FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
GENERAL
- What do we need to know to develop a competitive proposal?
First and most importantly, read the guidelines and the FAQ sections on this website carefully for the program(s) in which you are interested. Requests seeking support for initiatives and/or institutions that do not fall within the stated guidelines will not qualify in the national competition for funds.
- Do you have application deadlines before your Trustees' meetings?
No. The Foundations accept proposals throughout the year. There are no deadlines. Grant proposals are received, date stamped and evaluated. Our Trustees meet three times per year. At each meeting, they are presented with a competitive pool of grant candidates for each program that have been evaluated fully, visited by the staff and fall within budgetary limitations. Although grant applications may be submitted at any time, the process of moving from proposal submission to grant approval takes time. Therefore, it is unlikely that requests for projects requiring immediate or near-term funding could be met . For example in some programs the average length of time might be one year.
- Do the Foundations fund overhead/indirect costs?
Across all program areas and particularly in the Health Care and Secondary Education programs, our Trustees understand that “overhead” and/or “indirect costs” may be unavoidable for some institutions. While they prefer not to fund these costs, Trustees understand that in some cases it may be necessary. Therefore, institutions are welcome to include modest overhead in proposals; however, such a proposal may be at a competitive disadvantage to ones that do not seek indirect costs. Often, institutions will choose to make the estimated value of the overhead a part of the institution's contribution to the proposed project.
- Do Foundations' staff members make site visits?
Yes. Grant requests are very rarely presented to Trustees without someone from the staff making a site visit beforehand. During the site visit, staff are completing the final phase of evaluation.
- Is it important for someone to visit the Foundations before requesting a grant?
No. You are welcome to visit, but in fairness to all, doing so will not have any bearing on the decision process in evaluating grant requests. As noted above, someone from the Foundations will visit as a final step in the evaluation process.
- Do the Foundations' fund endowments?
It is possible to receive a grant for endowment within the Private Higher Education and Religion programs. It is unlikely that a request for endowment would prove competitive in the Health Care, Public Television and Secondary Education programs.
- If a university receives a grant in the Private Higher Education program, must it wait four years to apply for a grant in Health Care, Secondary Education, or Religion programs?
No. These programs are independent and grants under one program do not preclude or limit grants in another. Therefore, it is possible, but unlikely, that a qualified private university could receive grants in higher education, secondary education, religion and health care in the same year.
- Do the Foundations make grants for projects lasting more than one year? Is your funding limited to one-year projects?
The Foundations make grants for projects lasting more than a year. However, with the exception of Secondary Education, we do not normally make multiple grants in successive years to the same organization. We do not require that all grant money for a project be utilized in one year. Therefore, a single grant might fund a project over several years.
- Do the Foundations make scholarship grants to individuals for further education?
No. The Foundations have a long-standing policy of making grants only to organizations and not to individuals.
- How can I find other foundations which offer support to individuals or other programs?
The Foundation Center in New York provides information about foundation and corporate grantmaking sources. The Center's web page is http://fdncenter.org. Or you can write to: The Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue , New York , NY 10003 .
- Do you give grants to overseas institutions?
No. Grants are given only to institutions in the United States and its possessions. Grant money to U.S. institutions should be spent within the United States.
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