An update from the Bunbury Fund Advisors (12/2024)

The Bunbury Fund is celebrating 75 years of philanthropic grantmaking made possible by the private foundation that was The Bunbury Company. The grants made in 2024 celebrate The Bunbury Fund’s 10-year anniversary as a donor advised fund that opened at the Princeton Area Community Foundation in 2015.

  • Sunset Grants: As of early December, we have completed granting the majority of our Sunset Grants. We will complete the sunsetting process early in the new year and a small number of discretionary grants will be made by January 31.
  • Competitive Grant Cycle: We had a robust 2024 competitive cycle. Approximately 60 applications resulted in 26 grant awards. This is the final competitive cycle for The Bunbury Fund. One will not be offered in 2025.

The Bunbury Fund Advisors hope all our 2024 awards will amplify what has always been at the heart of our grantmaking–the opportunity to promote greater effectiveness and innovation for the greater good of our communities.

We wish you all happiness and health in the new year.

The Bunbury Fund Advisors
Nancy Kieling, Dr. Shannon Mason, Meredith Moore, Carolyn Sanderson, Jamie Kyte Sapoch, John Thurber, Jay Watson

Transformational Sunset Grants – $12,500,000 total

  • Anchor House
  • HomeFront
  • I am Trenton
  • Outdoor Equity Alliance
  • NonProfitConnect
  • Rescue Mission of Trenton
  • RISE
  • Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum
  • The Boys and Girls Clubs of Mercer
  • The Father Center
  • Trenton Area Soup Kitchen
  • Trenton City Museum

2025 Discretionary Sunset Grant – $1,000,000

  • Princeton Area Community Foundation

Year End Discretionary Sunset Grants – $1,295,000 total

  • ArtWorks Trenton
  • Center for Modern Aging
  • Community Loan Fund, for the East Trenton Collaborative
  • LALDEF, for legal services
  • Meals on Wheels of Mercer County
  • Mill Hill Child Development Center
  • New Jersey Conservation Foundation
  • PEI Kids
  • Princeton Nursery School
  • Puerto Rican Community Center
  • Sourlands Conservancy
  • Younity
  • WeMake
  • The WorkWell Partnership

2024 Competitive Cycle Grants – $1,284,953

  • Anchor House
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County
  • Center for Modern Aging
  • CASA for Children of Mercer and Burlington Counties
  • Dress for Success of Central Jersey
  • Every Child Valued
  • Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space
  • Friends of Princeton Open Space
  • Grounds for Sculpture
  • HiTOPS
  • HomeFront
  • Housing initiatives of Princeton
  • I am Trenton
  • Interfaith Caregivers of Greater Mercer County
  • Isles, Inc.
  • Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Greater Mercer County
  • Meals on Wheels of Mercer County
  • NonprofitConnect
  • Outdoor Equity Alliance
  • Princeton Community Housing
  • Rescue Mission of Trenton
  • RISE
  • The Watershed Institute
  • Trenton Area Soup Kitchen
  • Trenton Health Team
  • Younity (formerly Womanspace)

Sunset Announcement from the Bunbury Fund, June 2024

Earlier this year, the advisors of The Bunbury Fund agreed to sunset, or spend down, the Bunbury Fund remaining balance as we mark our 10-year anniversary as a donor advised fund (DAF) at the Princeton Area Community Foundation. The Bunbury Fund Advisors began this discussion two years ago as part of evaluating our impact, mission and long-term intent. The Bunbury Fund had a prior 50+ year life as an independent private foundation, The Bunbury Company. When the Foundation dissolved to become a DAF, there was always an intention to sunset the Fund at some point in the future.

Our focus on nonprofit capacity building has been rewarded with the good work that has been the fruit of our investments these last 10 years. Half of the $7,000,000 in grants we have made over the past decade went into a multitude of strategic plans, systems upgrades, communications strategies, governance review and strengthening. About one-third of our grants went toward multi-year projects to enhance overall nonprofit performance. As we approach the 10-year mark, we see an opportunity to have an even greater impact on the communities being served by our nonprofit sector.

Our sunset grantmaking focuses on making a series of larger scale transformational grants that can significantly enhance a nonprofit’s ability to deliver its mission, effectively and with confidence. We anticipate the bulk of these Sunset Grants will be made to nonprofits we have funded in recent years.

Our goal has always been to produce the best results our grantmaking could achieve for the communities in our region. Through our experience as Bunbury Fund Advisors, we have learned much from you and other nonprofit leaders about the organizations in our region and the impact of our grantmaking. We have also learned that our current levels of grantmaking have not been sufficient to address the scale of the challenges facing our communities. We believe the return on our scaled-up investment will be a far greater community benefit.

With deep appreciation and gratitude for your commitment to our communities,

The Bunbury Fund Advisors
Nancy Kieling, Shannon Mason, Meredith Moore, Carolyn Sanderson, Jamie Kyte Sapoch, John Thurber, Jay Watson

For more information or support, please contact:

Danny Freund
Director of Discretionary Grantmaking Activities
Email Danny Freund

Nelida Valentin
Vice President, Grants & Programs
Email Nelida Valentin