funding and partnership
Start With a Conversation
Our partnerships do not begin with paperwork. We want to learn about your challenges, the community you serve, what you see on the ground, and where you believe additional resources could make a meaningful difference.
Listening
— comes first —
Nonprofit leaders bring expertise that comes from doing the work every day. We respect that expertise.
Our process is designed to create space for honest conversations about opportunities, challenges, capacity, and what meaningful support might actually look like. Sometimes that leads to funding and other times a connection, new idea, or different path forward. Either way, we believe a thoughtful conversation is a better place to begin than an unnecessarily complicated process.
What We Look For
Strong Partnerships
— mutual trust, shared purpose—
We look for organizations and opportunities with strong alignment to our focus areas and a clear understanding of the people and communities they serve.
Mutual Understanding
We listen to one another, value different perspectives, and seek to understand community needs.
Mutual Respect
We recognize each other’s expertise, responsibilities, and contributions to the partnership.
Open Communication
We encourage honest conversations about opportunities, challenges, and expectations.
Collaboration
We work together and welcome connections that can strengthen our communities.
Shared Purpose
We bring different strengths and resources together around meaningful community goals.
Learning Together
We celebrate progress, learn from challenges, and look for ways to improve together.
What we
— fund —
We invest in organizations, collaborations, and community solutions that expand access to shelter, nutritious food, essential healthcare, and public outdoor spaces. Within these areas, we are particularly interested in opportunities where thoughtful investment can remove barriers, strengthen organizational capacity, improve infrastructure, or help an effective solution reach more people.
Shelter
A foundation for stability.
We invest in organizations and solutions that help individuals and families access safe, stable shelter and housing.
Food
Reliable access to nourishment.
We support organizations making nutritious food available and accessible for people throughout our community.
Healthcare
Better access to essential care.
We invest in solutions that help remove barriers to essential healthcare services for all ages within the community.
Outdoor Access
Connecting with the outdoors.
We support projects that preserve, improve, and expand public access to open spaces, parks, trails, and natural places.
What we
— don't fund —
- We do not provide grants to individuals.
- We do not provide loans.
- We do not fund scholarships.
- We do not provide grants to organizations or projects outside of Greenville County, SC and McDowell County, NC.
- We do not support public or government agencies
- We do not support programs outside the primary focus found in our mission statement.
- We do not provide grants for projects more than once per year.
Our Process
A Simpler Path
— to partnership —
1. Start a Conversation
Tell us about your organization, the challenge you are working to solve, and the opportunity you see.
2. Explore Alignment
Together, we determine whether the opportunity aligns with our focus areas and current priorities.
3. Develop the Request
When there is strong alignment, we will help clarify the information needed for consideration.
4. Make the Investment
Funding decisions are made with attention to the organization, the opportunity, and the potential for meaningful impact.
5. Learn Together
Partnership does not end when funding begins. We want to learn what worked, what changed, and what the community may need next.
Before submitting a grant application:
Prospective applicants should contact Foundation Director Andrew Ross at: aross@hathawayfamilyfoundation.org to briefly discuss their organization, proposed request, and alignment with the Foundation’s current funding priorities.
This conversation is intended to help applicants determine whether a request is a strong fit before investing time in the application process. It also provides an opportunity to ask questions, receive guidance, and better understand the Foundation’s areas of interest. If we do not believe a proposed request is well aligned with our current priorities, we will be transparent about that as well.
The Hathaway Family Foundation reviews grant requests on a rolling basis throughout the year. Applications received by the end of each month will generally be considered at the following month’s trustee meeting.
NOTE:
If you are a recent recipient of funding from the foundation, you are eligible to receive funding only once per calendar year.