About Our Organization

The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust

The Memorial Trust strategically focuses funding within core geographic regions of the United States and within specific program areas (prioritized below and visually depicted here) while responding to the ever-changing needs of targeted populations, especially to the needs of youth and people who are disadvantaged economically, emotionally, or physically.

Primary Focus Area:  Dating back to the inception of the Trust in 1973, the primary and overarching grant making priority has been and continues to be programs that focus on education.

  • Education: Targets funds to organizations that provide educational opportunities or academic assistance to individuals who demonstrate an intellectual aptitude and a financial need. Examples include scholarships, fellowships, academic tutoring or counseling, literacy, and journalism.

Secondary Focus Areas:  Secondarily, the Trust considers proposals within the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Initiatives, and Youth Programs. The Trustee’s objective is to extend the primary educational focus by providing funding support within these additional program areas.

  • Arts and Culture: Offers grants that promote arts education and appreciation, particularly for young adults, via the development of educational curriculum and professional instruction including visiting artists and performance support for targeted populations.
  • Community Initiatives: Provides funding for programs or services that directly improve the quality of life within the geographic focus areas that we serve. Examples include support for libraries, food pantries and shelters, and neighborhood revitalization. Generally, the Trust does not seek proposals for health care initiatives or animal welfare programs.
  • Youth Programs: Offers grants that provide character education or enrichment opportunities via mentoring or after-school programming..

Tertiary Focus Areas:  As a third priority, the Trust does consider proposals in the areas of Disabilities and Universal Access, Environmental, and Historic Preservation. As these are not core focus areas, funding is often limited. Priority will be given to proposals with an educational focus.

  • Disabilities and Universal Access: Offers grants to organizations in complying with ADA requirements within their facilities (e.g. elevator, handrails, automatic doors, and ramps) or offering services targeted for individuals with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
  • Environmental: Provides funds for organizations that strive to protect strategic parcels of land and bodies of water as well as programs that educate the general public on key environmental issues such as conservation and water management.
  • Historic Preservation: Provides funding for organizations that preserve historical artifacts (e.g. sites, structures, objects) and accounts (e.g. events), and educate the greater community on their significance. Examples include museums, historical societies and educational programming.

Geographic Focus:  The majority of the Memorial Trust's grant funding is focused within three core geographic regions (i.e. Central New York, Northern Nevada, and New Jersey). While there is not a geographic restriction, the Trustees prefer to be directly engaged and have oversight of the grants that are made.

Additionally, it is the Memorial Trust’s general policy to give preference to proposals seeking funds for new or enhanced programs, one-time, short-term grants to sustain a program until funding is stabilized, matching grants used to encourage the participation of other donors, and “last dollars” towards a capital campaign.

Finally, the Memorial Trust will not accept proposals from individuals or for-profit organizations. The Memorial Trust does not encourage proposals from religious organizations, government agencies, or proposals for endowments, contingency funding, or debt reduction. There are no minimums or maximum grant amounts; however, most grants range from $10,000 to $20,000. First-time grants to organizations typically range from $5,000 to $10,000.

For additional information regarding the Memorial Trust's past grants, please refer to our Annual Reports as well as Foundation Maps.

Trustees