The Bunbury Fund supports non-profit organizations making significant impacts across central New Jersey, and most specifically Mercer County, to strengthen their capacity to effectively advance their missions toward sustainable, organizational maturity.

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.

An Update from the Bunbury Fund
Read more about the Bunbury Fund Sunsetting

Bunbury Fund Grantee Featured in National Philanthropy Media.
Read more about the capacity building grant here.

The Bunbury Fund awarded more than $1 million in grants to local nonprofits in 2023.
You can read more about the capacity building grants here.

Bunbury Fund Community Survey Response

In spring 2021, the Bunbury Fund sent a survey to its grantees and recent applicants seeking feedback on our processes and communication. Thank you to all who responded. Your comments were helpful and we have used them to make some specific adjustments to the process.

  • Extremely high response rate – 33% (43 out of 130 invited participants)
  • Appreciation of the Bunbury Fund’s distinct focus on capacity building grants
  • Keen desire for more networking, collaboration and information sharing among the Bunbury Fund grantees and including Bunbury Fund advisors
  • Interest in regular feedback from advisors on fund priorities, grantee progress and declines

  • Further streamlining the application
  • Reducing the number of attachments
  • Increasing the added Administrative Grant from 10% to 15% but continuing to not fund staff salaries
  • Committing to consistent grantee feedback through virtual grant updates and site visits
  • Finding new ways to strengthen our partnership with grantees by facilitating grantee learning opportunities through the Community Foundation and by staying abreast of the changing needs and demands being placed on the community we serve.

Thank you to our grantees for the important work you are doing. We are learning with you.

Bunbury Fund Advisors

Watch this video to learn more about the Rescue Mission, including how the nonprofit used a grant from The Bunbury Fund to help upgrade its medical information technology.

The Bunbury Fund sponsored a seminar for board and executive leaders on The Power Good Governance.

To learn more about that event, read 12 Takeaways from our Good Governance Seminar.

The Bunbury Legacy

In 1952, longtime Princeton resident Dean Mathey created The Bunbury Company as a private, grant-making foundation to further his charitable intentions. With a touch of humor, he named the foundation after Uncle Bunbury in Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Ernest. For years when an important project needed funding, and friends came seeking Dean’s support, he would routinely defer the decision until he could consult with his trusted advisor, Mr. Bunbury.

Mathey died in 1972, but his philanthropic legacy lived on through The Bunbury Company’s grantmaking. Over the next 40 years, the foundation awarded more than $75 million to central New Jersey non-profits working on important social, environmental and educational projects. In 2015, The Bunbury Company started a new chapter as a fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation. The Bunbury Fund at the Community Foundation continues original foundation’s legacy of dedication to supporting the nonprofit sector, now with a focus on capacity-building.

Recently funded Bunbury projects:

While PACF / Bunbury Advisors do not endorse or recommend any specific consultants, we encourage applicants to reach out to peer organizations to discuss their consultant outcome and experience. A list of recent projects that Bunbury has funded is available below.

The Bunbury Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation awarded more than $1.4 million in grants in 2021 to local nonprofits to help build their internal capacity. Read more

The Bunbury Fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation awarded a total of over $1 million in grants to more than 20 nonprofits in 2022. Read more

The Bunbury Fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation awarded a total of over $1 million in grants to more than 20 nonprofits in 2023. Read more

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

Information about the Bunbury Fund Sunset