New England and the Mid-Atlantic probably aren’t the first places that come to mind when one thinks of rural America. Despite the proximity to Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York City — the unofficial home of U.S. philanthropy — large swaths of these regions are rural and, as a result, receive less philanthropic attention than nearby city centers. In New England, for example, 83% of the land mass is considered rural, though only 20% of the region’s population lives in these areas.
At Inside Philanthropy, we’ve been taking stock of some of the funders across the country that practice rural philanthropy. And while there certainly are some national funders working in this space, most rural philanthropy tends to be place-based. To that end, here’s a handful of funders who support rural communities in New England and the Mid-Atlantic.
Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund (New Hampshire)
Housed at the New Hampshire Community Foundation, the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund is one of the largest permanent rural philanthropies in the U.S. It serves Coös County, as well as neighboring communities in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and southern Québec.
Since its founding in 2006, the fund has distributed more than $41 million. Guided by a local advisory committee, it moves approximately $3.5 million annually. Its focus areas are individual and family wellbeing, healthy workforce ecosystems, environmental stewardship and resilient communities.
Vermont Community Foundation
While the Vermont Community Foundation serves the entire state, it also does work that focuses specifically on rural areas. In 2021, for example, it invested $250,000 in a partnership with the Center on Rural Innovations to fund its work in five Vermont communities.
Following the onset of the pandemic in 2020, VCF established its VT COVID-19 Response Fund. Later that year, the foundation established five recovery initiatives, two of which were for rural entrepreneurship and rural connectivity. At the time, about 70,000 households and businesses did not have reliable access to broadband. VCF has provided grants to Vermont’s Communication Union Districts, which are volunteer-run entities that work to bring quality and affordable internet to communities.
In March, it announced the Vermont Changemakers Table grants program would provide funding through VCF to support BIPOC-led organizations, prioritizing those who primarily serve rural communities.
Community Foundation for South Central New York
The Community Foundation for South Central New York serves five counties in New York — Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Tioga — most of which are largely rural. The foundation consists of a general community fund, which provides unrestricted funding to nonprofits in the region, as well as dozens of donor-advised funds, fields-of-interest funds, scholarship funds and designated funds.
The Women’s Fund, for example, works to support and empower women and girls in the region. In 2022, the fund awarded $43,500 to eight organizations working in this space. The fund recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and met a $1 million fundraising goal.
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York)
The Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation serves a largely rural region that consists of the entirety of Berkshire County in Massachusetts, the northwest part of Litchfield County in Connecticut, the northeast part of Dutchess County in New York, and all of Columbia County in New York.
The foundation’s strategic priorities are community engagement, economic opportunity, and educational attainment. It funds community-based free research, board leadership development, early literacy and childcare programs, immigrant support grants, aging with dignity grants, educational enrichment funds, and housing initiatives, among many others. The foundation also provides support and guidance for area funds.
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Other grantmakers who support rural communities in New England and the Mid-Atlantic include Chapel Hill Foundation, William Stretesky Foundation, Pascale-Sykes Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, among many others.
Stay tuned for more coverage of regional rural funders.
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