2022 Was a Record-Breaking Year for Hartford Foundation Grantmaking and Gifts

Foundation provided $54.5 Million in grants and received nearly $41 Million in Donations

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the community foundation for 29 cities and towns in Greater Hartford, awarded $54.5 million in grants to the region’s nonprofit agencies in 2022. This is the largest total in its nearly 100-year history, surpassing the $52.7 million in grants made during the peak of the COVID-19 public health and economic crises in 2020. Since its founding in 1925, the Foundation has awarded more than $948 million in grants.

“While our region continues the transition from recovery to resilience, the Foundation has continued along the path to dismantling systemic racism and ensuring that all our residents have equitable access to opportunity,” said Hartford Foundation President/CEO Jay Williams. “We continue to listen to residents and create more opportunities for nonprofits in our community to lead this work. None of this would be possible without the unwavering support our Board of Directors, donors and stakeholders who have joined us in making progress toward our goals.”

The Foundation organizes its work around strategic outcomes, including efforts to increase the number of Hartford residents living in higher opportunity neighborhoods within and outside of Hartford, provide for the basic human needs of residents, increase education and employment opportunities for residents of color—including opportunity youth and those returning from incarceration, increase civic and resident engagement, and increase equity and inclusion in the arts sector.

According to the latest, unaudited numbers, the Foundation ended 2022 with total assets of $1 billion. Individuals, families and a variety of organizations opened a total of 41 new funds, and the Foundation received gifts totaling $40.8 million, the largest amount raised in more than two decades.

“At a time when the financial markets have declined and inflation has reduced people’s spending power, we are humbled by the incredible generosity of our donors,” said Hartford Foundation Vice President for Development Deborah Rothstein. “People in our community have recognized that many nonprofits and residents are still struggling with the aftermath of COVID and are contributing more to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”

The Hartford Foundation’s 2022 grant investments included the following:

In 2021, the Foundation began increasing the use of “core support,” which provides flexible resources to organizations whose missions and work closely align to Foundation priority outcomes. Multiyear core support allows nonprofits to commit to long-term priorities, feel confident in hiring necessary staff and make infrastructure and capacity building investments that can grow learning, evaluation and organizational resilience in ways not possible with project-specific, one-year funding. In 2022, the Foundation awarded to more than 24 organizations core support grants totaling more than $9.9 million.

The grants support smaller, mid-size, and larger nonprofits with grants ranging from $98,000 to $2.25 million. The Foundation views core support grantmaking as a critical tool, driving systemic change.

The Foundation provided an 18-month, $2.25 million grant to The Village for Families & Children, Inc. to support their array of behavioral health, early childhood, youth development and family-strengthening programs and services to more than 7,000 residents each year, primarily people of color who are low-income residents of the City of Hartford and adjacent towns. Catholic Charities was awarded $1 million in core support over 18 months to support an estimated 4,700 low-income children of color and their families in Greater Hartford. Their work includes helping families access employment and improve their employment prospects, including a new entrepreneur microloan program.

Building on the Foundation’s history of support for our region’s Alliance Districts, four $175,000 grants were awarded to the Offices of Family and Community Partnerships in Bloomfield, Manchester, Vernon and Windsor. These Offices offer programs that engage the whole community in helping Greater Hartford's families and young people to succeed. Their work includes activities to reduce chronic absenteeism, increase employment and career exposure, enhance socio-emotional learning, and increase completion of high school and post-secondary education or credentialing.

In July and November, the Foundation awarded more than $663,000 in Emergency Assistance Grants to 77 nonprofit organizations throughout the region. Part of the Foundation’s Basic Human Needs portfolio, these grants focused on increasing access to food and addressing immediate needs such as personal care items, utility assistance, and other items essential to wellbeing. This grant opportunity prioritized nonprofits that serve neighborhoods and towns in the region with a higher percentage of residents living in poverty and seek to reduce barriers to equitable access to basic needs and provide direct support to clients.

The Foundation launched the second year of the Access Grants initiative, an effort that identifies nonprofits working in alignment with our commitment to contribute to dismantling structural racism. Through two rounds of funding in April and November, the Foundation awarded more than $670,000 to 19 nonprofits in Hartford and surrounding towns. In the two years since its inception, the Foundation has granted more than $1.8 million in Access Grants to 52 nonprofits.

In collaboration with the City of Hartford, the Hartford Foundation provided more than $225,000 in Love Your Block (LYB) grants to support 21 projects in 15 neighborhoods. These projects were created and led by community members to beautify Hartford neighborhoods. The 2022 LYB grant program included two opportunities, Resident Grants and Community Grants. Resident Grants continue the work of the original LYB program, awarding up to $2,500 to resident-led projects. Resident groups were also invited to team up with nonprofits for LYB Community Grants, which offered up to $25,000 in funding.

In December, the Hartford Foundation awarded $1.1 million in grants to three nonprofit organizations to address significant gaps in our region's workforce development. A three-year, $300,000 grant was awarded to Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford to strengthen its work with helping immigrants build English proficiency. The Foundation also provide a three-year, $300,000 grant to Trio New College Network. New to Hartford, Trio will serve low-income working adults looking to attain college degrees. YWCA Hartford Region was awarded a $500,000 grant to support programs focused on increasing completion or attainment of post-secondary degree or credentialing and increasing hiring or job retention.

In 2021, the Foundation announced a $1.45 million investment to support the 29 Greater Together Communities Funds.  Established in 2019, the Community Funds were designed to support Greater Hartford residents in taking ownership of the unique needs in their communities, while encouraging inclusive civic engagement. In 2022, 18 town committees awarded a combined 126 grants, totaling more than $493,000. Since inception, 27 of the 29 town committees have made grants in support of their local communities.

In 2022, the Foundation awarded $526,263 in grants from the Action Fund for Racial Justice to 26 local nonprofit organizations. In June 2021, the Hartford Foundation launched the Action Fund to award grants to nonprofits working to dismantle barriers to opportunity for communities of color, rebuild more equitable systems, or support those adversely affected by structural racism.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities. Made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $948 million since its founding in 1925. For more information about the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.