State Street Foundation

OVERVIEW: The State Street Foundation is an investment corporation philanthropy that awards grants to education and workforce development organizations both locally and globally.

FUNDING AREAS: Education, job skills, college success, credentials, work experience, employment

IP TAKE: Pitch a proposal that focuses on getting high school students ready for college the workforce. State Street prefers to work with organizations that produce productive members of society by putting youth into traditional and secure employment environments.

PROFILE: Established in 2006, the State Street Foundation is the grantmaking arm of the State Street Corporation, a financial company. The history of the State Street Corporation goes back to 1792, making it the second oldest financial institution in the country. In a recent year, State Street was named the top charitable contributor in the state of Massachusetts. Grantmaking interests address education, job skills, college success, credentials, work experience, and employment.

The foundation almost exclusively operates to provide funding for training programs that make disadvantaged people employable and therefore, self-sufficient and productive members of society. The main targets of State Street grants tend to be people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, youth, and the economically disadvantaged. Some past grantees in the Boston area include the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Action for Boston Community Development, Year Up Inc., and the Boston Foundation.

State Street grants tend to be between $500,000 and $750,000, and the foundation gives out several hundred grants each year. At the end of a past year, the foundation had over $12 million in total giving. The State Street Foundation has thirty-nine community support committees in twenty-six different countries. Boston-based non-profits get a lot of attention because the corporation is based here, but the foundation also spreads grants around to the other locations where it conducts company operations. This includes the states of California, Illinois, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as in Europe and Asia. The funder has considered proposals that ask for everything from annual campaign funds to building renovations, emergency funds, program development, and sponsorships.

This foundation accepts unsolicited grant proposals from nonprofits. The grantmaking process is separate for domestic and international causes. Organizations have a two-step application process to follow, which includes a preliminary grant application and a full grant application. To apply, log on to the foundation's online portal. Direct general questions to the staff via online form.

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