Grant Samples
Click to go directly to foundation,
government, or business
partnerships grant samples.
Foundation Grants
Private Money, Foundations, Corporations, and Individual
giving
The Foundation Center estimates that there are around 53,000
foundations that currently provide grants or some type of
support. Actually only about 3,000 of these give 80 percent
of the grants. The average grant size by a foundation with
$20 million to $100 million in assets is $20,000. This is
just a small percentage of the foundations that give larger
grants. The average grant for the 20,000 smaller foundations
is $1800.
Grant seekers must research the purposes and giving history
of foundations to determine a likely match for their specific
need. Foundations typically will not give grants where government
or other funds are available. So public schools or other
publicly funded institutions will have to prove that they
cannot get support from other means and that their ideas
are innovative and worthy of funding.
In many areas Community Foundations are being established
that have a local or regional focus. These foundations typically
provide grants in the area of health, welfare, education,
arts and cultural activities.
Common Grant Application
Template
Many of the foundations and community organizations that
provide grants use a common application to collect basic
information. A sample developed in Wisconsin is provided
below:
The Common Application Form was created by members of the
Donors Forum of Wisconsin. The Funding Information Center
distributes the form. Please direct question on the use
of the form to the prospective funders. If you would like
more information about the Funding Information Center, please
click
here.
Government Grants
Since the 1960’s there has been a tremendous growth
in the number of government grants available. The “New
Frontier” and “Great Society” programs
were primarily administered on the federal level with some
discretionary grants to organizations and some “pass-through”
grants that went to states first and then out to grantees.
At this point in our history there are literally billions
of dollars available through grants for education, social
services, and other purposes.
There are several sources of information on Federal grants
that are available. The two most complete are Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance and the Federal Register. It
is a good idea to make direct contacts with staff of the
specific grant office for the program you in which you are
interested. Most programs have a website containing actual
applications and grant guidelines.
Business Partnerships
Sample Letter - Vision
Middle School
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