Month: November 2022

UVA grant seekers, thank you! The Trust received 96 Letters of Inquiry (LOI) requesting over $12 million in our annual grant cycle. Sixty-eight of these requests, valued at over $8.7 million, have moved forward to the full proposal stage.

Submissions cover wide variety of topics, including research and interventions around barriers to equity; community engagement efforts and pipeline programs; mental health post-Covid; sustainability; and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Our Proposals Committee has started reviewing the proposals in advance of the final round, which is an in-person pitch. The Trustees will look to grant $1.45 million this year across all funding cycles.

If you missed the annual cycle deadline, Flash Funding applications will open December 15 for the January 2023 flash cycle. Flash Funding grants are capped at $10,000 and focus on short-term projects or immediate use opportunities, often for student organizations. Flash Funding runs in the spring semester, and grants are made on a month-to-month basis as long as funds are available. Visit our Grant Seekers page for more information.

As always, we are available to answer any funding questions or meet to discuss your potential project. Contact our Director of Grants, Amy Bonner, for more information.

President Dwight Eisenhower once remarked that “plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” While that may be a little heavy-handed, planning is indeed a valuable process. It is a chance to share ideas, discuss, debate, and decide.

The Jefferson Trust recently completed a strategic plan and, even more than any new operation or activity, is setting a new long-term goal. Trustees set an ambitious target of doubling the endowment to $100 million, which will provide $4 million in annual grant funding and the opportunity to make a single grant of $1 million.

“This is an ambitious goal for the Jefferson Trust and one that lives up to a principle of the strategic plan — to maximize the Trust’s value,” says Governance Committee Chair Nick Melton. “We see enormous potential for donors to build a legacy in the Trust and for the Trust to amplify these gift and time commitments to have a lasting impact on and beyond Grounds.”

The goal is also an acknowledgement that we have heard the University community’s call for more support, and we are making this promise to provide it.

When the Trust was formed in 2006, its founders dreamed of a day when the Trust could award $1 million in a single year. Having eclipsed that mark in 2020, this new grantmaking level will make a larger impact across Grounds and see more great ideas come to fruition.