The France-Merrick Foundation will provide short-term financial support to organizations working to advance one or
more of the following:
- Preventing and addressing disruptions that negatively impact essential community needs and services, such
as health, housing, safety, education, and environmental protection. - Supporting strategic responses to sustain organizations and/or vital services.
- Investing in collaborative structures and practices to meet complex needs with reduced resources.
FUND PRIORITIES
- Gap support for nonprofits with a plan for operational sustainability. One-time operating grants, including:
- Bridge funding for organizations awaiting new, withheld, or restructured resources.
- Costs related to smoothing service discontinuation or workforce reductions, transitioning clients to new providers or services, and determining revised business models.
- Strategic response support for nonprofits or groups of nonprofits collaboratively working to address dramatic organizational or sector changes. One-time grants to sustain services, including:
- Costs related to organizational collaborations or restructurings, consolidations, wind-downs, and/or mergers to sustain programs and/or effectively deploy limited financial resources across sectors.
- Costs related to developing or implementing new ideas or approaches to support the sector with capacity building, pooled or aligned funds, cohorts for planning, and/or shared services.
FUND INQUIRY GUIDELINES
Prior France-Merrick grantees are eligible for this fund. We encourage you to reach out to a program officer to discuss your idea.
The Fund is not intended to sustain programs or organizations impacted by long-term funding cuts without a plan for operating sustainability.
FUNd eligibilIty & application
For an organization interested in applying to the Meet the Moment Fund, please consider:
- Geography: Do you serve the Baltimore area?
- Past Grantee: Have you been funded by the France-Merrick Foundation in the past? (Note: Organizations currently funded by France-Merrick via traditional grantmaking are eligible for Meet the Moment Funding.)
- Area of Focus: Does your organization advance Foundation priorities?
- Timeliness: Is your work or organizational structure facing risks and losses due to changes in public policy or funding?
If so, please send the Foundation a 2-3 page request via the Foundation’s online portal. The request should be on official letterhead, signed by the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director and contain the following information:
- Legal organization name, mailing address, and 501(c)(3) Tax ID number of the organization/fiscal sponsor
- Contact information (name, title, phone number, and email address) for the person who can best answer questions about the request
- Brief description of organization including mission, population served, scope of activities/programs, current organizational budget, and finances/work at risk
- Brief description of the proposed idea/project for which funding is sought and why/how it advances the aims and priorities of the Meet the Moment Fund
- Brief narrative description of funding loss/policy change impact and proposed pathway to sustainability including funds already committed, the gap, and outstanding requests
- Timeline over which funding is needed, and overall timeline of the project
- Please also include as attachments:
- A list of the board of directors, including professional affiliations, percent of board member giving, and amount contributed in the last year
- A copy of the current organizational operating budget (12 months)
- A copy of the latest audit, if applicable
- A copy of the 501(c)(3) determination letter from the IRS
Requests will be accepted on a rolling basis and decided once a month. Additional information may be requested during review of your request. Receiving Meet the Moment Funding will not impact an organization’s eligibility to apply for traditional France-Merrick funding.
Please reach out to a program officer if you have any questions.