Application Guidelines for Massachusetts YMCAs and
Educationally Related Organizations in Worcester, Massachusetts
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The Alden Trust supports YMCAs in Massachusetts due to Mr. Alden's particular interest in the YMCA over his lifetime. It also occasionally funds educationally related nonprofit organizations in Worcester, Massachusetts.* The Trustees focus their grant making primarily on capital needs. Trustees consider proposals from such groups throughout the year at one of four distribution meetings. Complete proposals for the March, June, September and December meetings must be received by the fifteenth of the month prior to the meeting (e.g., February 15th for the March meeting).
The proposal should be made in relatively brief narrative form. A summarizing cover letter, which includes the requested amount, should be signed by the executive director. Please provide the name, telephone number, and email address of a contact person.
Trustees would like to understand the purposes to be achieved through the grant, with an appropriate revenue and expense budget and implementation timetable, and the reasons why the proposing institution is capable of achieving the purposes. In addition, Trustees want to know how the grant will positively impact an organization?s constituencies and help to fulfill its mission. The educational nature of the organization?s work should be described.
All applications from Massachusetts YMCAs and educationally related organizations in Worcester should include the following information:
- Mission statement
- Long range plan, with progress to date. If there is no long range plan, please let us know what guides day-to-day operations
- Trend information (chart form preferred) for three years in these areas:
- Endowment performance and draw practices
- Capital fundraising
- Annual fundraising
- Rates of board member participation in the annual fund and each fundraising project (with the general expectation of 100% board participation in the annual fund)
- Membership statistics
- Program participation rates
- Audits or reviewed financial statements as required by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office over the three most recent years (e.g., 2011-2010 and 2010-200)
- Board approved operating budgets for the current year and two prior years, with explanation if in deficit
- List of trustees and their affiliations
- Evidence of appropriate tax-exempt status
- Other information that the applicant believes will give the Trustees a better understanding of the institution, its distinctive value, and its proposal
Applicants are encouraged to contact the Trust by telephone, email, or make a visit, prior to submitting an application. It is often helpful to explore in advance the nature of the project, the need or opportunity that drives it, and the size of the intended request. The Trustees have found that such discussion generally results in a more effective submission or forestalls a proposal for which there is no likelihood of success.
A single copy of the application and attachments is sufficient and should be submitted to:
George I. Alden Trust
370 Main Street, 11th Floor
Worcester, Massachusetts 01608
Phone: (508) 459-8005
Fax : (508) 459-8305
trustees@aldentrust.org
*Occasionally at year end the trustees make a number of unsolicited grants to Worcester organizations whose work is important to the community yet whose focus does not fall within the Trust?s specific areas of interest. In such cases the selected organization does not make application to the Trust. Receipt of such a grant is confirmation that the organization is not eligible to submit a proposal to the Alden Trust?s regular grant making process.
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