The Bunbury Fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation is awarding nearly $13 million in grants to local nonprofits.

Earlier this year, The Bunbury Fund launched its 10-year anniversary by announcing a plan to sunset the fund and award a series of large-scale grants to local nonprofits. The unrestricted Sunset Grants are intended to significantly enhance grantee partners’ capacity to deliver their missions.

The Bunbury Fund has selected two groups of nonprofits to receive grants totaling $12.75 million of the Fund’s approximate $16 million balance. This includes a pledge to the Community Foundation in recognition of its partnership over the past decade. A third round of grants to another set of nonprofits will be made in 2025.

“The Bunbury Fund is honored to distribute Sunset Grants to 11 nonprofits addressing critical needs across our communities,” said Jamie Kyte Sapoch, Lead Advisor to the Bunbury Fund. “We have great hope that these awards will have a transformational impact on the important work of each nonprofit, now and into the future. We celebrate this milestone grantmaking opportunity with our partner of the last 10 years, the Princeton Area Community Foundation.”

Paraphrased excerpts from the personalized grant letters from the Bunbury Fund Advisors to nonprofits are included below.

The first round of Sunset Grants were awarded to:

  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County in Trenton and Lawrence; “The Boys & Girls Clubs play a critical role in the development of children and the empowerment of families. Through its partnerships, it has created an indispensable network of support for the community.”
  • I Am Trenton Community Foundation; “I Am Trenton has shown an extraordinary commitment to Trenton. It works to seed community-born ideas with innovation, creativity and inclusion for all their applicants and potential grantees.”
  • NonProfitConnect in Hamilton; “NonProfitConnect plays a unique and vital role as guide, trainer and connector to nonprofits across the community. It has helped change the landscape by offering nonprofit leaders a place to learn and strengthen the capacity of their organizations.”
  • Outdoor Equity Alliance in Trenton; “The Outdoor Equity Alliance is working to help future generations pursue careers that will allow them to center their lives around nature, including the environment, farms and the outdoors in New Jersey.”
  • The Father Center of New Jersey in Trenton; “The Father Center plays an important role in supporting fathers with its comprehensive approach to programming, which includes job training and life skills. That work has a positive impact on entire families.”
  • Trenton Museum Society in Trenton; “The Trenton Museum Society holds a critical spot in the heart of one of Trenton’s most beautiful public spaces and is working to develop the next generation of committed staff and volunteers to serve museum visitors and the artistic history of Trenton.”

The next round of Sunset Grants will be awarded in 2025 to:

  • Anchor House in Trenton; “Anchor House provides comprehensive support to at-risk youth in the region, and it has seen a significant increase in the demand for its vital services, including counseling, housing, and life skills training. Its team recently completed a feasibility study to guide the establishment of a clinical mental health program that would help eliminate waiting lists for youth in need of mental health services.”
  • HomeFront in Lawrence; “Children make up about two-thirds of the roughly 450 people using HomeFront’s services, and the organization has placed a renewed emphasis on developing a culture that utilizes evidence, and values openness, guided by a new innovation and evaluation team.”
  • RISE in Hightstown; “RISE is an important leader in eastern Mercer County, where it is the only organization providing a vital level of comprehensive services. The organization has been an able, thoughtful and reliable steward of previous funding, and the grant will allow for future growth.”
  • The Rescue Mission of Trenton; “The Rescue Mission is adapting its work in ways that are creative, innovative, compassionate and providing impact for its clients, including helping those clients build careers.”
  • Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) in Trenton; “TASK is a well-run, highly regarded organization that partners with other nonprofits in the area, and its community leadership is a beacon. The grant will allow for TASK to execute on its solid plan for continued strategic growth and outreach.”

Background on the Bunbury Fund

The Bunbury Fund was created at the Community Foundation 10 years ago, when a more than 50-year-old private foundation, The Bunbury Company, was converted to a charitable fund focused on capacity building of the nonprofit sector in the Mercer County area.

When it was created, the Bunbury Fund Advisors indicated that the Fund would eventually grant out its entire balance through a series of awards to local nonprofits. Two years ago, as part of an evaluation of its impact, mission and long-term intent, the Fund Advisors began to discuss the timing of a spend-down.

Prior to the Sunsetting Grants process, the Bunbury Fund awarded $7 million in grants to local nonprofits. Grants over the past decade were made in support of nonprofits focusing on strengthening their capacity by funding projects, such as strategic plan work, systems upgrades, communications strategies and governance review.