Bermuda Foundation provides $200,000 in support for non-profits
The Bermuda Foundation provided support to 43 non-profit programmes with more than $200,000 in funding in 2023.
The funds were available through its unrestricted grant-making for the fiscal year, while competitive grants and donor-advised giving totalled $5 million during the period.
More funds were requested than were available, Myra Virgil, the foundation’s managing director, said.
Amanda Outerbridge, chairwoman of the foundation, said: “In these past ten years, we have built the fund, a community asset from which returns are distributed to the community annually.
“In the next decade our focus must be on continuing to develop the fund because there is no doubt that Bermuda needs the services provided by the not-for-profit sector and the foundation exists to support the sector’s sustainability.
“It is gratifying to note that in our first ten years, as a collective, we were able to disburse more than $16 million into the community.”
The foundation’s unrestricted competitive grants programme complements the range of grants made by donors to and through donor-advised funds, but it said grant applications exceeded funds available by more than two to one.
“This has been the case almost every year,” Dr Virgil said.
“This has reportedly also been the case for our peer organisations, corporate, private and family foundations. Requests far outpace resources and this is strongly indicative of the need in our community.”
• Education, community-based and youth development efforts totalling $60,000.
• In the field of access to higher education, the Bermuda Foundation ratified $12,500 in grants to GED programming and needs-based scholarship programming.
• To advance the issue of community development and capacity building, including youth engagement and volunteerism, Bermuda Foundation’s board approved $10,000 beyond its core operational support of non-profit management training.
• Mental health programming in the form of counselling, drug treatment and socio/emotional learning received a funding boost of $20,000
“The foundation’s grant-making programme is substantially augmented by grants made by a range of unrelated donors who wish to collectively ensure the sustainability and success of non-profits in Bermuda.
“These donors use the foundation’s infrastructure and resources to support their grant making,” added Dr Virgil.
"Facilitating growth in philanthropy while taking the pulse of the community, identifying needs and concerns and, ultimately, providing data to donors to assist them in directing their giving most effectively, is part of this work.
“This year, we will be sharing the outcomes of our decade of activity, including how we were effectively employed in times of crisis and were able to fill funding gaps in the face of unmet, critical needs and community priorities.”
The foundation’s audited accounts can be found on its website www.bermudafoundation.org under News & Reports.
Details on the grantees and distributions can be found under Our Impact — Programme.
The website provides information about setting up permanent charitable funds.
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