Felicia Rose Grant Program

Felicia Rose

Mission

To support animal welfare nonprofits that work to:

  • strengthen the human-animal bond
  • promote respect for and kindness toward animals
  • help animals in need through sheltering, adoption, education, and medical care

About Felicia

Felicia Rose, an American Staffordshire Terrier, was a guest of MSPCA-Angell in 2015 and soon thereafter found her forever home. She has since thrived, becoming an emotional support animal, as well as a therapy and service dog. Trained by her owner, she was certified through Pet Partners.

This sweet pup has volunteered with Tufts University’s Paws for People. She loves playing at the dog park, enjoying KONGs full of peanut butter, and being the center of attention.

Funding

The Felicia Rose Grant Program (FRGP) expects to award $240,000 each year through quarterly grant cycles. At least three grant winners will typically be selected each quarter to share in $60,000 in grant funding for general operating expenses. Awarded grants of $10,000, $20,000, or $30,000 each will be payable over two years.

Eligibility

FRGP supports 501(c)(3) organizations that focus on animal welfare. Applicants should be headquartered within and primarily serve Massachusetts communities from Worcester to Boston, or in Southern New Hampshire or northern Rhode Island.

This program will NOT generally consider requests for:

  • Medical research
  • Relatively new entities
  • Political, legislative, or lobbying organizations
  • Individuals or debt reduction, no matter how worthy
  • Organizations that do not regularly file IRS Form 990
  • Very large organizations already supported by robust endowments
  • Organizations that are not classified as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Code
  • National or regional organizations, or local branches thereof that do not have an EIN separate from that of the larger entity
  • Organizations that discriminate based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, etc.
  • Organizations whose primary activity is providing foster homes for animals, and other organizations that are not conducive to site visits

Prior grant recipients are eligible to apply for an additional grant if:

  • All previous grants to that organization from FRGP or other Cummings Foundation programs have been fully disbursed and at least one year has passed since the final installment (i.e., There is a gap in funding of at least one year.)
  • All requirements stipulated in the prior grant agreement (e.g., impact report submissions) have been fulfilled by the recipient organization

 

Cummings Foundation reserves the right to make exceptions to the above eligibility requirements or to change them with or without notice.

Felicia Rose Grant Program Logo

Application Process and Grantee Requirements

Applications open on the first business day of each calendar quarter and remain open for the entirety of that calendar month. The application process begins with an eligibility quiz to ensure applicants meet the requirements for funding. Upon successful completion of the eligibility quiz, applicants will be directed to the full application. Site visits will typically be conducted as part of the evaluation process; however, this is at FRGP’s discretion.

FRGP is very interested in learning about the activities being supported by its grant funding. Accordingly, it typically conducts one site visit during each year of a grant term and asks each grant recipient to complete an annual impact report. The report is required for an organization to be eligible for future installments of current grants as well as future new grants.

Application Timeline*

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Application opens January 1 April 1 July 1 October 1
Applications due Jan. 31 at noon Apr. 30 at noon July 31 at noon Oct. 31 at noon
Grant winners notified March 1 June 1 September 1 December 1
Installments disbursed March 15 June 15 September 15 December 15

*If a date falls on a weekend or holiday, the corresponding deadline will be effective the next business day.

Nonprofits are strongly encouraged to plan ahead and submit well before the deadline, as extensions will not be granted. If declined, a nonprofit may submit an additional application during the same grant cycle the following year, or later.


Important notices about funding requests are sent via email. To decrease the likelihood of missing such emails, applicants are encouraged to check their spam folders regularly for emails from administrator@grantinterface.com or an @cummings.com address.

How to Apply

All applications begin with a simple letter of inquiry, accepted via an online portal only.