Mission Statement

To expand opportunities for disadvantaged youth and vulnerable families to develop and make full use of their potential, so that they will be able to earn decent livings, enjoy healthy relationships, pursue their ambitions, and participate in their communities.

Categories of programs we currently support:

• Education, mentoring and work-experience programs for disadvantaged youth who need help preparing for college, getting into college and getting through college
• Workforce development programs that help at-risk, homeless and foster youth to learn skills that will enable them to earn a decent living, and develop healthy, fulfilling lives
• Family strengthening programs that help families address problems that contribute to or result from homelessness, domestic abuse or neglect, or single parenthood

Similar programs that we do not support at this time:

• Programs focused only on particular immigrant, ethnic or religious groups
• Programs that serve those with disabilities, injuries, addictions or HIV
• Programs that primarily serve pre-school kids or adults over 30 without children
• Youth development programs such as learning centers and after-school programs
• Programs serving groups abroad, unless they are based inside the U.S.

Attributes of programs that we favor

• They make a commitment to provide all the services clients need to become successful, as long as clients work hard to help themselves
• They set high goals for their clients, relative to the degree of difficulties that clients have to overcome and the level of their potential to improve their lives
• They measure multiple dimensions of their clients’ situations, upon both entry and exit, so that they can identify multiple needs and show degrees of improvement
• They convincingly demonstrate the lasting impact of their programs by tracking their clients’ outcomes for a year or more after they have graduated from the program
• They are located on the East Coast, from Raleigh north, or on the West Coast

Application Process

If you feel that your program fits our criteria well, send us a short summary of your program (3 – 5 pages). The elements to be included in that summary are listed below. After reading that summary, we may ask you for a full proposal, at which time we will provide you with an outline of the information it should include. We evaluate programs year round, then compare the highly-ranked proposals in October, and send out grants in November. Proposals submitted later than September will be considered for the following November. Sending proposals earlier in the year will give us more time to come visit.

Outline for Short Summary (3 – 6 pages)

1. BASICS
   • Mission statement, history of organization and evolution of program
   • Profile of target group; how they are chosen; who are excluded
   • Spectrum of services provided by the program and why they work
2. USE OF RESOURCES
   • Listing of the staff and board and their responsibilities
   • Staff salaries; direct spending on services vs. spending on other costs
   • Variety of revenue sources, amounts and projections
   • Contributions of volunteers, in-kind donors, clients and partner programs
3. EVIDENCE
   • Breakdown of clients’ challenges and capacities identified upon intake
   • Definition and measurement of success for clients and for the program
   • Record of success for clients and for the program over the last few years
4. CURRENT CONCERNS
   • Evaluation of your organization’s internal and external challenges
   • Strategic plans for addressing those challenges
   • Amount of funding requested and how it would be used

Please mail two copies to:

The Ceres Foundation
18606 Reliant Drive
Gaithersburg, MD 20879

E-mail: Ceresmd@comcast.net