Richard E. and Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Richard E. and Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation is a private family funder that supports Vermont organizations. It funds work related to youth, seniors, community, and employment and financial independence for working-age adults.
IP TAKE: Describing itself as a “leader in innovative education strategies,” the Tarrant Foundation is a modest, but somewhat accessible funder that almost exclusively funds groups serving Vermont. Tarrant does not have an open application process, but it does accept Letters of Interest throughout the year. Tax filings indicate that the majority of Tarrant’s funding goes to recurring beneficiaries, but they do fund a significant number of new grantees each year. Because they’re open to contact, don’t hesitate to reach out with questions and be ready to discuss your work.
PROFILE: Established in 2005, the Richard E. and Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation is based in Winooski, Vermont, and is “committed to improving the lives of people in Vermont.” It was created by Rich Tarrant, an entrepreneur and businessman who founded IDX Systems Corporation, a healthcare technology company headquartered in Vermont, in 1969. The company was acquired by GE Healthcare in 2006, and the Tarrant couple has since launched new businesses in renewable energy and healthcare. Currently, the Tarrant Foundation makes grants for youth, work-ing age adults, seniors, and communities.
The Tarrant Foundation’s grantmaking strategy centers on creating a “balanced portfolio of interventions, aligning investment with capacity to bring what we describe as ‘non-monetary return.’” Rich Tarrant, the organization’s founder, believes that:
We investigate, analyze and conduct extensive due diligence. The resulting investment is in an agreed upon, measurable standard of success. Partners that don’t create return on investment are seldom given a second chance. Those that exceed our expectations are the ones we will look to fund again in the future.
In this vein, the Tarrant Foundation offers community grants across all of the organization’s focus areas.
Grants for Education and Youth
Education makes up the bulk of Tarrant’s grantmaking, while youth grants focus on the achievement gap, job readiness, mentoring, financial literacy, housing, addiction recovery, and out-of-school time.
One of Tarrant’s major initiatives in this field is the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education at the University of Vermont. The Institute works with schools across Vermont to advance the integration of technology in primary and secondary education, with the aim of “embedding coaches in schools to help develop and implement a sustainable vision,” “establishing schools as hubs of innovation,” “supporting schools to cultivate learning environments that prioritize the wellbeing of students,” and “assisting school partners in identifying and disrupting injustice.”
While the Tarrant Institute is also typically Tarrant’s largest education grantee, other recent education and youth grantees include St. Michael’s College, Youth Services, and Alice Lloyd College.
Grants for Economic, Community Development, and Housing
Through its focus area on Working-age Adults, Tarrant supports efforts to “facilitate the journey to economic independence” and “reduce reliance on public assistance.” Grants to benefit working-age adults fund homelessness prevention, addiction recovery, job training and retention, and financial literacy.
Previous economic development grantees include Vermont Recovery Network, Springfield Family Center, Friends of Veterans, Dismas of Vermont, and King Street Center.
Finally, small grants complement Vermont communities’ investments in local services and resources. The foundation also invests in basic needs, particularly food and shelter, in order to alleviate homelessness and hunger throughout Vermont.
Grantees include Friends of Veterans, COVER Home Repair, Lamoille Housing Partnership, and Charter House Coalition.
Grants for Public Health
Tarrant’s public health grantmaking focuses on a variety of interests, including youth, but predominately conducts related giving through the Foundation’s focus on Seniors, which aims to “promote well-being and fight the premature limitation of independence.” Grants in this area focus on nutrition, enrichment, and independent living.
Grantees include Meals and Wheels of Greater Springfield, Senior Solutions, Awakening Sanctuary, and City of Montpelier Senior Citizens Center.
Important Grant Details:
Grants generally range from $1,000 to $20,000. Tarrant typically awards 50 to 70 competitive grants each year, with applications accepted solely from Vermont organizations. However, only a portion of the Tarrant Foundation’s funds is made available through the open application process.
Tarrant does not provide multi-year grants or grants for schools, classrooms, environmental programs, art programs, or medical health programs.
Tarrant accepts Letters of Interest throughout the year. It must be two pages maximum and include the program, total budget, amount of funding requested, and description of the relevant community need.
While the Foundation is “a very active Vermont grantmaker, only a portion of funds each year are available through an open application process.”
Grant seekers can expect a response within about two weeks of submission. The foundation invites a small portion groups that submit a LOI to send in a full application.
Electronic submission is encouraged, although it will also accept paper applications by mail.
While giving focuses almost exclusively on Vermont, with an emphasis on the Burlington area; however, it also appears that Tarrant gives to grantees in Florida, Kentucky, and New Jersey on a limited basis. Reach out to the foundation about how and where it chooses to fund.
Direct general questions to the staff at info@tarrantfoundation.org or (802) 857-0495. Read about current foundation news and interests on its blog page.
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