ASF: After School Grants

The American Savings Foundation offers After School Grants aimed at supporting high-quality after-school programs for children and youth, particularly in New Britain and Waterbury. The Foundation prioritizes educational, human services, and arts programs that demonstrate measurable impact. Eligible organizations must be IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt and provide programs that engage at-risk youth. The Foundation encourages collaboration and requires regular attendance reporting to ensure program effectiveness.

American Savings Foundation
American Savings Foundation is a permanent charitable endowment which provides grants to local nonprofit organizations, in addition to college scholarships to area students. The Foundation is a broad-based funder dedicated to improving the quality of life for the residents of the communities we serve.
Funding Priorities
The Foundation is a broad-based funder, with a special emphasis on the needs of children, youth and families. Our general funding priorities are Education, Human Services and Arts & Culture. These are not rigid categories, and many of our grants overlap more than one. We focus on direct service programs that help those with highest need, and where our funding can make a direct, measurable impact. Our Grant History helps grantseekers understand our priorities.
The American Savings Foundation invests in programs that support the needs of children, youth and families. This includes support for high-quality after school programs, primarily in New Britain, with a secondary focus in Waterbury.
High-quality means proven after school program models that support student learning and result in better academic outcomes, while increasing youth engagement in their schools and community. In both New Britain and Waterbury, we strongly encourage the agencies we fund to be active participants in their local city-wide network.
What We Fund
The Foundation believes that all youth deserve the opportunity to attend high-quality after-school programs that incorporate best practice standards and provide children with experiences that are challenging, nurturing, and fun. We use the term “after school” to include programs that operate during the hours of 3pm to 6pm during the school year. Programs may take place in school buildings, or any community-based facility.
Best-Practice elements include:
typically operate 3-5 days a week;recording program attendance to show that youth participate on a consistent basis;   youth development opportunities that include hands-on project-based learning;daily homework help; enrichment activities that focus on skills building (executive functions, literacy and numeracy), such as theater arts, STEM, and recreation activities.
High-quality elements include:
broad outreach to get and keep youth involved and engaged a regular basis, including youth who are most at-risk or have the greatest need;developmentally age-appropriate and culturally relevant to the youth being served;clear and defined outcomes for youth;methods to measure program implementation and progress.

Eligibility

Organization must be tax exempt under IRS section 501(c)(3).Some funds may be used for program supplies, including educational software, art materials, and the like. Requests may include administrative overhead. We do not have a set formula; however, we apply an industry rule-of-thumb of about 10-15%. Typically, we fund only one program at an agency in a given year. The Foundation reviews requests on a year-by-year basis only and renewed funding is never automatic.A program that operates after-school programs in multiple sites serving the same age group in the same town should submit only one proposal. If you plan to operate different programs, you may submit more than one proposal.

Ineligibility

With very few exceptions, we do not fund:General operating support or unrestricted grantsPrimary or secondary schools -- public, private independent, or parochial -- or colleges and universitiesFunding to replace municipal, state or federal funding Ineligible for funding:Political advocacy and lobbying;Religious institutions, except for non-sectarian activities that benefit the community at-large;Individuals;Annual campaigns;Endowment funds;Travel (e.g. sports teams, field trips);Event sponsorships (e.g. golf, galas);Private Foundations.Grants will not be made for capital improvements, such as space renovations, or for purchasing computers. Some funds may be used for program supplies, including educational software, art materials, and the like.Also, because the Foundation operates a large college scholarship program (see the Robert T. Kenney Scholarship Program) it does not provide funding for scholarship programs operated by schools or other nonprofit organizations.