Under to $150,000 annually. As examples, a $4,000 grant to Concepts for Adaptive Learning funded a summer program resulting in a 60% improvement in math performance by 3rd and 4th grade students, and a $1,000 grant to Chestnut Hill Concerts increased attendance by school-aged children by 27%.

The Grants $5,000 and Under process is a simplified, expedited small grant program designed for any organization with an operating budget of $2 million or less. The grant process enables The Community Foundation to respond more quickly to requests in a shorter time frame and allows organizations that might not otherwise compete effectively in the once-per-year responsive new grants process access to much needed funds.

One nonprofit to receive a grant through the Grants $5,000 and Under process in 2010 was Concepts for Adaptive Learning (CfAL). Funding was awarded to support a 5 week pilot program to raise the math literacy of 3rd and 4th graders living in the Newhallville and Dixwell neighborhoods in New Haven.

Dubbed “Learning Math Can Be Fun”, the program leveraged technology and individualized instruction to increase student achievement in math. According to the Learning Math After School Can Be Fun Program 2010 Pilot Project Report, there were significant increases in math achievement from pretest to the final assessment, every student exhibited improvement in their math achievement and  90% of students reported that they liked math more after their participation.

In 2009, Chestnut Hill Concerts (CHC) received a $1,000 grant through the Grants $5,000 and Under process to help increase its outreach activities to potential new concert goers in New Haven and surrounding eastern and northern suburbs. CHC reported an increase in engagement of diverse audiences, including youth and low-income families.

View a complete list of all 2010 Grants $5,000 and Under recipients (PDF, 130KB)