HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Betterment Fund was created for charitable purposes by the will of the late William Bingham, 2nd, a resident of Bethel, Maine, who died in 1955. Mr. Bingham was a self-effacing philanthropist with an abiding interest in education and the improvement of health services in the State of Maine.

During Mr. Bingham's lifetime, Gould Academy in Bethel was a major recipient of Mr. Bingham's benefactions. Mr. Bingham also made numerous grants to individuals from within and beyond the Gould and Bethel communities to enable them to obtain higher levels of education than would otherwise have been available to them. Since Mr. Bingham's death, Betterment Fund has established scholarship funds in his memory at several Maine colleges with scholarship award preference to be given to residents of Bethel, Oxford County and the State of Maine in that order of priority.

Mr. Bingham's medical interests historically were pursued largely through the Bingham Associates Fund, now known as the Bingham Program, which developed a program in Boston for the advancement of rural medicine in Maine. The Bingham Program has served as a model worldwide for outreach programs designed to strengthen the quality of health services in smaller communities. See www.binghamprogram.org. In recent years, the Betterment Fund has partnered with Bingham Program on several Maine health projects.

CURRENT POLICY

Although the traditional recipients of Mr. Bingham's benefactions continue to be of special interest to the Fund and scholarship support continues to be a significant activity, the Betterment Fund has come to view the areas of education and health more broadly, and will consider requests from qualified institutions and organizations whose activities promote education or health improvement and which have the potential to have a significant positive impact on the lives of Maine residents in these areas. In past years the Fund also has expanded its areas of grantmaking to include programs which support local communities in their own efforts to increase their capacity to improve and sustain the quality of life for residents and programs for the preservation and responsible use of Maine's natural resources. Please see the Fund's most recent Annual Report for examples of grantmaking activities and also note the statement of education grant priorities.

GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS

The Betterment Fund makes grants exclusively to benefit the residents of the State of Maine. Special consideration may be given to projects in the Western Mountains region because of Mr. Bingham’s personal history with Bethel and his demonstrated interest in the surrounding area.  Priority generally will be givento proposals seeking to impact the more rural parts of Maine.

SIZE OF GRANTS

Grants may vary in size from a single grant of $10,000 to, infrequently, a grant of more than $100,000, payable over several years. Most Betterment Fund grants are in the range of $20,000 to $50,000 and may or may not be made on a matching basis. In some cases a grant may be made for more than one year but no organization will receive continuous annual support. Occasionally the Fund will make larger grants from the assets of the Fund; such grants are made at the initiative of the Fund and should not be used as models for grant applications.

The Fund has no staff. Accordingly, it cannot give advance advice on contemplated grant applications, nor can it give adequate consideration to numerous small grant applications. Realizing that many of these proposals have merit, the Fund has given funds to the Maine Community Foundation to support the award by MCF of smaller grants, particularly focused on rural areas of Maine. Applications for such grants should be made to MCF at 245 East Main Street, Ellsworth, Maine 04605. Information about MCF and its programs is available on the MCF website.

CRITERIA FOR GRANT SELECTION

In evaluating requests for grants, the following criteria may be considered:

1. Programs: The Betterment Fund makes grants for the support of specific projects and programs as well as general operations. Innovative programs will be given special consideration, particularly if they appear to have the potential for broader application or for attracting funding from other public and private sources. On occasion, grants will be made to acquire equipment or for facilities. Endowment grants are infrequent and are normally made only to organizations which have demonstrated special merit in handling previous annual grants from the Fund. From time to time the trustees may identify particular target program areas in which to concentrate grants for a limited period.

2. Constituency Support: The Betterment Fund looks for evidence of substantial support from the constituency of the applicant, whether the constituency is private or governmental. The support may be evidenced by donated services as well as financial support. The Betterment Fund will particularly favor grants that are designed to build permanent capacity in the organization or targeted community.

3. Fiscal Responsibility: Grant applicants must present a clearly thought out budget for the grant, together with a past and current budget for the entire organization. The Betterment Fund expects applicants to demonstrate sufficient fiscal responsibility and management skill to ensure that any grant will be effectively used for its intended purposes. In the case of a multi-year grant, these conditions must continue to be met during the entire period of the grant. If they are not, the Fund reserves the right to discontinue support. The trustees do not expect to receive copies of all financial and management reports and would prefer that grant recipients furnish only the reports and information specifically requested.

4. Sustainability: If the grant request is for operating support or a long term program, it is particularly important for the organization to demonstrate a realistic plan for the continuance of the organization or program after the proposed Betterment Fund grant has been exhausted.

5. Collaborations: Collaborative proposals that draw on the strengths of several organizations and groups in the community will be given priority over otherwise equivalent proposals which do not. The Betterment Fund also welcomes collaborations with other funding sources.

The Betterment Fund does not make grants or loans to individuals or for the support of religious activities or programs.

The Fund makes grants only to publicly supported organizations which are exempt from taxation under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) and are not private foundations, or which are exempt as government agencies or bodies. Any organization which relies on fiscal agency or sponsorship by a separate publicly supported IRC 501(c)(3) to meet the Fund’s tax-exempt organization requirement must include in its grant application the information specified under “Fiscal Sponsorship” below regarding the sponsor and the sponsorship relationship.

PROCEDURE

Applicants should complete the two page grant application form with coding form (also available from the Fund’s office), together with a succinct description of the proposed grant and the other supporting information specified on the grant application form’s instructions. On occasion, Fund trustees may request additional information they feel is needed after studying a submitted grant application.

The Betterment Fund tries to acknowledge each inquiry it receives, except those that appear to be part of a general mailing or which clearly lie outside the Fund’s geographical area or its fields of interest. Some of the Fund’s routine correspondence is handled by form letter to reduce overhead. In no case should Fund trustees be expected to explain why a grant is not made, or to discuss with an applicant the merits of a proposal.

The Fund trustees normally meet in March, June and November to consider grant applications. Application receipt deadlines are January 31, April 30 and September 30. Proposals must be submitted in hard copy in seven (7) full counterparts to the Fund’s New York office. Proposals should not be sent to individual trustees.

In most cases the trustees will decline to consider any proposal that has been submitted by an organization which has submitted a proposal (whether or not successful) to the Fund within the prior twelve (12) months.

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP

Any organization which relies on a fiscal agent or sponsorship relationship with a separate organization in order to satisfy The Betterment Fund’s requirement that the applicant be recognized as a public charity, must meet additional criteria in respect of that relationship. Due to regulatory changes, these include a formal fiscal agency agreement for which a simple confirmatory letter from the sponsor cannot be substituted. Please contact the Fund’s administrative office to request a sample form of fiscal agency agreement if in doubt about what should be included in the agreement.

Further, the organization’s grant application to the Betterment Fund must include the following: (1) explain why it is not itself  currently recognized as a public charity, and  where it is in the process of filing an IRS Form 1023 (application for recognition of tax exemption); (2) give the name and address of the sponsoring organization and the name and telephone number of a contact person there; (3) copies of the sponsor organization’s (a) certificate of incorporation, (b) tax exemption letter from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, (c) most recent audited financial statements and auditor’s report, and (d) resolution of its board authorizing it to serve as the grant applicant’s fiscal sponsor; and (4) a copy of the fiscal agent agreement between the sponsoring organization and the grant applicant organization. The sponsor should be an organization formed under the laws of the state of Maine and have its principal office in Maine.

REPORTS

Each organization receiving a grant is expected to submit a report within sixteen months after any Betterment Fund grant disbursement. The report should include an on-going evaluation of the project and a description of any changes in the project from the information shown in the grant application, including changes in actual or projected budgets, revenue, expenses or funding sources. If the organization has had a fiscal agent or fiscal sponsor for purposes of the grant, its report must describe any changes in its relationship with the fiscal agent and, if the relationship is continuing, confirm that the organization continues to fulfill the Betterment Fund’s requirements relating to fiscal agency. Late submission of a report may result in delay of the schedule of payments for any subsequent year or years of the grant.

PUBLICITY

In keeping with Mr. Bingham’s own practice, the Betterment Fund seeks no public recognition for grants except such publicity as may be helpful to the grantee organization in raising additional funds for the same project. A simple factual acknowledgement of the grant in the grantee organization’s publications is appropriate. In no case should the names of any individual trustee be publicized in connection with the grant.

The Betterment Fund

September 2005 (July 2008)