The Foundation provides its support mainly through financial grants. Some limited technical assistance in the form of consulting services to the board, staff and volunteers of recipient organizations is available. The technical assistance is provided to assist the recipient group in organizational management and strategic planning.
The Foundation makes grants only to nonprofit organizations that have been determined by the IRS to be charitable, scientific or educational and have been recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code to be tax exempt and not a private foundation.
Nonprofit organizations that are located or operate within the state of Michigan are a priority of the Foundation. The Foundation does not make grants to private individuals nor does it buy tables, advertising for fund raising events, or generally provide scholarship support. Grants may not be used for political purposes.
The Foundation does have an application form but will accept the standard form of the Council of Michigan Foundations (download PDF or download MS-Word version) or an application that follows the guidelines listed below. Proposals should be brief and submitted by the 10th of January, April, July and October. A phone call or concept letter can help determine if a project may fit the program areas of the Foundation. This should include:
- Brief description of basic need and program specific objectives
- Amount requested
- Brief history of the organization submitting the request
The following items should be included with a grant request:
- Cover letter, including signatures
- Specific amount requested
- Qualifications
- Goals and Objectives of the project
- Time line for implementation
- Evaluation Plan
- Line item budget
- Latest financial statements
- List of other funding sources
- Employer ID number
Grant Review Process
As a general policy, meetings and site visits are arranged only if there is no previous relationship with the Foundation or the type or size of the request requires it before final determinations are made.
With limited resources and large numbers of proposals, the Foundation is able to fund a limited number of worthwhile requests. Those same constraints limit the size of grants and may limit the number of years support can be given to any one organization.
This page last updated on 3/25/2010.
