Foundation
Guidelines
Main Content
To ensure alignment with the Foundation’s focus areas, new applicants must meet the following criteria:
• Applicants must be tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service, and must be based in the United States.
• Grants generally range from $2,500 to $25,000. Only existing grantees may request consideration outside this range. New applications that exceed the range may be automatically declined.
• The Foundation does not fund appeals from organizations within their first three years of operation as an IRS-approved 501(c)(3).
• Priority will be given to requests that include specific, feasible plans for funding beyond the current grant period.
• Geographic emphases: the Mid-Atlantic and Southern California.
• The Foundation does not make grants for international projects.
Animal assistance, protection or other animal-related activities fall outside the Foundation’s charitable priorities.
• International Funding
The Foundation does not make international grants. Funding is directed to organizations and projects based in the United States.
• Infrastructure Projects
The Foundation focuses its grantmaking on programs and the people they serve. It is therefore unable to fund bricks-and-mortar or other capital construction projects.
• Food Insecurity Appeals
The Foundation does not consider new proposals related to food insecurity, as this area is fully committed through existing partners.
• Health & Wellness Programming
Certain areas of health and wellness are not included within the Foundation’s current funding priorities, including mental health counseling, addiction treatment, obesity-related programs, or other similar services. Medical conditions and disabilities are likewise excluded. The only exceptions are restrictive eating disorders.
• Organizational Eligibility
The Foundation cannot provide grants to:
- non-charitable organizations;
- individuals;
- general fundraising drives;
- endowments;
- government agencies;
- organizations that rely primarily on third-party funding and have demonstrated little effort or ability to attract private support.
• Applicants, if declined, may not reapply until at least the next calendar year from the date of the declination unless the nature or circumstance surrounding the request changes significantly. The subsequent application would need to describe these changes in full.
• Larger grants may require a Grant Agreement Contract to be signed before payments can be made.
• The foundation almost always limits grant durations to three years or less.
• Of particular interest to the Foundation are organizations that promote partnerships and collaborative efforts among multiple groups and organizations.
• 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.
• The foundation may not allow any funds to be earmarked for indirect costs or institutional overhead in cases where the grant relationship was developed independent of that institution’s direct development efforts.
To download a PDF copy of these guidelines, click here.