elevate your impact

dee and king webster
fund for greater lawrence

Dee & King Webster Fund for Greater Lawrence

Unlocking access to opportunity for youth across Greater Lawrence

The Dee & King Webster Memorial Fund for Greater Lawrence works to address the opportunity and achievement gaps faced by thousands of youth across Greater Lawrence.  The fund was created in honor of R. Kingman “King” Webster, a Lawrence businessman and philanthropist who passed away in 2015 and who believed in the power of access, opportunity, and education for all youth, especially those living in poverty, and how it can provide them with new paths to success and opportunities to reach their full potential.

grant guidelines

funding priorities

NEW for 2024! In order to maximize the opportunity for impact, for the 2024 grant cycle the Fund will accept proposals to serve only birth through 8th grade (next year it will switch to supporting 9th-12th+). 

The Dee & King Webster Fund for Greater Lawrence will support educational and out-of-school time opportunities for youth (ages 0-8th grade) in the Greater Lawrence communities of Lawrence, Methuen, and Andover. The Fund seeks to support organizations that:

  • Respond to community needs with high-quality programs for youth in Greater Lawrence.
  • Offer innovative, effective, and measurable solutions to impact youth in positive, sustainable, and empowering ways.
  • Provide young people with engaging and enriching opportunities inside and outside of school that promote skill development, social-emotional health, personal growth, and exposure to new experiences.

Though not a requirement to apply, the Fund welcomes applications from organizations and programs that partner with one or more of the school systems of Lawrence, Methuen, and Andover to provide collaborative educational opportunities for youth.  Partnerships may be with either one or multiple schools within the three systems.

Applicants may apply for a grant of up to $40,000, which may be split into two payments over a two-year grant period.

eligibility

Applicants must have 501(c)(3) tax status under the IRS tax code and serve residents of the communities of Lawrence, Methuen, and Andover.

Agencies located outside of this geographic area are eligible to apply for funding but must include in their proposals detail on the number of Greater Lawrence youth participating.  It should also be noted that agencies that receive funds from the Dee & King Webster Memorial Fund for Greater Lawrence should reserve these funds for youth from the designated communities.

ECCF is committed to non-discrimination.  We support organizations that use all reasonable efforts to recruit, hire, train, promote, and serve persons without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law, except where such status is a bona fide qualification for the service being provided and is related to the organization’s mission.

Stand-alone programs applying through a fiscal agent may be eligible if they meet the following criteria:

  • The fiscal agent provides the 501(c)3 status but not much more
  • The program has a separate budget and raises its own funds to cover this budget.  Note: If the program has only a small amount of administrative costs covered by the umbrella organization, they are still eligible to apply.
  • There is a letter of agreement/understanding between the program and the umbrella organization

Grants will not be awarded:

  • To individuals
  • For sectarian or religious purposes. Note:  the Dee & King Webster Memorial Fund is limited to non-sectarian programming for youth of all religious and ethnic backgrounds.  Programs sponsored by religious organizations are eligible, provided that enrollment is open to all youth and the program is free of mandatory religious instruction, worship, or other sectarian activities.
  • For political purposes
  • For debt or deficit reduction
  • For capital campaigns for buildings, land acquisition, or endowment

To support academic research

selection criteria

In addition to the funding priorities listed above, grant reviewers also look for the following:

  • Clearly defined need
  • Potential impact of the proposed work on the population served
  • Quality of programming
  • Proposals that demonstrate the importance of equity and inclusion in organizational leadership, infrastructure, program design, and/or implementation
  • Fiscally sound programs/organizations with balanced budgets
review process

ECCF staff, together with the Dee & King Webster Memorial Fund Committee, will review all proposals to the Fund.  The Committee makes grant recommendations to the ECCF Board of Trustees for approval.  We will notify grant recipients by the end of July 2024.

An ECCF staff person or member of the Committee may contact applicants for additional information about a proposal or to arrange a site visit during the review process. 

reporting requirements

Grantees of the Dee & King Webster Memorial Fund for Greater Lawrence must submit an interim report at the completion of the first grant year and a final report at the completion of the second grant year.  Reports may be submitted via the application portal and are required to be eligible to apply for the following grant cycle.

 

APPLICATION PORTAL

OPENING

March 28

APPLICATION DEADLINE

May 13

GRANT RANGE

Up to $40,000 over two years

GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATIONS

Lawrence, Methuen and Andover

nonprofits & grants

get in touch

Carol Lavoie Schuster headshot

Corinne Lippie

Senior Program Officer
(978) 777-8876 x138
c.lippie@eccf.org

ECCF Logo in White Overlay

GET IN TOUCH

500 Cummings Center, Suite 5450
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915