4-CT1

4-CT is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit, launched on 4/1/20 at the suggestion of Governor Lamont (press release HERE). 4-CT works closely with State Government and Connecticut’s leading philanthropic families, foundations and corporations to coordinate the statewide philanthropic response to COVID-19, focusing on gaps the State and Federal authorities are not well positioned to address. We also develop solutions that enable large amounts of grant funding to be quickly deployed to reach vulnerable populations in Connecticut who are being disproportionately harmed by COVID-19.

To date, 4-CT has created projects and made grants that address food insecurity, eLearning access and content, volunteer matching, PPE for community health centers and hospitals serving low income communities, childcare for healthcare workers, tax preparation assistance for low income families and direct financial assistance for exceptionally vulnerable groups (for a complete list of our projects and grants, visit 4-CT.org). We are doing this in active collaboration with the Fairfield County, New Haven and Hartford Community Foundations and have received meaningful pro bono support from McKinsey, Accenture, the Yale School Of Management and several other large corporations.  

The 4-CT Statewide COVID-19 Relief Fund is administered by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (HFPG serves as the charitable recipient as well as the donor of record for 4-CT grants), and 100% of donations made to our Statewide Fund will be passed through to charity (4-CT’s operational costs are funded separately). To date, 4-CT has made and advised almost $8M in grants for COVID-specific relief from the nearly $18M in pledges and donations we have received.

 We have developed a rigorous, rapid, open and equitable process for designing, inviting and evaluating potential projects and grant opportunities. Our current funding parameters include: COVID-specific need, vulnerable populations with disproportional COVID impact, statewide reach (>50% of impacted population) and missed by Federal/State programs. In addition, priority is given for the lower tiers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Assisted by McKinsey & Company, we have developed a proprietary assessment of the COVID-19 needs and aid landscape in Connecticut and are now applying our grants according to this conceptual framework. We also plan to conduct longitudinal research on COVID-19’s ongoing impact on Connecticut’s most vulnerable groups. Our team of project managers and analysts consider the fit, reach, impact, potential overlap or duplication with existing or planned State and Federal efforts, opportunities for leverage, cost, timing, feasibility as well as the executional risk for every project. We also establish metrics for determining and evaluating the project’s impact downstream. When possible, we consult with relevant national and local experts as well as experienced funders to apply best in class knowledge to our work.

Our board of directors approves all 4-CT grants. Our board members and observers include the Chair of the Governor’s Workforce Council, the CEOs of the 3 largest community foundations in Connecticut, and the Executive Directors of two leading nonprofits serving the immigrant community and low-income, family-based early childhood learning providers in Connecticut.  4-CT is staffed by a diverse and growing mix of volunteers and paid staff, many of whom have taken sabbaticals from their regular jobs in order to lend a hand and help the State of CT in this time of urgent need. Our co-founders, Don Kendall and Ted Yang, are both successful serial entrepreneurs with a passion for doing good things in their backyard. Our funders include over a thousand individual donors from across the State as well as some of Connecticut’s leading corporations, foundations and family-based philanthropies.