Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

Grant Guidelines: Eagle and Janet’s Funds

The Eagle Fund was created in 1998 by the community to help promote excellence in the Southern Berkshire Regional School District through grants to students, teachers, administrators, and members of the community. The Fund is not intended to be a substitute for the public funding of the District’s core curriculum. Rather, the Fund is intended to make possible exceptional educational opportunities that are designed to take students far beyond the basics and that will distinguish the District in the quality of its educational offerings. The Fund also provides a special bridge between the District and the members of the communities it serves. It is intended to foster pride in the District and to generate the excitement and enthusiasm that comes from knowing that through innovative thinking, good ideas, and thoughtful experimentation, dreams can be realized.

Janet’s Fund: Janet Thieriot was a student in the Southern Berkshire Regional School District who pushed beyond the boundaries of the standard curriculum. She died of cancer in 1989 and her father, Bob Thieriot, established Janet’s Fund to honor and perpetuate her spirit. The goal of Janet’s Fund is to reach each and every student in the district giving an opportunity to dream, to pursue that dream, and to realize it. Janet’s Fund supports initiatives that encourage the school community to stretch, to reach beyond existing programs, and, over time, to enrich the experience of all students. Janet’s Fund supports both programs that serve a broad section of the school community and programs that benefit an individual student of exceptional promise and encourages student-initiated projects.

We encourage applications for projects that demonstrate innovation and creativity in these areas.

• Applicants must be students, teachers, administrators, staff, parents or members of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District community.
• Proposals must augment and enrich the educational experience of students in the school district and should not be part of core curriculum.
• Preference is given to proposals that request funds for the direct costs of initiatives rather than staff salaries.
• Preference is given to proposals that provide matching funds through in-kind, volunteer, or cash donations.
• Preference is given to projects that will serve as a catalyst to broader educational opportunities and are likely to have a lasting connection with other school offerings.

Berkshire Taconic does not support organizations which in their constitution, by-laws, or practice, discriminate against a person or group on the basis of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religious belief.

Awards

Grants awarded will generally range from $250 to $5,000. Because we expect many worthy projects to be competing for limited funding, we ask that all applicants make a special effort to ask only for that amount actually required and to be diligent in searching for matching funds through in-kind or other cash donations. The funds continue to consider requests for multiple year funding for up to three years.

Applicants will be informed of Berkshire Taconic’s decision within two months of the deadline date.

Review Criteria

Applications will be reviewed using the following criteria:

• Excellence: Is the project or service truly of a high quality? Is it the right time for the project? Does it involve qualified individuals/groups?
• Impact: What is the potential impact of the project or service on the community? This does not mean the number of people involved, but rather the quality of the impact.
• Connection: What is the existing or future connection to other district offerings?
• Ability: Is the project well thought out and feasible?

Applications will be reviewed by a committee of representatives of the Eagle Fund and Janet’s Fund. Members of this committee include SBRSD residents who are active in community affairs, as well as the Superintendent of Schools, faculty members, and students. The Eagle Fund’s awards are approved the Eagle Fund Board of Governors. The Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Board of Directors will review committee recommendations.

Commitment/Report Requirements

A grant report must be submitted and filled out completely by the date indicated in the grant notification email. If the report is not submitted by the indicated time, you will not be considered for future funding from the Eagle and Janet’s Fund.

In addition, grant recipients may be asked to make in-person presentations to a joint Eagle Fund/Janet’s Fund board at year end. Grant recipients are required to write a narrative grant report, demonstrating what was achieved with the grant funds. The report must be submitted online, where grant recipient originally applied for the grant.

If you have any questions about the fund, email us at grants@berkshiretaconic.org.