EASTERN REGION 20xx COMPETITIVE GRANT APPLICATION INFORMATION   Opens: February 1, 20xx – Closes: April 1, 20xx   Note:  This document is also available in PDF format     The following pages contain guidelines and information for grant proposal submissions to the 20xx Eastern Region competitive grants program of the Idaho Community Foundation (ICF).  Please note that the primary county served by your grant proposal must be one of the following sixteen counties in order for you to use this application, although other Idaho counties (and out-of-state areas adjacent to Idaho) may benefit from your grant proposal.  ICF’s Eastern Region consists of: Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, Oneida, Power, and Teton Counties.    If one of the preceding counties is not the primary county served by your proposal, please consider applying in one of our other Regional Grant Cycles.  Statewide organizations, or those that have projects or programs that benefit counties in more than one of ICF’s Regions, are welcome to apply in each of those Regions if the application as drafted has a county in that Region as the primary county served by the grant proposal.  Please visit the “Grants” section of our website for additional details on all of ICF’s grant programs.   While every effort has been made to make the application process as simple as possible, please read the following information carefully. Who is Eligible to Apply? The Idaho Community Foundation invites applications from non-profit entities, recognized as such by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Qualifying organizations include:   Government entities, including subsidiaries and public educational institutions. Entities with current 501(c)3 not-for-profit status with a public charity code of 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2).   NOTE:  If you do not meet the preceding criteria but still believe that you should be allowed to apply, either because you consider your organization to be a non-profit entity or because your proposed project is of a charitable nature, please contact ICF’s Grants Department at grants@idcomfdn.org or (208) 342-3535 to discuss this possibility.    Deadlines:   · Grant applications must be submitted no later than April 1, 20xx to be eligible for consideration.  Applications submitted via our on-line application process have until midnight on April 1, 20xx to complete and submit their application. · Late applications will not be considered. · Incomplete applications will not be considered. · Applications submitted via e-mail or by fax will not be considered. · ICF staff will not notify applicants of incomplete submissions, other than through a decline letter or email.  It is the responsibility of each individual applicant to ensure that their application is complete.   Criteria and Grant Size:   The mission of the Idaho Community Foundation is to “enrich the quality of life throughout Idaho.”  Grants are awarded through the Regional Grant Cycle for a wide range of organizations and for a wide range of projects consistent with that mission.  Grants are made to fund activities, services, and projects of established organizations, as well as to provide assistance for new organizations to fill unmet and/or emerging community needs.  Through the collective generosity of many ICF benefactors, grant areas include, but are not necessarily limited to: ·                     Arts and Culture ·                     Conservation/Environment  ·                     Education ·                     Emergency Services ·                     Health ·                     Libraries ·                     Public Projects ·                     Recreation ·                     Social Services     Grant Restrictions:   The following will not be considered for the regional competitive grants program: ·                     Projects which replace school district responsibilities to students or that fund state or federally mandated programs ·                     Projects which are considered operating expenses or salaries normally paid by a school district (salaries for special projects not normally funded by a school district will be considered) ·                     Religious organizations for the sole purpose of furthering that religion ·                     Political activities or those designed to influence legislation ·                     National organizations (unless the monies are to be used to benefit citizens of Idaho or the organizations are specifically designated by a donor as beneficiaries of the fund) ·                     Grants that directly benefit a donor to ICF or a donor’s family   Favored Activities:   In general, the Idaho Community Foundation favors activities that: ·         Reach a broad segment of the community, especially those citizens whose needs are not being met by existing services that are normally expected to be provided by private rather than government sources ·         Request seed money to realize unusual opportunities to meet urgent needs in the community ·         Stimulate and encourage additional funding ·         Promote cooperation and avoid duplication of effort ·         Help make a charitable organization more effective and efficient and better able to sustain itself over the long term.   Less Favored / Low Priority Activities:   The following areas are of low priority to ICF and usually will not receive funding:   ·         Reduction of debt; ·         Grants to individuals (except scholarships) ·         Fund raising projects ·         Travel for individuals or teams ·         Attendance at conferences, seminars or other projects ·         Endowments ·         Programs that fall more appropriately under government funding, such as operating expenses for public schools and police and fire protection ·         Capital projects for which the Foundation’s ability to contribute will be only a very small portion of the total budget and, therefore, may have little impact on the success of the project.   Number of Applications Allowed:   As a general rule, only one application per organization will be accepted.  For the purposes of ICF’s competitive grants, individual educators are considered as one “organization,” allowing for more than one educator at a school or in a school district to apply for a grant.   On occasion, organizations that have multiple distinct units that operate under the same tax-exempt status are allowed to submit an application from each unit.  Multiple applications (other than those from educational institutions) must be approved by ICF’s Grants Department prior to their submission.  For additional information on multiple applications, click here.   Past grant recipients are welcome to apply.  Nonprofit organizations may apply every year, regardless of previous funding or current year funding through other ICF grant programs.   For a complete list of past grant recipients, please view our Annual Reports, available in the “Publications” section of ICF’s website.  Grants are listed in each Annual Report according to the primary county served by the grant.   Grant Size:   All applicants are invited to apply for up to $5,000. Grant Application Preparation Checklist: Prospective applicants should be prepared to answer or address the following: 1.   The Name of your Organization.  This should be the organization’s legal name under which it is incorporated or operates and/or by which it is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 2.  Contact Information for the Organization, the Executive Director, and an Alternate contact person. 3.   Information related to your nonprofit status.  If you are a 501(c)3 organization, you must provide your organization’s Tax ID #, also referred to as an “Employer Identification Number” (EIN).  Note: Government entities, including subsidiaries and public educational institutions DO NOT have to submit their EIN. 4.   An Executive Summary of your proposal. 5.   Your organization’s Mission Statement.  If your organization does not have a mission statement, a brief overview of your organization and its primary objectives will be sufficient. 6.   A list of Other Organizations in your area that provide service(s) similar to what you provide. 7.  The primary and secondary Counties Served by the proposal. 8. Proposal Information – including: a description of the project an explanation of the need for the project  the anticipated accomplishments of the project - what will be the result information on the sustainability of the project (who is responsible for its success, plans for the future, etc.)   Attachments Note: Our on-line application does not currently allow attachments such as letters of support, testimonials, or photos.  If you would like our grant reviewers to have access to this type of information, we encourage you to include a website or email address in your application narrative through which our grant reviewers can access or request a copy of the materials you would like to share.  Please do not send attachment materials to ICF as we will not be able to share them with our grant reviewers.  9.      Financial Information - including: a fifteen (15) line budget for the project, itemized to the extent possible a list of other funding sources, in-kind donations, or other support, if any, for the project, indicating whether they are committed or pending  plans for future funding, if applicable  the amount requested from the Idaho Community Foundation 10.  The Names and Phone numbers of your Board of Directors.  Public educational institutions may satisfy this requirement with a current list of school board or P.T.O./P.T.A. board members.  Counties may satisfy this requirement with a current list of county commissioners, cities with a list of city council members, etc.  Please comply with the format requested.  Process and Notification:   Once your on-line application is submitted and you have registered with the site, you will receive an email notification acknowledging receipt of the submission of your application.   All qualifying proposals will be reviewed by ICF’s Eastern Region Grants Panel and the Grants Committee of ICF’s Board.  Final funding decisions for Eastern Region competitive grants are made by ICF’s Board of Directors at their quarterly meeting scheduled for August, 20xx.  Grant recipients and non-recipients will be notified of the decisions of ICF’s Board following that meeting.  Distribution of 20xx Eastern Region grants is scheduled to begin in August, 20xx.   The Application Process:   Apply online by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.  You will also notice a link entitled “Detailed Instructions” at the bottom of this page.  We encourage you to review these instructions before you begin the application process.  Sample Grant Application and Guidelines: Click Here Contacting ICF’s Grants Department:   Please feel free to contact the staff at the Idaho Community Foundation if you have any questions or concerns related to your grant application, or the competitive grant process.  You may contact us at the numbers listed below.  Please use email if at all possible.   E-mail: grants@idcomfdn.org Phone: (208) 342-3535 or 1-800-657-5357 Fax:     (208) 342-3577 Mailing Address:          210 West State Street, Boise, ID  83702 Street Address:           210 West State Street, Boise, ID  83702 Detailed Instructions:  Click Here Apply Online:  Click Here   All materials submitted become the property of the Idaho Community Foundation.  Please retain a copy of your application for your records.