The Donald C. and Laura M. Harrison Family Foundation

The Foundation was established in 2006 by Donald and Laura Harrison and their children in Cincinnati, Ohio. Laura Harrison is an active community volunteer involved in a broad group of activities. Dr. Harrison is a cardiologist, administrator, and business entrepreneur.

They have creatively funded programs and facilities at their respective colleges and have participated in supporting a number of local charitable organizations with educational missions for the underprivileged.

Mission of the Harrison Foundation

The Foundation seeks to improve opportunities and outcomes primarily for underprivileged students by funding educational scholarships, programs, and research, with a particular emphasis on seeding and supporting new programs.

Purpose of the Foundation

The Foundation’s primary initiative is to support the launch of new and innovative educational programs for primary, secondary, and adult education. Another emphasis is focused on funding programs for underprivileged children, youth, adults, and families, which will empower them to become productive and contributing citizens. Programs that project sustainability after two years of funding by the Foundation and programs that have additional matching fund opportunity will receive higher priorities.

Policies & Restrictions

Programs to be funded will be located primarily in the Greater Cincinnati region (Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren counties in Ohio; Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties in Kentucky; and Dearborn County in Indiana.). Grant requests from other regions will be considered on a limited and selective basis.

• Applicants must have an IRS determination as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

• The Foundation has a preference for funding smaller, community-based organizations.

• Funding may be provided for capital items and operating expenses but not for endowment or capital campaigns.

• No grants will be made to religious organizations for religious purposes. Rather, grants will be considered to churches, schools or other faith-based organizations for community-focused programs and services.

• The Foundation usually prefers to participate along with other donors in the support of a specific project.

• Grants may be awarded for consecutive years, but a new proposal is generally required for the subsequent year. Initially grant sizes will be in a range of $5,000 to $15,000 per year.

• A representative of the Foundation may visit or meet with the applicant organization to discuss the applicant’s programs and needs.

If you believe that your organization meets these qualifications, complete and submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) through our online system, Foundant. New to our system? See our hints section below for more information.

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

Grants Evaluation

The Harrison Foundation requires an evaluation to be completed in our on-line system at the end of the grant period.  It will report on project outcomes, comparing them to the outcome projections listed in the application. Applicants will receive an email reminder two weeks prior to the evaluation due date. 

Hints

Need help setting up a profile on our new online system? Please refer to the following help documents, provided by our vendor, Foundant:

Applicant Tutorial
Please note you also can download this as a Microsoft Word document from this website by clicking on the blue "Download Button" at the top right side of the page.

Video Tutorial viewable on YouTube