Grants

You Cover Letter will act as a Letter of Intent. Use this letter to tell us about your organization and the program/project your are seeking funding for. Your letter should include an introduction, organizational description, statement of need, methodology (How will you solve the need? Describe the project and include major activities and objectives.), describe other funding sources, and conclude with a summary.

Your Project Budget should describe revenues and expenses for the project/program concerning areas covered by the grant you are requesting. Include examples of commitment from your organization, board members, fundraising efforts, grants, and other sources of revenues. Expenses should equal revenues and be itemized based on project/program expense categories.

Your organization’s Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet) should describe your organization’s assets and liabilities.

Your organization’s Income Statement will describe in more detail your organization’s revenues and expenses for a recent time period.

Your organization’s Fiscal Year Budget will show financials based on your most recent fiscal year (12-month period that your organization uses to report it’s finances). This report should be based on the fiscal calendar that your organization uses to determine your budget.

Your Board Members are an important part of your organization. Board members are the fiduciaries who steer the organization towards a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies, as well as by making sure the nonprofit has adequate resources to advance its mission. Please include your Board Member names and their contact information.

Anti-nepotism policies prevent related individuals from working in the same company or department. The policy is intended to ensure effective supervision, internal discipline, security, safety, and positive morale in the workplace. It also seeks to avoid the perception of favoritism, conflicts in loyalty, discrimination, the appearance of impropriety, and conflicts of interest.

The purpose of a conflict of interest policy is to protect an organization’s interest when it is contemplating entering into a transaction or arrangement that might benefit the private interest of one of its officers or directors, or might result in a possible excess benefit transaction. This policy is intended to supplement, but not replace, any applicable state and federal laws governing conflicts of interest.

Whistleblower policies are critical tools for protecting individuals who report activities believed to be illegal, dishonest, unethical, or otherwise improper.

A document retention/disposal policy makes it a crime to alter, cover up, falsify, or destroy any document with the intent of impeding or obstructing any official proceeding, this policy provides for the systematic review, retention and destruction of documents received or created by your organization. The purpose of this policy is to provide instruction for the preservation of pertinent documentation due to threatened, pending or otherwise reasonably foreseeable litigation, audits, government investigations or similar proceedings.

A written gift acceptance policy can help manage the expectations of donors, (while treating them with respect) and also serve as guidance for board and staff members who are either on the asking, or receiving, end of contributions.

Regular turnover among board members encourages the board to pay attention to its composition, helps to avoid stagnation, offers the opportunity to expand the board’s circle of contacts and influence, and provides a respectful and efficient method for removing unproductive members. Seventy-one percent of nonprofit boards have term limits for board members, and the most common are two consecutive three-year terms. Term limits do not prevent valuable members from remaining in the service of the organization or the board in another capacity.