THE BETTERMENT FUND  
    Created by the will of William Bingham 2nd


Trustees: William B. Winship • Carolyn S. Wollen • William P. Clough III • Carol Berg Geist • Andrew L. Tansey • Martin J. Grohman
 

 

Bank of America N.A.
c/o Christine O’Donnell, NY1-100-28-05
One Bryant Park
New York, NY 10036
Tel: 646-855-1011
Fax: 646-855-5463
betterment@ustrust.com

   

Betterment Fund Priorities

Exhibit A: Education

  • Leadership, development and advancement of major educational policy initiatives on a state-wide basis:  An example of a funded leadership initiative is the Betterment Fund’s support for an “Early College” program through the Maine Community College System.  Other examples include support for aspects of the State’s Compact for Higher Education, the Mitchell Institute and adult education programs leading to individuals having greater economic self-sufficiency.

  • Educational Quality:  We may fund broad-based projects to improve the quality of K-12 public education, such as greater evaluation capacity for Job’s for Maine’s Graduates.

  • Arts educationWe are primarily interested in making grants that have a regional or state-wide focus and that have the potential of improving the overall landscape for arts education in Maine.  One current example is a recent grant to the Maine Alliance for Arts Education to initiate a broad assessment of arts education across the State.

  • College scholarships for Maine students in Maine colleges and universities We fund scholarships through particular educational institutions rather than making awards directly to individuals.  Such scholarship funding will be initiated by the trustees rather than in response to grant requests.

Proposals that are not as likely to be funded include local school programs, agencies which seek to provide programming that is supplementary to the curricula of established schools and colleges, or capital construction projects for particular schools.         


Grant Guidelines and Policies  Current Grant Priorities
Grant Application Cover Sheet Grantmaking Summary

July 2009