The Norwin S. and Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation is a general purpose charitable foundation, which makes grants in the fields of arts and humanities, education, environment, health, human services, and public/ society benefit in New Hampshire.

Founders

Norwin S. Bean was born in Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...

 in 1873. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 with a degree in electrical engineering

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

. Although an EE by degree, he spent most of his professional career in the banking industry. He was the Treasurer and Chief Executive Officer of Manchester Savings Bank for twenty-five years. He was also a prominent civic and business leader, serving as a director of Amoskeag Industries, the Manchester Gas Company, New Hampshire Insurance Company and the Public Service Company of New Hampshire. The charities he supported during his lifetime included the Manchester Community Chest, Family Service Society, the Institute of Arts and Science, and the Currier Gallery

Currier Museum of Art

The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, O'Keeffe, Calder, Scheier and Goldsmith, John Singer Sargent,...

.

Elizabeth N. Bean was born in 1874 in Amherst, New Hampshire

Amherst, New Hampshire

Amherst is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,201 at the 2010 census. Amherst is home to Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary, Hodgman State Forest, the Joe English Reservation and Baboosic Lake....

. She was a member of the Amherst Congregational Church and active in many charitable organizations, including the Amherst Visiting Nurse Association and the Amherst Historical Society.

Funding

Originally, the foundation was established under the will of Norwin, who died in 1957, since the Beans had no children. There was a provision in the trust that provided a life estate for Mrs. Bean. However, during her remaining years, Elizabeth added substantially to the coffers of the trust. At the time of its creation, the Bean Foundation had assets of just under $4 million. The foundation then became active when Elizabeth died in 1967.

The foundation makes grants for about $700K per year, making it the 9th highest of the top giving foundations in New Hampshire.

Trustees

All decisions on grant applications are made by the foundation's five-member board of trustees. Three of these are term trustees, who are appointed by the Judge of Probate for a three-year term. In addition, there are two senior trustees, each with a 15-year term. The board of trustees has a policy that new trustees may not vote until their second year of their term. This is to ensure that before voting, they are familiar with the grant-making practices and policies.

Administration

The Bean Foundation is located at 40 Stark Street in Manchester, NH 03101. The Grant Manager can be reached by phone at 603-493-7257, or by email at Kcook@beanfoundation.org. Grant criteria and the grant application can be found at www.beanfoundation.org.

Communities served

The Beans maintained homes in both Manchester and Amherst, and the two communities benefit today from the charitable foundation they created. Approximately 90% of each year's grants are allocated for Manchester organizations, and 10% on Amherst organizations. This distribution was determined based on the population of each.