Generous Acts: A Force for Good
Generous Acts is backed by generous donors who care deeply about local communities and entrust Adirondack Foundation to address needs and identify opportunities where philanthropic dollars can make a positive difference. Since 2014, Generous Acts has awarded nearly $2.5 million in grants to nonprofits, schools, and community-based organizations.
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Basic Needs
Our vision for Basic Needs is that residents of all ages have equitable access to affordable and nutritious food, stable housing, and opportunities for healthy living. We seek to strengthen the social safety net, assist with emergency relief, ensure access to quality support networks – from home health aides to child care to financial literacy, and more.
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Educational Pathways
Our two-part vision for Educational Pathways is 1) that all children benefit from high-quality early learning and development, and 2) all learners have meaningful opportunities to pursue post-secondary education, career training, and pathways to gainful employment and fulfilling lives. We seek to foster a systems-approach for cradle-to-career education, support early childhood development, invest in college- and career-preparedness, bolster life-skills and basic literacy, and more.
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Economic Vitality + Civic Engagement
Our vision for Economic Vitality + Civic Engagement is that thriving communities provide equitable and just economic opportunity, attract residents and businesses, and inspire civic engagement. We seek to invest in community-led initiatives to enhance quality of life and fuel the economy, support workforce development and business sustainability, retain residents and encourage visitors to move here, and more.
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We seek applications that are mindful of underserved populations, help address racial, economic or other disparities, and demonstrate collaboration and community buy-in in one or more of the following areas: addressing BASIC NEEDS, strengthening EDUCATIONAL PATHWAYS, fostering ECONOMIC VITALITY + CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. Please refer to our Strong Community Framework for the Adirondacks for details about these priority areas and an overview of our whole community approach to philanthropy.
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Nonprofit organizations, schools, and municipalities located in or serving the people of the Adirondack Region, defined for this purpose as all of Clinton, Franklin, Essex, and Hamilton counties as well as the parts of St. Lawrence, Warren, Herkimer, and Washington counties within the Adirondack Park boundary.
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Applications are available through our Online Grants Manager. You can also find a sample budget here.
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Sure. Please be sure to describe how your work aligns with our priority areas – and be as specific as you can.
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Generous Acts awards both small grants that range from $2,500 - $7,500 and several larger grants that invest in long-term change and range from $10,000 - $20,000.
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Once a year. The 2023 application will open on December 19, 2022 and must be completed by close of business on February 1, 2023.
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Applications are evaluated based on the degree to which the request aligns with Adirondack Foundation’s priority program areas, as well as effectiveness, articulation of need (e.g., working to address inequality, reaching an underserved population, backed by data), and capacity of applicants to carry out the work.
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We typically do not fund capital campaigns, regranting programs, tuition assistance, or one-time events. With limited resources, we are looking for opportunities that will have the greatest impact for the dollars available to award.
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Committees of trustees, community council members, and advisors work with our program staff to review applications. During the review process, we may call an applicant for additional information or clarification, request a meeting, or reach out to regional experts for guidance.
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Our partners with the Hudson Headwaters Upstream Fund review applications – looking for alignment with their goals to support community-based projects that address socioeconomic issues affecting health. For the applications they select, Hudson Headwaters will make payments directly to the recipients through their Upstream Fund, which is separate from Adirondack Foundation.
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Yes. Our goal with Generous Acts is to amplify giving and granting for the betterment of our region. In addition to HHHF, we share applications with other funders who are interested in learning about granting opportunities.
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No, please just share your project budget in the “budget and timeline” field and upload a summary of the town or school overall expenses in the “financial statements” field.
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Yes, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Please tie your request to the larger problem you are trying to solve or need you are addressing and use data if you can.
- Write in the active voice; tell us a compelling story about who benefits from your work.
- To the extent possible, we’d prefer a single application from a school rather than from individual teachers. (The request can be for multiple efforts within the same school; we encourage you to collaborate.)
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It depends, here are some things to keep in mind:
- If your organization is large, multi-faceted and operates in multiple communities and offers multiple types of programming you can submit more than one request as long as it is serving different audiences or communities. (Example: County-wide agencies such as JCEO, or Adirondack Community Outreach or Cornell Cooperative Extension)
- If you are a school or institution, please only submit one request per school building. (Example: Lake Placid Middle High School could submit one request, and Lake Placid Elementary School could submit one request).
- You may also ask for support for different programs within the same application. Just be sure to clearly delineate the amount requested for each project in your project budget and in the funding description narrative. (Example: Teachers in the same building can partner up on one application.)
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Absolutely!
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We have funds dedicated to specific geographic areas and fields of interest that accept applications. Please see our other available grant opportunities here.
1. Read the above to determine your eligibility.
2. If you have never used our Online Grants Manager, start by creating an account. If you already have an account, log in and follow the prompts.
For more information, visit our Online Grants Manager page.
3. Complete and submit your application.
You will receive an email confirmation after your application has been successfully submitted.
4. Wait to hear if you’ve received funding.
5. Promote your grant.
For those applicants who have been notified that they’ve received funding, you can access our Grantee Resources portal, where you’ll find sample press releases, sample social media posts, various versions of our logo, and other tools to help you share the good news. Don’t forget to tag us in your communications so that we can amplify your good work on our own digital channels.
6. Submit required reporting as needed.
As part of this grant, we ask recipients to submit a six-month follow-up report through the Online Grants Manager. These reports play an important role in our grantmaking process, providing both data and insight that help us measure impact, identify trends, and learn about obstacles. A friendly electronic reminder with instructions on how to complete this report will be sent prior to the deadline.
