Our Process

Letter of Inquiry

After reviewing our basic requirements, the first step for an organization interested in applying for a grant is to send the Foundation a Letter of Inquiry (LOI), containing the following information:

• Brief description of organization including mission, population served, scope of activities and current organizational budget
• Goals and objectives of the proposed project for which funding is sought
• Total cost of the project, any funds already committed, the fundraising gap and the amount of the request
• Timeline over which funding is needed, and overall timeline of the project

The LOI should be on official letterhead, signed by the Executive Director and submitted via e-mail to info@france-merrickfdn.org. Please provide contact information (name, title, phone number and email address) for the person who can best answer questions about the LOI.

We accept LOI on a rolling basis and encourage organizations to send them anytime. Foundation staff acknowledge letters immediately and review them quarterly. We contact applicants within ten days of the LOI closing date to request a full proposal or provide notification that a proposal is not warranted. Due to limited resources, we cannot request proposals from all inquiries that meet our criteria. Organizations with requests that are clearly not a fit with our priorities, style of funding, geographical preferences or other reasons may hear from us before the decision closing dates so that they can more quickly look for alternative funding.

Proposal

Organizations that receive a proposal invitation and guidelines have approximately one month to prepare and submit a proposal. As general practice, we request organizational budgets, board lists and audits as part of our application. A program officer is assigned to each proposal and follows up to ensure that our process is clear and that we fully understand each request, which frequently requires a site visit to better appreciate the organization and need addressed in the proposal. Following this review, grant requests are presented for consideration to the Board of Directors, which meets four times each year. Final funding decisions are usually communicated within three months from proposal submission.

Post-Grant Process

Organizations that receive a grant must sign an agreement that outlines the terms of the grant, including reporting requirements and payment schedule. Payments are made within one month of signed agreements. Final reports are generally due one year after the final payment date. Per Foundation policy, new funding requests may only be submitted after completing a two-year waiting period from the final payment date of a previous grant.