Edward E. Ford Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Edward E. Ford Foundation supports independent secondary schools with traditional and leadership grants.
IP TAKE: This is an accessible funder focused on supporting independent secondary schools in the U.S. and its territories. While it has a clear application process, this is a funder that likes to spend time getting to know its applicants before accepting proposals, and, consequently, grantseekers should not expect immediate access to funding. It is fairly transparent and provides information about previous grantees on its website. Overall, this is good funder for independent schools to have on their radar.
PROFILE: Based in Brooklyn, New York, the Edward E. Ford Foundation was founded in 1957 by Edward E. Ford, an entrepreneur and early director of IBM. The foundation aims to “improve secondary education by supporting U.S. independent schools and encouraging promising practices.” It prioritizes best practices for teaching and learning, sustainability, and institutional collaboration, offering traditional grants, educational leadership grants and, occasionally, multi-year collaborative innovation grants.
Grants for K-12 Education
The Edward E. Ford Foundation supports K-12 Education with two types of funding: traditional grants and leadership grants.
The foundation’s traditional grants address specific needs at individual schools such as program expansion or establishment, professional development or capital improvements. These grants are available to both schools and associations.
Educational leadership grants are larger and support projects that “promise significant impact on the practice and thinking in the independent school community throughout the country.” Ford’s collaborative innovation grants, awarded less frequently, are directed toward larger, multi-school collaborations.
Important Grant Details:
The foundation’s traditional grants range from $25,000 to $100,000, while leadership grants are awarded in amounts up to $250,000. All grants require recipient schools to match awards dollar-for-dollar with their own fundraising. Lists of past recipients of traditional and leadership grants are available on the foundation’s website.
The foundation has given over $125 million in grants to around 1,000 different schools and associations since its founding. Only independent secondary schools in the U.S. and its territories are eligible to apply.
The foundation requests that heads of schools make an appointment for an agenda placement phone call, followed by a lengthy (virtual) meeting, after which schools may be invited to apply for grants using the online application materials.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS: