Traditional Grant for Associations

These grants are made in response to requests that can range from $25,000 to $100,000 and that must be matched by additional funds raised by the association at least 1:1.

Associations seeking placement on a Traditional Grant Agenda should be prepared to specify the anticipated dollar value of their proposal when they request placement. This can be months in advance of the date the final version of the proposal will be due, depending on the length of the queue.

Traditional Grants are awarded based on the quality of the proposal and other considerations in terms of the association’s operation, but it does not identify certain areas of independent school work as favored. That is, you can seek guidance as to what sort of proposals have been funded in the past but association should identify their own greatest institutional need that they think the Foundation can help address.

Open Agendas:

“Agenda” is the term we use for our three annual grant cycles.

March 2023 Agenda

Traditional Grant

Proposal Due: January 27, 2023

June 2023 Agenda

Traditional Grant

Proposal Due: April 1, 2023

Step-by-Step Application Process:

1) Request Agenda Placement — Please fill out this form to tell us a bit more about your association and to help us determine if it is eligible for EE Ford funding.

2) Agenda Placement Phone Call — If your association is eligible for Agenda Placement, we will schedule a phone call between your association’s Executive Director and the Executive Director of the EE Ford Foundation. This phone call will serve as an informal introduction and it will determine if Agenda placement is right for your association. No proposal can be considered from associations that have not reserved a place on an upcoming Agenda. If your association is placed on an Agenda, you will receive an Agenda Placement Confirmation email with further instruction.

3) Executive Director Meeting — Schedule a 2-3 hour meeting between your association’s Executive Director and our foundation’s Executive Director to be held in our Brooklyn office. The Preliminary Materials will be due one week prior to this meeting (see “Preliminary Materials” below). *

4) Final Submission — Deadline for submission of final materials is April 1. When the Board makes its decision about a proposal, the Executive Director communicates this decision within days. Make sure that you also have your board review the proposal in its final form and please have them pass a very simple resolution that they have read and support the submission of the proposal to EE Ford.

*Due to COVID-19, the Foundation is not requiring any meeting to take place in-person. Instead, meetings will be conducted via Zoom, unless all parties agree otherwise.

Required Materials:

(click on the items below to expand)

 

Preliminary Materials — due one week prior to the Executive Director meeting.

The following 3 items are due one week prior to the Executive Director meeting with John Gulla:

1) Coversheet Download Form

2) Supplementary Materials Download Form

3) A two-year Comparative Operating Budget – Please limit to one page which should include the current year’s operating budget, the last year’s operating budget and the last year’s actual budget results.

 

Final Submission — due April 1.

The following 4 items are due after the Executive Director meeting, no later than April 1:

1) Cover Sheet – This package must begin with the “Association Cover Sheet” form which you initially submitted with your preliminary materials.

2) Project Proposal – Combine the following components (and ONLY these) into a single PDF document.

  • Proposal Narrative: Must not exceed 4 double-spaced pages, 1" margins, and 12pt font. Please include the following:
    • A brief history of the association – please limit to one paragraph
    • Needs of the association for which the grant is requested
    • The amount requested
    • The proposed match and how the association plans to raise the match
  • Grant Budget: Please limit to ONE page and describe how the association plans to use the grant and the match to meet the proposal needs. We would like to see a general budget that outlines, at least in broad categories, how the funds would be spent.
  • Comparative Operating Budget: Please limit to ONE page and include the current fiscal year’s operating budget, the last fiscal year’s operating budget and the last fiscal year’s actual budget results. (This is the same item that we ask you to send with the preliminary application materials prior to the Executive Director meeting.)
  • Statement of Activity & Statement of Financial Condition: Please do NOT include the full audit. This section should consist of approximately 2-4 pages.

3) Full Audit for the most recent full year

4) Internal Revenue Code Forms 501(c)(3) and 509a – For first time applicants only. If you have submitted a proposal to EE Ford in the past, you do not need to include these forms.