Application Instructions Grant Proposal Process 1. Review the Guidelines and Resources The grant proposal process begins with a thorough review of the guidelines and resources available on this website, including eligibility, our service area, and grantmaking priorities, as well as the contents of this page. After you have reviewed our site, feel free to contact the Foundation staff directly to discuss your questions. 2. Submit a Letter of Intent Once you have confirmed eligibility, you can request a meeting with JRF staff or submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) via our online grant portal. After creating your grant portal account, you will have the option to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the grant portal. To begin a LOI, you must create or claim an individual account for yourself which will require you to create a login and password. (Download instructions for creating an account.) The individual account you create will be linked to your organization. Other colleagues from your organization can also create individual accounts linked to your organization. This allows multiple people from your organization to collaborate on grant materials. After you create an individual account, you will be asked to answer a series of questions. Please see the information below about what to include in your Letter of Intent. What Your Letter of Intent Should Include Basic organizational information including fiscal sponsor information (if appropriate) including the organization’s tax identification number Purpose of Grant Request A description of the community need or issue highlighting data and information that relates the need to health and well-being A description of the proposed request including how you will engage with residents of the Foundation’s communities? What difference will the request activities make related to health and well-being? (goals and objectives of the request) Contact information for Executive Director/CEO and the primary contact for the request General idea of costs associated with the request Signature by the Executive Director/CEO of the organization Once you have completed your LOI, you will have the option to preview and edit your work before final submission to Jefferson Regional Foundation. When you are ready to submit, simply click “Submit.” You will receive an email to confirm Jefferson Regional Foundation’s receipt of your LOI. After submitting your LOI, you will be able to view the completed submission in the grant portal and print a copy for your records. In response to your Letter of Intent, Foundation staff will contact you within three weeks to explore additional questions and examine whether a request is a good potential match before inviting you to submit a full grant proposal. 3. Prepare a Grant Proposal If the Foundation invites you to submit a grant proposal, you will do so via our online grant portal. If an organization is invited to a proposal following a meeting with Foundation staff and has not submitted a LOI, staff will provide instructions for completing the proposal on the online system at that time. Returning grantees may be eligible to submit a proposal without a prior Letter of Intent. Please contact us to schedule a conversation and check eligibility. 4. Complete and Submit Your Grant Proposal After you are invited to submit a proposal by Foundation staff, you will receive instructions to sign into the grant portal and complete your proposal. We recommend that you first review our grant proposal outline, below. Grant Proposal Outline The outline below provides the key sections and attachments requested in the Foundation proposal. It is provided as guidance in your proposal planning process. You can download a Microsoft Word document with the complete list of questions including character limits. Organization Section Information about the fiscal sponsor organization (if applicable). Basic information about the organization applying for the grant request including tax identification number, primary contact people, fiscal year budget information, and website/social media links. Basic financial information about the organization including revenue sources. Upload of the organization’s most recent audit and fiscal year budget. How your organization gathers and elevates community voice. Demographic Information Information on the demographics on the organization’s ED/CEO, Board of Directors, and people served. Grant Request Information Upload any additional attachments including memorandums of understanding, strategic plans, letters of support, newsletters, audio/video clips, pictures, etc. Provide basic information about the request including request title, type, purpose, amount being requested, and grant period. Provide an overview of the community barrier that you are addressing and how you determined this need. Include data with citations/sources that explains the issue in relation to health and well-being. Describe how you are leveraging community strengths and assets and engaging residents throughout the request Include a request summary that contains goals/objectives, request activities, staffing, location, timeline, and collaborations. Identify the communities of focus for the grant request. As Jefferson Regional Foundation is a hyper-local funder focusing on communities served by AHN Jefferson Hospital, it is important for us to know where your programs operate. Select the Foundation grant priority areas that match your grant request. Provide an explanation of how the grant request work will continue for long-term impact. Upload a grant request budget. If applying for Foundation grants is a new process for your organization, our Resources for Grantseekers page can provide guidance about grant seeking and the preparation of LOIs and grant proposals. 5. Grant Determination Once you have submitted a proposal, the Foundation will make a grant determination as part of our annual grantmaking cycles. More information on the factors that JRF considers when reviewing proposals. JRF uses the same grant portal for LOIs, proposals, and reports. Please note that the portal does include character limits for each question. Character limits for the proposal are included in the Microsoft Word document linked in the grant proposal outline drop-down section above. The system also offers organizations the opportunity to upload additional documents, which may be strong sources for highlighting the organization’s story and successes.
