Grantmaking
Since 1998, the Hedge Funds Care Family has distributed over $15,000,000 to charities worldwide through a competitive grant process. Funds are raised through annual Open Your Heart to the Children benefits in chapter cities. Grants are awarded to community-based nonprofit organizations that focus on the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.
There are several factors that contribute to the high incidence of child abuse and maltreatment in this country today. Substance abuse, mental illness, domestic violence, prior victimization, and poverty (linked with underemployment or lack of access to employment) are some of the factors that cause family strain and can put children at risk. Hedge Funds Care is committed to funding activities that strengthen vulnerable families, build community resources for at risk families, preserve the integrity of the family without jeopardizing child safety, enhance permanency planning, improve foster care and adoption, and provide clinical treatment to victims as well as support to non-offending family members. Hedge Funds Care is also committed to enhancing general awareness within the community and increasing the awareness of children to the problem of abuse in order to facilitate disclosure and break the cycle. A select number of innovative training and research projects will be considered. Hedge Funds Care grants are awarded in the following areas:
- Prevention services to at-risk children and families
- Treatment for children who have been physically or sexually abused
- Support services to non-offending family members of children who have been abused
- Primary prevention through training to enhance awareness and understanding of abuse and neglect for children, parents and community members
- Training for community members such as teachers, social workers, hospital/medical staff, lawyers, judges, and religious leaders on recognition of abuse and reporting of abuse
- Research on best practices in child welfare
- Legal advocacy to children in crisis
Grantmaking Process
In each chapter city, Hedge Funds Care establishes a partnership with a child welfare specialist. The academic partners fulfill two important roles:
- Guide us through the Grant Selection process, ensuring that grant recipients provide high quality, best practice services in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.
- Provide oversight and evaluation of Hedge Funds Care funded programs.
Hedge Funds Care uses a standard “Request for Proposal” procedure. Following the Open Your Heart to Children benefit in each city, an RFP is released to organizations in and around that chapter city. Proposals are reviewed and site visits are scheduled with potential grantees. The grant selection committee, with the guidance of the academic consultant, makes final decisions and grants are awarded. Proposals will be reviewed by a Grant Selection Committee, which will include Hedge Funds Care staff, board members and the academic consultant for the city. Proposal evaluation may include a site visit, the dates of which are posted on the website. Please be sure that someone from the program will be available to meet with us. Current grantees will be exempt from site visits. Applicants will be notified of their grant status within a month of the site visits. Funded agencies will work with the academic consultant on refining and reviewing expected outcomes, establishing a reporting procedure, and final evaluation of outcomes.