Confirm Eligibility
- Refer to the Foundation’s Gifting Guidelines to ensure that your organization is eligible for funding.
- Be sure your agency has researched, identified, and applied to other sources of funding for your program/project before submitting a Letter of Inquiry to the Foundation.
- For agencies that have received previous funding from the Foundation, be sure that your agency has submitted a Follow Up Report. This report must be on file before another request can be considered.
Target a Grant Cycle
- Be aware of the Foundation’s quarterly requirements. Grant requests of:
- $100,000 or more – will only be considered at the third quarter board meeting and will require a site visit in August. Our August site visit tour is a one-day event that consists of our Board of Directors and staff traveling across Niagara County together and spending time at each applicant’s location, where we are able to learn more about the agency’s general operations and programming.
- $80,000 – $99,000 – may be considered at any time, but we would prefer to schedule these requests for our third quarter meeting. At this dollar amount, it would benefit the applicant greatly to take part in our August site visit. Staff will use their discretion when scheduling requests at this amount. Review may be postponed to the third quarter based on the following factors:
- Availability of Foundation funds
- Agenda for the meeting requested
- Agency’s project timeline and need
- $50,000 – $79,000 – will be considered quarterly and may require a site visit by Foundation staff.
- Under $50,000 – will be considered quarterly
Submit a Letter of Inquiry
- A Letter of Inquiry template has been provided to simplify this process and ensure the right information is provided in a way that respects both the Foundation and the Applicant’s time.
- Be concise, but be sure that the Foundation’s staff is able to understand what you are looking to accomplish.
- Provide a copy of the applicant’s 501(c)3 determination letter.
- Please do not leave fields blank.
Submit an Application
- If your agency receives an invitation to submit an application, applicant may now do so by utilizing the Submit an Application page. Please do not apply without an invitation from the Foundation, or the application may be immediately declined.
- Review the Foundation’s Application Tip sheets for detailed descriptions on Submitting a Successful Proposal.
2024 Board Meetings and Information Deadlines
Letters of inquiry to be received no later than:
January 19, 2024
April 12, 2024
*July 12, 2024
September 27, 2024
Application Deadline:
February 2, 2024
May 3, 2024
*July 30, 2024
October 11, 2024
Board Meeting Dates:
March 28, 2024
June 20, 2024
*September 19, 2024
December 18, 2024
*Third Quarter – all grants of $100,000.00 or more will be reviewed at our third quarter meeting. Smaller grants will be scheduled at our staff’s discretion. Please see Target Grant Cycle section above for further details.