Created in 1991, the Smith Family New Investigator Awards program seeks to identify and support promising researchers early in their careers as they work to find breakthroughs in AIDS/HIV, cancer, heart disease, diabetes or neuroscience. Administered by the Medical Foundation, the program provides five to seven annual $200,000 two-year grants to allow younger researchers to focus on their scientific research before they may be eligible for major grant support. Since 1992, the program has made awards to 104 new investigators and committed $15.1 million in research support (of which close to $11.7 million was contributed by the Smith Family Foundation, and the remainder by other donors). Examples of scientific discoveries made possible by the New Investigator Awards Program include the possibility that T cells in healthy donors can be used to stall the progression of AIDS in persons with HIV, and the development of a new imaging technique that improves the diagnosis and treatment of stroke.
For more information on this program, please contact the Medical Foundation. For a list of recent winners, please see Grantees.
Every second year, one researcher from among previous Smith Family New Investigator Award recipients is selected to receive the Smith Family Award for Excellence in Medical Research. The intent of the award is to provide special recognition to those New Investigator award recipients who have made unique and outstanding contributions in their scientific disciplines. In 2005 an award of $65,000 was made to a single researcher chosen by the Scientific Advisory Committee. To learn more about the winner, please see Grantees.
Undertaken by the Smith Family Foundation in partnership with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in 2003, the Pinnacle Program Project Awards program makes grants designed to stimulate new collaborations between investigators working on independent but complementary research projects related to Type 2 diabetes and obesity in humans. The collaborations may involve projects in different departments within major research institutions or may be located at different research institutions. The goal in creating this, the first ADA Pinnacle Program Project Award in the nation, was to make new inroads in the treatment and prevention of diabetes and to further the search for a cure. The Foundation's Trustees approved a third round of awards in January, 2008, bringing total Type 2 diabetes research support provided by the Foundation, in association with Richard and Susan Smith, to $5.5 million over 7 years. This support has leveraged an additional $4 million in matching funds from the ADA, for a combined total of $9.5 million in new funding for diabetes research. Results so far include the discovery of a primary genetic pathway for Type 2 diabetes, which is potentially analogous to the discovery of the BRCA1 gene associated with breast cancer.
For more information on this program, please contact the American Diabetes Association (ADA). For a list of recent winners, please see Grantees.
In November 2005, the Foundation invited five Boston community health centers located in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by diabetes to compete for five-year grants in support of innovative diabetes self-management programs. The primary goal of the initiative is to improve health outcomes for persons with diabetes by expanding access to high quality, culturally competent, patient-centered diabetes care. A secondary goal is to evaluate the effectiveness and economic implications of various interventions, such that a case can be made for replicating the most successful interventions in other safety net settings and obtaining more adequate reimbursement for these services by third party payers. The Foundation awarded a 6-year contract for evaluation of the initiative to RTI International in October 2005.
In January 2006, the Trustees awarded grants to four Boston health centers for three projects totaling $3.85 million over 5 years. In June, 2006 the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation joined the initiative by awarding a $1.2 million grant over five years to a fifth health center. Click here to download a related press release. For a list of the grantees and a brief description of their programs, please see Grantees.
The Smith Family Foundation aims to improve the strength and reach of a select number of nonprofits in each area of focus through its Capacity Building Grants Program. Launched in 2003, this program provides annual, renewable grants to organizations with significant growth potential that are making important contributions in Foundation priority areas. The grants are provided over a 3- to 5-year period in an amount of up to 10% of the organization’s annual budget (to a maximum of $1,000,000 or $200,000 per year). The funds are not intended to support existing program offerings but to allow grantees to build infrastructure and organizational capacity strategically, so that future program growth is sustainable and cost effective.
Nineteen organizations have been awarded grants under this program from its inception (to learn about them, please click on Grantees). If the proposals warrant, the Foundation expects to make two to four additional commitments per year so that it has a rotating cycle of about 15 Boston organizations actively receiving this type of support. Due to the funding level and multi-year commitment, the selection process under this program is highly competitive.
Examples of the type of expenditures supported by past Smith Family Foundation Capacity Building Grants include the development of strategic business plans, fundraising plans and systems, information technology improvements, staff development and strengthened evaluation capabilities.
Grants under this program are awarded once per year, usually in January. The next deadline for applications under the Foundation's Capacity Building Grant Program is September 4, 2008.
To download program guidelines for this program, please select Capacity Building Guidelines. For a summary of an April 2007 forum featuring the CEOs of 13 Smith Family Foundation grantees, please click here. For a July 2006 report on current and potential collaboration among these nonprofits (and nonprofit collaboration in general), please click here. For a summary of the April 2006 donor forum, please click here. For a summary of a January, 2005 discussion entitled "Sustaining Rapid Growth in Nonprofits," please click here. For a summary of a January, 2004 discussion entitled "Capacity Building and High Expectations, High Support and High Performance," please click here.
The Smith Family Foundation launched its small capital grants initiative in 2004 with the goal of funding one-time capital expenses that directly enhance a non-profit's ability to serve its clients. The grants range in size from $5,000-$50,000, and may be used for such purposes as facility improvements, vehicles, equipment purchases and other non-expendable assets. The Foundation seeks to target this assistance to smaller nonprofits that would otherwise find it difficult, if not impossible, to meet this type of need through their operating budgets.
In the past four years the Foundation has awarded 66 small capital grants to 64 organizations carrying out projects in Foundation priority areas in Greater Boston. For a list of the grantees and a brief description of their projects, please see Grantees.
In June 2005 the Foundation's Trustees approved the small capital grants program as an ongoing offering of the Foundation, with grant cycles to be offered in the spring and fall of each year. The next deadline for applications under the Foundation's Small Capital Grant Program is September 11, 2008.
To download program guidelines for this grant opportunity, including information on whether and how to apply, please select Small Capital Guidelines.
The Foundation's Trustees have agreed to consider, on an occasional basis, requests for capital support in the $300,000-$1.5 million range from agencies with a mission that is clearly aligned with that of the Smith Family Foundation, that can point to significant accomplishments and that have extraordinary leadership. The proposed project should be characterized by the acquisition or development of a physical asset that permanently enhances an agency's service delivery potential, either by enabling it to serve significantly more clients, provide new and vitally important services or improve the quality of its existing programs in deep and lasting ways. The more “electric” a potential project is, the more likely it is to be funded.
Generally speaking, projects should be located in the Greater Boston area and be targeted toward underserved populations. The agencies requesting support will generally have annual budgets in the $2-$15 million range. Organizations whose service delivery approach results in a deep and transformative impact on the lives of beneficiaries tend to be of most interest to Foundation Trustees. Examples of projects that might be funded include learning centers within educational or community facilities, equipment or facility upgrades that enhance community-based health facilities or services and recreational facilities.
The Foundation's intent in presenting this opportunity is not to provide general support for larger, multi-million dollar capital campaigns, but rather to catalyze discrete, identifiable projects that meet a specific need in keeping with the Foundation's mission. An example of a funded project that meets these criteria is the Franciscan Hospital for Children's state-of-the-art Aquatic Therapy Pool for disabled children, made possible by a $450,000 grant from the Smith Family Foundation.
It is anticipated that one or two such grants may be made annually, depending on the quality of the proposals and size of the requests. Payouts, in most cases, will be made over several years. The Foundation has made three such grants in the last three years. For a description of the projects, please see Grantees. Before submitting a request for funding for a mid-sized capital grant, please contact Foundation staff at 617-278-5200 to determine if your project is appropriate and what information will be required.
The Foundation provides annual support to a few Boston non-profits
with which it has longstanding ties. Due to these commitments, and the significant
support provided under the programs outlined above, the Foundation is able
to make few, if any, new operating gifts to the many worthy organizations
that apply for such support.
