Vermont Community Foundation Announces New Supporting Organization
The Vermont Community Foundation has announced that the Curtis Fund has become a supporting organization of the Foundation. As a result, after 108 years as a private foundation, the Curtis Fund is now a public charity.
Emma Eliza Curtis had no children of her own, but she held the belief that education could change the course of a person’s life. When she died in Burlington in 1910, she left $120,000 in trust to provide financial assistance to young Vermont men and women to pursue a postsecondary education. Since then, the Curtis Fund has grown that bequest to more than $30 million. Mrs. Curtis’s legacy continues in the lives of over 10,000 Vermonters who have realized their dreams of a better future.
“Being part of the Foundation’s family of funds will allow us to stay laser-focused on our mission, which is to provide educational scholarships to Vermont students pursuing a postsecondary education,” said Curtis Fund President and Board Chair Joseph Boutin. "We will now be able to be a part of a community of funders in educational grantmaking, dedicated to helping every Vermonter access the education he or she needs, regardless of family background, income level, or birthplace—breaking the poverty cycle and building better lives.”
A supporting organization offers donors an effective alternative to a private foundation. The Community Foundation staff provides a supporting organization with a wide range of administrative and programmatic support: from managing proposal processes to compliance reporting to helping develop grantmaking strategies. This allows the organization to focus directly on the pursuit of their philanthropic impact.
“Closing the opportunity gap in Vermont means ensuring that all Vermonters have access to the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the 21st century, regardless of who they are or where they were born,” said Vermont Community Foundation President Dan Smith. “We are humbled by the partnership with the Curtis Fund and committed to working to see Emma Curtis’s legacy fulfilled.”