FAQs

Please review the various grant opportunity areas; each grant focus has a unique set of priorities, restrictions and eligibility criteria reflective of our mission.  

The new operating cycle has more stringent qualifications. By completing the eligibility questionnaire, you able to determine if your request can be considered before spending time and effort on the LOI process.

“Board funded” means your organization has previously submitted an application that was considered and received funding from the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.  If you are unsure of your organization’s history with the Foundation, please access the online grants management system.  There is a login box at the bottom of each grant opportunity page; or you may click here.

We will consider multi-year grants on an opportunity by opportunity basis within our rural initiatives or special projects. We no longer consider multi-year operating grants.

Yes, partial funding happens quite often. Many times, due to the volume of requests received, we are unable to fully fund projects under consideration.

We very rarely make grants for the entire project budget.

A good proposal not only shares data but the stories that represent the work of your organization and those you serve. Be sure to follow instructions and include all requested information. Please proofread your request – it may also be helpful to have someone not so close to the work read your request in case certain jargon or acronyms are not as clear to others.

The operating grants cycle is the only opportunity that begins with the LOI process. If your LOI is not moved forward, you are welcome to resubmit for the next cycle.

Only one grant can be awarded within a calendar year. There are various sit-out periods across our grant opportunities. Please refer to the information page for each type of grant. In brief explanation, operating grants require a year off, special projects two years off and rural projects do not have a time off period.

Contact Information will not be provided by the Foundation. If an organization’s staff or board members have a relationship with a Foundation trustee, they are welcome to use those avenues to contact them.

A site visit is an in-person meeting between your organization and the Foundation, generally taking place at the organization or the site of the project. It involves organization leadership and a staff member from the Foundation. While there is no “right” number of people, we find it is not necessary to have a large number of people to represent the organization. It is better to have fewer people who are closely connected to the request. It’s anticipated that a site visit with take approximately an hour. This is a very informal process that helps us learn about the organization and its work. No advance preparation is needed.

As often as we can, we like to visit organizations under consideration for a grant award, but it is not always possible.

Do not submit your final report until all grant funds have been expended. Please contact your program officer or our grants manager to discuss an extension.