Investments

Our philanthropic investments bring people, ideas, and resources together to build opportunity for working class people across Connecticut. We focus on expanding access to economic opportunity and wealth-building, child care, housing, and responsive government.

We make investments that accelerate, replicate, and incubate real change with and for working class people. We aim to seed the infrastructure necessary for community-driven, systemic change.

Impact

Progress depends on more than programs — it requires strengthening the capacity, leadership, and sustainability of organizations rooted in and accountable to the people they serve.

We believe that when organizations and initiatives are well-resourced, connected to each other and the people they serve, and goal-oriented, they generate stronger, more inclusive outcomes for working class people in Connecticut. We pursue intentional partnerships across sectors and with organizations that share our commitment to advancing opportunity and responsiveness to working class people, including:

Responsive Government

We fund initiatives to make state government more responsive to and informed by working class people. This includes funding strategic capacity- building initiatives that support state agencies to be more grounded in data, research, policy, and communications that benefit working class people. We do not fund state agencies directly.

Community-Based Nonprofits

We invest in organizations that are rooted in neighborhoods and trusted by residents, understand the lived experiences of working class families, and are critical to effective, inclusive solutions.

Advocacy and Policy

We invest in advocacy and policy organizations that help translate experience into structural change, ensuring that working class people inform policy.

Research

We partner with mission-aligned data, research, and related institutions to complement our own internal research. We commission insights into issues impacting working class people and into the actions that can be taken to improve opportunity for working class people.

Mission Aligned Social Impact Ventures

We invest in early-stage and entrepreneurial ventures that offer innovative solutions that benefit working class people, that are ethical in their approach, and that do not profit off of working class people.

Philanthropic Collaborators

We work with other philanthropic institutions to align funding strategies, leverage greater resources, reduce duplication, and drive coordinated progress with and for working class people.

How we Fund

We typically invite organizations to apply for funding in the areas of economic opportunity, wealth-building, child care, housing, and responsive government. At times, we also issue requests for proposals for targeted funding and/or consulting opportunities.

The Connecticut Project is not currently accepting unsolicited proposals. As an organization committed to learning and identifying potential new partners,however, we welcome the opportunity to discover impact-aligned efforts that meet the criteria outlined below. To introduce your work to us, complete the form below!

Mission Alignment:

Proposed efforts must be in support of our mission to bring together people, ideas, and resources to build opportunity for working class people in Connecticut.

Geographic and Issue Focus:

Proposed efforts must be focused in Connecticut and advance outcomes in at least one of our issue areas: economic opportunity, wealth-building, child care, housing, or responsive government.

Legal Status:

Be a: 501c(3), tax-exempt, nonprofit organization or a fiscally-sponsored project; an educational institution; a public benefit corporation; or a mission-aligned consulting or for-profit venture.

Financial Stability:

Organizations must be financially stable, demonstrating they are in a financial position to carry out the work we partner on. An organizational budget, including income and expenses, is a requirement for funding. Organizations must also disclose any active or pending litigation.