Looking Back at 2022 and Ahead to 2023!
This past year has been pivotal for The Bolger Foundation. New trustees brought fresh energy and perspective to the board and foundation. Our evolution from a small family-run foundation to a family-plus organization has brought The Bolger Foundation into the 21st century — and onto the internet as TheBolgerFoundation.org, complete with online application form and blog.
Furthermore, our clearly defined focus and direction enabled The Bolger Foundation to make a significant charitable impact in 2022. Thanks to our new website and its online application, this year The Bolger Foundation has given 15 (501)(c)(3) nonprofit organizations more than $1 million dollars, much of it in the form of challenge grants.
Our online application is proving to be a game changer for The Bolger Foundation. It has streamlined our process, making it easier for prospective grant recipients to get the information they need about how to apply as well as for board members to share and review applications.
The Bolger Foundation website and its online application capability put us ahead of the industry curve, at the leading edge. We are early adopters of this technology in the foundation space. Only 1 in 10 US foundations have their own website, while only a fraction of those websites include an online application and/or blog.
Our website, blog, and online application functionality set us apart from other foundations, 90% of which have not yet established a dedicated online presence. (Find out why your foundation needs a website.) We are truly grateful to those who have helped The Bolger Foundation to update, modernize, and grow as a philanthropic entity.
We believe that that David F. Bolger, who founded The Bolger Foundation in 1964, would be both proud of and amazed by these changes. He probably would have said, “No one will ever apply online”; he likewise predicted that faxes would never get business done. Yet as we all know, faxes are now passé, and email is how business gets done!
The Bolger Foundation is proud to have supported and challenged our 15 grant recipients. Comprising a wide array of different missions, these nonprofits have enabled the foundation to broaden its scope. The tangible results of 2022’s donations will be seen and felt for years to come.
It is our sincere hope that their challenges inspire others to likewise give to these worthwhile organizations, which do so much good within their communities. Check out our Spring 2022 and Fall 2022 grant recipients. We’ll keep you posted on the progress of their projects! (If you’re interested in applying, our Grant Request Guidelines and FAQs will tell you how and when to do so.)
During the year ahead, we plan to continue expanding The Bolger Foundation’s outreach. We look forward to meeting a new group of grant applicants in 2023 as well as to watching our 2022 recipients meet their challenges and utilize their funding. Meanwhile, Happy Holidays to you and your family from all of us at The Bolger Foundation, with best wishes for the New Year!
The Bolger Foundation accepts grant applications during two periods per year: November 1-February 1 for Spring grant requests and June 1-September 1 for Fall grant requests. For details, please refer to our Grant Request Guidelines and FAQs.
JT Bolger is the younger of David F. Bolger’s two sons and serves as president of The Bolger Foundation.
