Eligibility
Applicants
MUST meet
three threshold criteria to be considered for Blue Ridge
support:
1) The applicant must be
a start-up organization.
Our mandate is to support the creation and development of new institutions that fill gaps or demonstrate innovative strategies within their fields. In many cases we will be an organization's first funder, although we will also support applicants with other seed funding who are in the first 1 to 2 years of organizational development.
We also will consider funding new replications in New York City of exceptional organizations that exist elsewhere in the United States or around the world. We do NOT support new programs of existing institutions.
We do NOT fund organizations that are more than 2 years old.
2) The applicant must be
based in New York City.
3) The applicant’s work must fit with Blue Ridge’s interest in connecting people from high poverty communities to the opportunities, resources, and support they need to fulfill their full potential.
This means an applicant must show that it will tangibly broaden the life options and facilitate the social mobility of the people it serves, or that it will build the capacity of other organizations to do such.
Blue Ridge does NOT currently provide support for the following types of organizations:
• New schools (e.g. charter schools or private school)
• Theater groups
•
Filmmaking organizations
•
Sports/athletic organizations
•
Organizations that exist solely to publish curriculum, books or other media
•
Organizations that only provide services to constituencies outside the United States
