Jessie Ball duPont Fund

Jessie Ball duPont's generosity touched the lives of thousands during her lifetime, and her charitable decisions defined philanthropic investments that have endured more than a quarter of a century beyond her death. Today, 330 organizations directly benefit from her trust and countless others benefit indirectly, thanks to the work of those eligible organizations.

Through its various grants, the Fund supports worthy programs in a wide range of fields - health, education, religion, the arts, social service, the environment, to name a few.

Regardless of the field of work, however, the Fund seeks in its grantmaking to support and sustain people and the communities in which they live. The Fund organizes its grantmaking around five focus areas:

Strengthening the Independent Sector
Building Assets of People, Families and Communities
Building the Capacity of Eligible Organizations
Stimulating Community Problem Solving
Helping People Hold Their Communities Accountable

The Fund's support of its eligible organizations takes many forms:

The Fund awards Competitive Grants to eligible organizations that complete a rigorous application and review process. The bulk of the Fund's grant dollars are awarded as competitive grants.

The Fund also awards Feasibility Grants, generally smaller grants that enable organizations to carefully explore and develop new concepts and programs.

Though many of the Fund's eligible organizations are small, their value to the well-being of our society is just as great as that of the larger, more widely known organizations. In many cases, these smaller organizations have their hands full performing their basic task, whether it is educating undergraduates at a small college, informing the elderly of their rights or worshiping God in a remote and rural area.

The Fund supports four initiatives designed to help eligible organizations meet their basic needs and strengthen their ability to perform the critical purposes for which they exist.

The Religion Initiative supports the 90-odd religious institutions that are among the Fund's eligible organizations.
The Nonprofit Initiative supports the 150 nonprofit organizations that provide a range of services to their communities.
The Small Liberal Arts Colleges Initiative supports the 37 private colleges among the eligible organizations.
The Independent Schools Initiative supports the 18 independent schools among the Fund's eligible organizations.