The Robin Hood Foundation was created in 1988 to find, fund, and provide technical and management assistance to
organizations serving poor New Yorkers. Robin Hood makes grants to organizations exclusively in the five boroughs
of New York City whose work falls within the following four issue areas: Early Childhood & Youth, Education,
Jobs and Economic Security, and Survival. Robin Hood has a continuing commitment to community-based programs and strong leaders
in the city's poorest neighborhoods. Robin Hood seeks to fund programs that provide comprehensive and intensive
services, and work with people over long periods of time with measurable results.
Potential additions to Robin Hood's core group of grant recipients are screened to determine whether they effectively serve poor New Yorkers. Robin Hood staff conduct site visits and interviews, analyze outcomes and financial data, perform supplementary research, and check references to ensure that Robin Hood is making a sound, smart investment.
Robin Hood seeks to fund organizations with the following characteristics:
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A proven track record |
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A bold idea that is feasible |
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Clear sense of mission and the steps needed to accomplish
that mission |
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Strong, committed leadership |
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Existing evaluation procedures or willingness to
evaluate programs and measure outcomes |
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Commitment to, and knowledge of, the population served |
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High quality, dedicated staff |
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Financial stability |
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Respect or standing in its community and relationships with other
organizations in the community |
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Potential grant recipients are also measured against criteria specific
to their portfolio issue area.
Early Childhood & Youth: Robin Hood supports early intervention programs that work closely with the most vulnerable children and assist parents in identifying and accessing all appropriate services. In addition, Robin Hood funds organizations that provide comprehensive family support, parent education and preventative services to help parents overwhelmed by issues of poverty. A large portion of the Early Childhood portfolio concentrates on work to serve children in the 60-square block area known as the Harlem Children's Zone. Robin Hood supports youth programs which do more than simply provide selected services, or which focus narrowly on a particular aspect of the needs of youth. Youth programs cover foster care, juvenile justice, and healthcare.
Education: Robin Hood seeks out and funds innovative schools and school-related programs that provide superior educational opportunities to disadvantaged populations. Robin Hood-funded schools tend to employ an extended day/extended year model and all have rigorous curriculums, strong leadership, and emphasis on teacher training. While we recognize the need to care for "the whole child," Robin Hood pays careful attention to student performance as an important measure of a school's effectiveness.
Robin Hood's after school programs work with the same children and their families year after year, offering a combination of academic support, recreation, leadership opportunities, mentoring, health care, mental health services, job preparation, arts and parent involvement. Robin Hood also supports the long term, comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention model developed by Dr. Michael Carrera and his colleagues at the Children's Aid Society.
Jobs & Economic Security: Robin Hood’s employment programs train people with severe and multiple barriers to employment — for example, histories of homelessness, drug abuse, criminal offenses, poor command of English or lack of child care. In general, Robin Hood’s programs train people to work in specific sectors of the economy. These programs are generally two to six months long and place graduates in jobs with good pay and benefits as well as opportunity for advancement. Additionally, job training programs funded by Robin Hood offer social services, academic assistance and counseling after placement. Robin Hood supports transitional work, placement-only initiatives and programs to help workers advance in fast-growing industries. All programs must carefully measure enrollment, completion rates, job-placement rates, wages and job retention statistics. Robin Hood also supports micro-enterprise, economic development and financial literacy organizations and funds organizations to host and operate Single Stop and E.I.T.C. sites.
Survival: Robin Hood's emphasis in its survival portfolio is identifying and supporting organizations that can reliably deliver food and meals; find and prepare safe, comfortable, and supportive housing; or intervene to ensure that individual's basic health needs are met. This includes victims of domestic violence and individuals with HIV/AIDS.
Applications are accepted year-round, and grant decisions will be made by the Board of Directors of the Robin Hood Foundation on a quarterly basis. Due to a high number of applications, Robin Hood cannot guarantee that all applications will be considered by the Board at the first meeting after the application is received. If your organization submitted an application but was denied Robin Hood funding in the past, please wait one year from the date of denial before reapplying.
We recommend that, after reviewing our guidelines thoroughly, you call and speak to the Program Officer for your specific issue area before completing an application. Please complete the entire application. If you wish, you may attach additional material as specified in the New York Common Application Form to your completed application, but please do not send any videos. If the application itself raises questions or poses difficulties, please feel free to contact a Program Officer at Robin Hood for clarification. Once the application has been submitted, you will receive a postcard acknowledging its receipt; we ask that you not telephone us to ask about its status. In turn, we will let you know Robin Hood's decision as soon as possible although decisions may take up to one year.
First time grant requests are generally in the area of $100,000 to 200,000. Robin Hood will consider requests for a variety of purposes, including specific programs, salaries, or start-up costs. Usually, capital, renovation and general operating funds are given only to those groups already receiving Robin Hood support.
In general, Robin Hood does not fund technical assistance providers, other funders, advocacy programs, or organizations that are part of nation-wide affiliations even if the applicant is located in New York City. Robin Hood does not make grants to individuals, nor does it give grants to distribute propaganda, to attempt to influence legislation or the outcome of any public election, or to engage in any activity that is not exclusively charitable, scientific, or educational. Robin Hood will not support organizations that discriminate against people seeking either services or employment based on race, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, or physical disability.
Robin Hood views program outcome evaluation as an important tool for learning and for improving services and is interested in the impact of programs on individuals and specific gains made by program participants. Robin Hood requires that all grant recipients work with an independent third-party evaluator selected and funded by Robin Hood, or provide evidence of a strong alternative means of evaluation. Programs that do not wish to evaluate the outcomes of their efforts should not apply to Robin Hood for funds. If your organization currently performs evaluation, please include a description of your evaluation programs and recent results or evaluation reports with your application. If your organization does not currently evaluate programs, please outline the short- and long-term outcomes your program strives to achieve and how you would collect and analyze data to examine those outcomes. |
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