The Pinkerton Foundation believe that all young people have the capacity to live fulfilling, productive lives and make positive contributions to their communities.

We believe that young people in underserved neighborhoods should have the same kinds of opportunities to develop their potential that are available to children in better circumstances.

As a result, we support several programs for court-involved youth that build skills, a sense of responsibility, and positive social networks.

We favor well-run programs that include engaging activities, high expectations for the participants, and opportunities for young people to serve, learn and lead. We find that the best programs grow out of organizations that have a clear mission, reasonable goals, accountable leadership and caring, well-trained staffs. 

We have a strong and growing interest in programs that engage young people in high-quality science, technology, engineering and math activities.  We favor programs that offer hands-on learning, creative role models and career exploration.

All applicants must submit a brief letter of inquiry describing the grantee organization and the proposed project through our Grant Portal.  You will be asked to upload an organization budget, program budget and list of board members. Letters of inquiry are welcome at any time.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees has two grantmaking meetings a year, in May and December. Grant decisions are announced immediately after those meetings.

Restrictions:

Grants are awarded only to nonprofit public charitable organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation does not make grants to individuals or provide emergency assistance, nor do we support medical research, the direct provision of health care or religious education. We rarely make grants to support conferences, publications or media.

On rare occasions, we will make grants for building renovations or other capital projects—but only to grantee organizations we know well and then only for projects that will directly improve or expand programs we support.

Most grants are for a period of one year. We also make a number of two- or three-year grants, but those must be reviewed and confirmed by the board on an annual basis. After three years, most organizations will be ineligible to receive additional grants for at least a three-year period.