Community Giving Overview

Areas of Focus

Housing

Safe and affordable housing is an essential building block of a strong and stable community, contributing to the well-being of area families and supporting a healthy local economy and environment. As part of our core mission, NEFCU is committed to increasing access to housing through lending programs that enable more people to own their homes. In addition, we support like-minded community organizations that work to improve access to housing throughout our communities, including the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS), Tim’s House and the Vermont Community Land Trust.

Children's Welfare

Supporting healthy children is perhaps the best investment a community can make. With an eye to our collective future, NEFCU partners with organizations that help local children and families flourish. These include the Vermont Children’s Hospital, Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation, the March of Dimes, and the Greater Burlington YMCA.

Nursing & Science Education

At NEFCU, we recognize that health care and the sciences play a vital role in the local community, contributing significantly to our economy and quality of life. NEFCU is committed to expanding educational opportunities in these critical disciplines by offering targeted scholarships to members who are pursuing careers in nursing or the hard sciences. NEFCU Nursing Scholarships of $3,000 are awarded annually to three members enrolled in undergraduate or graduate nursing programs. Likewise, we recognize four members annually who are pursuing degrees in the sciences with $3,000 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Scholarships.

Financial Literacy

NEFCU promotes financial literacy throughout our community. We sponsor a wide range of free seminars, both to our members and the public-at-large, on topics ranging from budgeting, to home ownership, to financing an education or planning for retirement. In addition, we offer programs for high school and college students to help ensure the young adults in our area have the skills and awareness to make smart financial decisions.

Submission Deadlines

March 31
June 30

September 30
December 31

Submitting Your Application

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Successful applicants will be notified within four to six weeks of the deadline.

For Mailed Applications - Completed applications with all required criteria should be mailed to the following address.

Marketing Department
New England Federal Credit Union
P.O. Box 527 Williston, VT 05495-0527

For Online Applications - Link to our application below.

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* All materials submitted in the application process become the property of NEFCU and will not be returned. Before submitting your application, please review the Community Giving criteria below.

Online Application - Apply Here

Community Giving Criteria

NEFCU's Charitable Giving and Sponsorship Policy describes the criteria by which all NEFCU-initiated, and unsolicited requests for support, are assessed. The Policy helps NEFCU to manage the responsibility of allocating a limited fund of financial support to the community in a manner that is fair and responsible to all concerned. Our giving program is budgeted annually and is subject to the availability of funds.

Proposals for support and contributions must meet the following criteria:

Organizations that are defined as nonprofit under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.
Organizations or events whose primary focus is on Vermont communities in Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange, Rutland, Windham, Windsor, and Washington Counties; and the following counties in New Hampshire: Cheshire, Grafton, Merrimack, and Sullivan.
Projects or programs that can be characterized as:
- Financial education, focusing on projects, programs and events designed to improve the financial well-being of individuals and communities, or
- Community based programs, focusing on projects and events that improve the quality of life, or benefit the social and cultural health of a community.

NEFCU will not provide funding for:

Religious organizations
Organizations or projects that discriminate against individuals based on race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual preference
Organizations or projects that are considered to be in direct competition with NEFCU
Political organizations or candidates
Individuals

Award Process and Level of Support

To ensure complete fairness and objectivity, qualified applications for charitable giving that meet the criteria outlined above will be entered into a blind drawing four times per year. Each quarter, NEFCU will grant a maximum of four awards, depending on the number of qualified applications received, in amounts not to exceed $625 per request. Requests for support may come from members, Credit Union management and staff, and the general public as specified above. All applicants MUST apply for support as described in the procedures below.

All grant requests that are not awarded in the quarter in which they are received will be destroyed, and will not be advanced into the next quarter or given further consideration. Applications will only be accepted for consideration once per year.

Application Procedures

The following procedures apply to all requests for financial or in-kind support. All requests must be submitted in writing and include the following:

A brief description of the requesting organization's purpose, the project's objectives and any relevant deadlines or event dates
A detailed description of the type and amount of support being requested
A description of the population(s) served by the organization, specifically those who will be served by the program or project for which funding is requested
A copy of the Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3) determination letter designating the requesting organization as a nonprofit, tax-exempt public charity

NEFCU Online