Capital improvements Grant - Projects to Childcare Centers

Capital improvements Grant - Projects to Childcare Centers

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Franklin Square House Foundation Inc
Amount: Up to US $100,000
Last Updated: December 25, 2025

Summary

The Capital Improvements Grant by the Franklin Square House Foundation offers funding up to $100,000 for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in specific Massachusetts counties. This grant focuses on projects that create new childcare slots, enhance administrative capacity, and ensure financial stability. Applicants must demonstrate readiness to start projects within 90 days and show a commitment to serving underprivileged children. Past grantees must adhere to reporting requirements to maintain eligibility.

Overview

NOTE: Prospective grantees are required to contact the Foundation’s Executive Director prior to submitting a proposal. No proposals will be accepted without doing so. Franklin Square House Foundation The Foundation, started in 2008, traditionally provides bricks and mortar grants for capital improvements to shelter projects that support women and women and their children, as well as capital improvement grants for economically and racially integrated childcare centers. Since becoming a foundation in 2008, FSHF has made grants totaling $13.2 million. Capital Improvements Grant - Projects to Childcare Centers Evaluation and Ranking Criteria Creation of new childcare slotsAdministrative capacity of the organizationFinancial condition of the organizationTrack record of the organizationPast standing of the grantee with the FoundationAlignment of the organization and the project with the mission and goals of the FoundationProportions of subsidized slots to the overall population of the center. We generally like to see greater than our required minimum of 50% subsidized slotsCompleteness and coherence of the grant applicationReadiness to proceed with the project. All projects must be ready to start within 90 days of the date on the grant award letter and be completed within six months of the grant awardThe presence of slots reserved for homeless childrenThe grantee’s offering of comprehensive services for families it serves (or access to those services through partnerships)The responsiveness of the grantee to requests for supplemental information regarding the grant proposalResults of the Foundation site visit Funding The maximum Childcare Grant is $100,000. If the cost of the work you wish to perform is greater than your request to the Foundation, you must provide evidence of plans to pay for the remaining balance of the work. If you are applying for other grants, please provide a detailed table of grants applied for, amounts expected to receive, the timing of the submission and award, and status of the application (it is acceptable to say you will be applying for something).

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. All grant applicants must be 501(C)3 nonprofit organizations.Organizations applying for a grant must be within Barnstable County, Bristol County, Dukes County, Nantucket County, Essex County, Middlesex County, Plymouth County, Norfolk County, Suffolk County and those parts of Worcester County that are east of (or bisected by) routes 395, 290, 190 and including a line extending from the northern limit of the end of route 195 to the New Hampshire border. This includes the communities of Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner.All grant applicants must be licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and be NEAYC accredited.Applicants must, at a minimum, have 50% subsidized childcare slots.Grant applications must include a contractor level bid for the work to be done (only one is required), and/or vendor pricing for furniture, fixtures, and equipment. 1. Estimates of these numbers will not be considered acceptable and will result in automatic rejection of the application.Existing grantees of the Foundation may only apply to the Foundation once every rolling two-year period. You may only apply in successive years if your last application was not funded. If your last grant was an emergency grant (childcare or shelter) this waiting period does not apply.Grantees must own the facility they are proposing to improve, or have a minimum of 10 years left on the lease. In the case of a lease, it is required to provide a copy of the lease.All improvements made with grant funds and all purchases of FF&E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment) are considered to have a 10-year useful lifeIf a grantee sells the facility (or terminates the lease at the facility) upon which a grant has been made before the end of the 10 years of that grant’s uses, the Franklin Square House Foundation reserves the right to recapture the prorated share of the grant based on the unelapsed time left on the grant’s life.Any consideration by the grantee to take action in this regard must be brought to the immediate attention of the Executive Director of the Foundation.Existing grantees: Make note of the requirement in your previous grant agreement to submit a closeout report no later than 12 months from the date of your award. If this paperwork is missing from your file at the time we receive a new grant proposal from you, it will result in an automatic rejection of the application.All applicants for funding must be in good standing with the Foundation.For existing grantees, this entails that all previous grant reporting has been completed in a timely and appropriate manner.

Ineligibility

Things We Do Not Fund:Operating costs Landscaping Grant administration Project design, management, overhead, or supervision Relocation Vehicles Computers Back-up generators Work in progress or already completed Manipulatives and teaching materials Requests to reduce loan debt Grants into capital campaigns for larger projectIf you received a grant from us in a previous round and you have yet to expend those funds, you may not apply for a new grant. Applications of this nature will be noted in any future requests to the Foundation.