For over 50 years, the Fidelity Foundation has focused on strengthening nonprofit organizations.
The Fidelity Foundation is a private, nonoperating foundation committed to building capacity in nonprofit organizations. Foundation grants are designed to encourage the highest standards of management and long-term self-reliance in nonprofit organizations. Taking an investment approach to grantmaking, we fund organizations where we feel we can add lasting, measurable value. We seek to support major initiatives that nonprofits undertake to reach new levels of achievement, and the Foundation’s founding operating principles still guide our decisions and grantmaking today.
The Fidelity Foundation grant program was designed to strengthen the long-term effectiveness of nonprofit institutions. The types of projects we fund, and the way in which we fund them, are specifically intended to help nonprofits build the organizational capabilities they need to better fulfill their missions and serve their constituencies.
The Foundation views our philanthropy as an investment—not just of financial resources, but also of our business skills and experience. In considering each Proposal, we apply the fundamentals of investing: we carefully examine each aspect of an organization's project idea, management team, and financial situation before committing our resources, in order to ensure that a grant can achieve tangible results.
The Foundation seeks to leverage its resources wherever possible. Often we do this by offering challenge grants that encourage nonprofits to seek and secure other funding partners. The Foundation also helps match grants given by other national foundations. We draw on our own business experience by working with grantees to develop performance measures that help determine whether a grant accomplished its intended purpose. As information is gained from funded projects, it is used to help inform future projects in similar fields.
The Foundation's grant program seeks to reflect Fidelity Investments' commitment to quality and continuous improvement. We especially look for projects representing creative and innovative means of advancing an organization or nonprofit sector, and strive to remain flexible and opportunistic through a competitive selection process.