Hasbro Children's Foundation Announces Funding Guidelines

"A philanthropic program of toy and game manufacturer Hasbro, the Hasbro Children's Foundation is committed to improving the emotional, mental, and physical well-being of children from birth through age twelve and their families through the support of innovative direct service programs in the areas of health, education, and social services.

In making funding decisions, the foundation is guided by three values: Caring, programs that work to ensure that all children have safe and caring environments where they can grow and thrive; Opportunity, programs that provide healthcare, education, and social services that give young children the help they need to join their peers in learning and achieving; and Joy, opportunities for the most vulnerable children to experience joyful moments as part of their everyday life.

The foundation provides three types of direct-service funding support:

Innovative Programs With Local Impact: Small grants to direct-service programs that meet a need of disadvantaged children in a local community in an innovative way. Funding can be sought to seed a new program component, or help make an existing program more efficient or effective.

National Replication/Adaptation/Expansion of Innovations: Larger and sometimes multiyear grants for direct-service programs that have the ability to bring their successful programs to other communities. Funding can be sought for the process of growing a program that benefits disadvantaged children and families to multiple sites.

Innovative Programs With National Impact: Seed grants for programs that propose to meet the needs of vulnerable children and their families in a new way and have the potential for improving the quality of life for these children in every community across the nation. Grant size in this category ranges widely.

Funding request amounts should relate to the scope and reach of the project. The foundation is rarely the sole supporter of a program. Local community projects should be able to show local support, while larger, multi-city expansions should show partnerships and support in all proposed sites. Local grants for model community programs typically range from $500 to $35,000. For multi-site expansions, awards are from $35,000 up, and are granted over a period of one to three years. The largest grants are awarded to programs that are national in potential impact and scope.

The foundation funds not-for-profit organizations only. The foundation places the highest value on ensuring caring and consistent person-to-person services for the most vulnerable children and their families.

Requests for funding are reviewed on a rolling basis. See the foundation's Web site for complete funding guidelines, application procedures, and examples of funded programs."