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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
For the 2022 grant cycle, the Dee & King Webster Memorial Fund will support educational and out-of-school time opportunities for infants and youth aged 0-18 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 infants and 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.
In addition, the Fund seeks to support collaborative programming with public and private schools that focus on closing the opportunity and achievement gaps faced by Greater Lawrence youth. 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
- Management staff with considerable administrative experience
- 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
application deadline
Proposals must be submitted online by no later than June 26, 2023 at 5 PM. Incomplete or late proposals will not be considered.
application procedure
Proposals must be submitted through ECCF’s Application Portal.
If you do not yet have a login for our application Portal, please read our Grant Application Process page which will give you access to the Portal.
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. Our goal is to notify applicants of grant decisions by early September 2023.
Proposals that do not meet deadlines or guidelines will be screened out by the Committee and receive early notification.
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. The Committee may also contact other funders, community leaders, or other local agencies to learn more about the organization applying for funds and to discuss the outlined plans. Copies of proposals submitted to ECCF may be shared with others 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
April 28, 2023
APPLICATION DEADLINE
June 26, 2023
GRANT RANGE
Up to $40,000 over two years
GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATIONS
Lawrence, Methuen and Andover
FINAL REPORT FORMS
Final reports should be submitted through the Application Portal.
nonprofits & grants
get in touch

Carol Lavoie Schuster
Vice President for Grants, Nonprofit & Donor Services
(978) 777-8876 x133
c.lavoieschuster@eccf.org
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