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The J. Walton Bissell Foundation is a private foundation providing funding to non-profit organizations that advance change for individuals and families, primarily in Hartford.  

We who are privileged to be servants of J. Walton Bissell’s mission are led by the humility which he exemplified, and the dedication to inclusion, to which he was committed.

We are determined to use the resources Mr. Bissell gave in ways that match his stand.

We are focused on the aspirations of others who have gone unseen and excluded. We are at others’ disposal.

We are incorporating what our partners are teaching. You will find new designs announced in the course of 2026, in advance of our Term II 2026 application and grantmaking.

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KEY INFORMATION ABOUT 2026

PRIORITIES AND DATES

Kindly, we ask you to read each paragraph below.

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WE BUILT A NEW APPLICATION PORTAL IN JUNE OF 2025 

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU:

I.        Your Prior Submissions

II.      Applying in 2026

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I.     Many of you have accessed, referenced, and pasted responses from prior applications submitted by your agency.  All of your agencies’ applications – from as far back as 2016 – remain in the former portal at this time. [The vendor has extended the old portal's availability for agencies seeking to access historic submissions. The expiration date is still not announced; they promise 60 days notice. Watch this space.]

You may sign into the former “old” portal here in order to download your applications. Some find this institutional history meaningful to preserve. If previous applications you seek are not visible, it means your agency’s sign-in credentials were changed at some point. Send us word if you want previous applications transferred to your portal.

II.     In the Bissell Foundation's first application Term of 2026, our funding attention will be focused on partners to whom we gave grants in the three most recent years. Thus, you may be eligible to apply for funding from the Bissell Foundation if you received funds in one or two of these years:

2023, 2024, and 2025

The red link below first invites you to establish a new grant portal for your organization. This portal is the access point for the Term I 2026 application form. We take this time to remind you that a longstanding policy of the Bissell Foundation precludes making a grant in a fourth [4th] consecutive year. If your have received funding in each of the last three years (2023, 2024, and 2025), you are not eligible for funding in 2025. Please ask us if you are unsure. If you received funding in December of 2025, you are not eligible to apply in February of 2026.

Click here to access to the new portal.

[Note: The application form will be published no later than 1/16/26. It is our goal to publish it ahead of this date. Please watch this space.]

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TWO [2] TERMS OF GRANTMAKING IN 2026

APPLICATION DEADLINE 1 of 2:

February 28,  with a grace period through March 5 

                         Decision-making about applications will occur by May 31

APPLICATION DEADLINE 2 of 2:

August 31,  with a grace period through September 4

                    Decision-making about applications will occur by December 10

WE URGE YOU TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE VIDEO TUTORIAL ON THIS WEBSITE BEFORE

BEGINNING YOUR GRANT APPLICATIONS. IT WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FORM.