The Trustees generally meet on the fourth Thursday in January, April, July and October. Applications are due by
the first day of the month of the meeting.
Grant applications should be submitted on-line at www.cybergrants.com/thompson.
Detailed instructions on the web page will guide you through the process. All questions should be directed to the grants coordinator.
Proposals should be as concise and brief as possible.
Additional materials pertinent
to the proposal may be submitted to the grants coordinator by mail. Please do not send DVD’s or videos.
Applications
for grants to cover operating expenses are generally declined. The Trustees recognize, however, that funds provided for special
purposes may be a factor in balancing the budget for that year. "Special purposes" include innovative programs instituted
by the organization or projects that are designed to enhance its future viability and the continuity of its work. It is anticipated
that such programs and projects will, if successful, receive ongoing support from sources other than the Trust.
The
Trustees look favorably upon collaboration and synergy that may exist between small organizations operating in the same geographic
area, particularly if they have common purposes and routinely share ideas, referrals, staff and facilities to gain operating
efficiencies and strengthen program outcomes.
The Trustees will pay particular attention to the composition
of an organization's governing board which should include people from diverse backgrounds, professions and occupations
who are active and visible in the community served.
The Trustees will frequently require an applicant
organization to seek funds to match a grant from the Trust. Such challenge grants have proven to be an incentive to organizations
to develop other funding sources in the community and at the same time, to raise public awareness of their programs and activities.
In order to permit other worthy organizations an opportunity to benefit from the limited resources at the
Trust's disposal, we request that any organization receiving a grant allow at least one year to elapse before applying
for further support from the Trust.
Grant requests will generally not be considered if the organization
has not been in continuous operation serving the community during the three years immediately preceding the application. The
Trustees will give careful consideration to the perceived ability of the organization's management to maintain a balanced
budget and to gather expanding support from the community at large.
Assistance is not provided to individuals
except to women from an occupation mentioned in the 1867 will of Thomas Thompson.* It is expected that any qualifying applicant
must have been a long-term resident of the Town from which she applies and over a prolonged period shall have derived a substantial
part of her income from such occupation. (* The applicable provision of the will reads in part as follows: "…for,
or towards the relief and support of poor seamstresses, needlewomen and shop girls who may be in temporary need from want
of employment, sickness or misfortune, in the Towns of Brattleboro, Vermont, and Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York…"
In the parlance of that day, "shop girls" were factory workers.)
Applicants may be asked
to submit, by mail or fax, a federal tax exemption letter and a financial statement signed by a CPA covering the most recently
completed fiscal year. The tax exemption letter should state that the organization is not a private foundation.
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