Alvan Tufts Fuller was a politician known in Massachusetts as a member of the state’s House of Representatives and later as its governor from 1925 to 1929. He was also a philanthropist who started his own family foundation to support nonprofit causes close to where he lived and worked. Today, the Fuller Foundation has a basic yet informative website that sheds some light onto the types of causes it supports and where it focuses its attention.
To guide New England grantseekers, here are a few things to know about the Boston-based Fuller Foundation.
A focus on Boston and New Hampshire
The primary geographic focus of the Fuller Foundation is Boston. However, it also supports the immediate sea coast area of New Hampshire. More specifically, the foundation supports the towns and cities in the vicinity of Massachusetts’ Route 128. However, its wildlife giving has a more limited geographic focus. The foundation has an online newsletter called Philanthropy-by-the Sea that you can read online to learn more about its giving and local involvement.
Three areas of interest
The Fuller Foundation has three main areas of interest: quality of life for people, animals and the environment. During their lifetimes, Alvan Fuller and his wife, Viola, were mostly interested in the arts, wildlife and at-risk youth. It is common for this foundation to support projects that cover more than one of these focus areas at a time.
Typical Fuller grants
The Fuller Foundation typically provides program support rather than general operations support. Grants are usually between $5,000 and $7,000 and go to groups with program budgets of $500,000 or less. This is not a foundation that provides multi-year grants, capital grants or funding to individuals. Another component of the family philanthropy is Fuller Gardens in North Hampton, New Hampshire, which is operated by a separate foundation and receives thousands of visitors each summer.
Applying for support
There are two deadlines per year to apply for a Fuller Foundation grant. Submit an application between December 1 and January 15 for consideration at the May meeting and between May 1 and June 15 for consideration at the October meeting. One application per organization is accepted per year. For the past several years, the foundation has used an online grants system and now only accepts applications submitted in this way—it does not consider any materials submitted via hard copy by mail or email. The foundation team makes itself accessible by email and phone if you have any questions about the process.
Read more about the Fuller Foundation in IP’s full profile of this funder, which is in our Boston and New England funding guide.