Grant Making Guidelines

• The majority of the Foundation's grantmaking is focused in Vermont and the northeastern United States, although, occasionally, grants may be made in other regions of the country and/or abroad.
• All applicants must have tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service.
• Grants may range from a few thousand dollars up to $25,000. In unique circumstances, the Foundation does consider a more significant grant for a program having a major impact in one or more of its areas of interest.
• Of particular interest to the Foundation are organizations that promote partnerships and collaborative efforts among multiple groups and organizations.
• The Foundation encourages pilot initiatives that test new program models.
• Priority will be given to requests that show specific plans for funding beyond the present.
• The applicant must have an active board of directors with policy-making authority. The board should demonstrate competence in the sound financial management of the organization.

• Applications are accepted throughout the year. Upon arrival, grant applications are reviewed for completeness by the Foundation's staff and then forwarded to the Foundation's Directors prior to the start of their quarterly board meetings.
• After evaluating an application, the Board will choose to: decline, approve, request additional information, schedule a site visit, or invite the applicant in for an interview.
• Applicants, if declined, may not reapply for at least one year from the date of the application unless the nature or circumstances surrounding the request changes significantly. The subsequent application should describe these changes in full.

• The Foundation generally will not provide grants to the following: organizations not determined to be tax-exempt under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code; individuals; government agencies; or organizations that subsist mainly on third party funding and have demonstrated no ability or expended little effort to attract private funding.

Helpful Tips

• Whenever possible, grant requests should be made using the Online Grant Application Form accessible via the link below.
• Prior to proceeding to the On-line Grant Application module, please review the Foundation's Mission & Guidelines to ensure that the application will receive the consideration that it deserves.
• Applicants should be as concise as possible when responding to all grant application questions. It may be helpful to formulate responses in a separate word processing program and then copy that information directly into the appropriate place on the application.
• Should any questions remain after reviewing the Foundation's Mission and Guidelines, the applicant should contact Foundation Services LLC prior to submitting its grant application.
  
  

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Note: If, during an on-line grant application session, time or other constraints preclude you from completing all sections of the application form and submitting your request, a "Save" feature is provide so that you may return to this application session at a later date. Required to perform the "Save" function is an email address and a self assigned password. You will receive an email from "Foundation Services LLC" [info @fsllc.net] which will contain a reminder of your chosen password and a link back to your application.

Your Account

If you previously started and/or submitted an application, you can access the account you created with your email and password by clicking here.

Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble accessing the application form, please click here for a Word document version. You can email the responses from this printed form to agd@fsllc.net.