Program Grants

What We Fund

The American Savings Foundation is a broad-based funder with a special emphasis on the needs of children, youth and families.  Our three priority areas are education, human services and arts & culture. With a primary focus in New Britain and Waterbury, program grants support direct services where our funding can make a measurable impact, especially for those with the greatest need.

The American Savings Foundation also invests in a wide range of programs that follow the school year or take place during the summer.  New Britian after school programs for middle school youth that meet our high-quality standard of engagement through the entire school year should use the After School Application.   All others should use this program grant application, below.

The Foundation considers support for established programs that have been demonstrated to make a meaningful difference in the community and in the lives of those they serve.  We also consider funding for new, innovative programs that fill an unmet need in the community, and where there is evidence of broad local support.  We are interested in funding collaborative programs, and also in providing matching funds to leverage new dollars into the community. 

In order to apply:

Organization must be tax exempt under IRS section 501(c)(3).

As a broad-based funder, our grants support a wide range of programs across the fields of Education, Human Services, and Arts & Culture. 

However, we do NOT fund: 

• Private Foundations
• Political advocacy and lobbying
• General operating support or unrestricted grants
• Primary or secondary schools—public, private independent, or parochial—or colleges and universities*
• Funding to replace municipal, state or federal funding
• Municipalities and municipal services*
• Grantmaking organizations*
• Annual campaigns
• Endowment funds
• Animal welfare organizations
• Disease-specific or other scientific research 
• Environmental conservation, land trust, or other related causes 
• Religious institutions, except for non-sectarian activities that benefit the community at-large
• Individuals
• Travel
• Field trips
• Sports teams or tournaments 
• Event sponsorships (e.g. golf, galas)
• Scholarship programs - see American Savings Foundation Scholarship 
  * with very few exceptions considered by invitation only