A.C. Ratshesky Foundation Grant: Workforce Development

The A.C. Ratshesky Foundation Grant for Workforce Development aims to empower economically disadvantaged individuals and families by providing essential educational and vocational services. Prioritizing programs that enhance skills and foster self-sufficiency, the foundation supports initiatives like job placement, training, and employer partnerships. Grants typically range from $10,000 to $25,000, focusing on organizations that can effectively utilize these funds to promote long-term employment and economic security in Metro Boston communities.

Areas of Focus: Workforce Development
The Foundation seeks to support programs that feature the following characteristics:
Bring low-income or dislocated workers into the economic mainstreamCollect aggregate outcome data related to skills advancement, credentialing, job placement, job retention or earningsMaximize the use of technology for monitoring programs and outcomesBuild formal connections with employersDevelop innovative partnerships with other organizations to maximize client successHave explicit retention strategies and post-placement supports
Organizational and Program Size
The foundation seeks to support organizations where a small grant will make a meaningful contribution toward the development of a program or organization. Grant requests for $10,000 toward a program budget of $150,000 or from organization with an annual budget of $1 million, for example, are typically ranked a higher priority than requests to support a $300,000 program from large organizations with relatively strong fundraising capacity and many sources of funding.
Grant Range
The foundation expects to make 20-30 grants per year ranging from $10,000 to $25,000.
Types of Support
Most of the foundation’s grantmaking will support programs providing direct services. It will only consider requests for general operating support when an organization’s primary goals are in direct alignment with the foundation’s mission. The foundation makes occasional multi-year grants at its discretion but does not solicit requests for multi-year funding.

Eligibility

Grants are restricted to organizations serving Metro Boston communities within Route 128.Organizations must be designated as tax exempt under Section 501 (c)(3) of the IRS Code and must be classified as “not a private foundation” under Section 509 (a) of the Code.The foundation will consider only one application from an organization in any calendar year.Organizations whose requests for funding have been denied are expected to wait one full year before being reconsidered for support.

Ineligibility

The foundation does not normally support:
individualsnational organizationcapital campaigns, endowments or fundraising activitiesconferenceswebsitesresearchmunicipal, state or federal agenciesreligious instruction or worship serviceshealth programscommunity organizing/public policy advocacygrants to replace government fundingprivate schools, parochial schools, public schools, including pilot and charter schoolsschool-based programs, tutoring programs or college access programstreatment and recovery programssummer camps or short-term or seasonal programs for children and youthcriminal justice or re-entry programsfamily stabilization or crisis intervention programsmentoring, case management, social servicescollege access programs

501(c)(3) organizations (non-private foundations under 509(a)) serving Metro Boston communities within Route 128. One application per organization per year.