Guidelines and Limitations

The Staten Island Foundation’s mission is to improve Staten Island's quality of life, particularly for the least advantaged, with a focus on improving education, human services and the arts.

Strategies to accomplish the Foundation’s mission include financial support; providing and developing leadership in the community; collaboration with grantees, funders, and other entities; and building the capacity of local organizations to better fulfill their missions.

The Foundation’s principal goals are:

Education Goals

• Improve the K–12 education system through early literacy development, parent engagement, arts education, and other strategies
  
• Strengthen/expand after-school and youth development programs and help young people to develop skills needed to fulfill their potential
  
• Strengthen early education and pre-kindergarten efforts to help children enter school “ready to learn,” including family literacy models

• Address important health needs such as:
  • Health education, awareness, and screening
  • Connecting those in need with available services
  • Promoting healthy lifestyles
• Support infrastructure needs of local agencies
• Address important human services needs, including:
  • Improving services for immigrants
  • Alleviating hunger and poverty on Staten Island
  • Strengthening neighborhoods through community development and other strategies
    

• Strengthen local cultural organizations
• Help arts and cultural organizations enhance visibility, marketing and access
• Increase public awareness, access and attendance at arts events and institutions
• Enhance and expand arts education in the schools
• Develop, educate and reach out to new audiences, particularly among youth

• Involve research and planning designed to improve the quality of life on Staten Island
• Aim to increase tolerance, multicultural understanding, and civility among Staten Island residents
• Address the intersection of two or more of the Foundation’s focus areas
• Address other important civic needs facing Staten Island

• Demonstrate a direct connection to the Foundation’s programmatic goals, as defined above
• Address an important unmet need
• Will have a significant long-term impact on the quality of people’s lives
• Target economically disadvantaged or underserved individuals or communities
• Have clearly defined objectives and a realistic plan for measuring progress toward those objectives
• Reflect an innovative program or approach, or refine, improve or expand an effective existing effort that is cost-effective and results-oriented
• Have a track record of success (The Foundation will consider funding for start-up programs and organizations only in selected cases where there is a clear need or if the start-up involves replication of a proven model.)
• Have a strong governing board and fundraising capability
• Have potential to leverage other resources, and could lead to sustainable change or impact beyond the life of the grant
  
  

Grants are made only to 501(c)(3) organizations and public agencies operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes. We are required to verify this tax-exempt status. If needed, please contact the Foundation for a copy of a form letter to request a copy of your Letter of Determination from the IRS.

Contributions will generally not be made:

• For renovations/repairs to places of worship
• In response to solicitors on behalf of an organization (response to organization leadership only)
• For fundraising event sponsorships, journal ads, or yearbook ads
• To private foundations or individuals
• To political causes, candidates or lobbying efforts
• For medical research
• To cemetery associations
• To animal welfare groups
• To fraternal and veterans organizations
• To business, professional and civic associations or clubs
• For memorial fundraising events
• For tickets to fundraising events
  
  The Foundation has discretion to consider any requests on an exceptional basis.