Information for
Grant Seekers
Application Process
Focus Areas
Letters of Inquiry
End of Year Report
Grant Awards
Schedule
Given the fact that the Foundation is named after two of our cats, Fireworks and Dolly, we follow the feline aversion to regimentation, however volume has forced us to become more formal in our procedures. Unfortunately, our Environmental Conservation, Community Development, and Immigration/Human Rights programs are almost full. In these three program areas, we can only accept Letters of Inquiry (LOI) in the final quarter of each year. This only applies to organizations who are applying to Firedoll for the first time. We will decide whether to request proposals from these LOI submissions in the first quarter of the following year.
All current Firedoll Foundation grantees should submit an End of Year Report
Non-profit Status
We make grants to organizations which have established status as: exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or a non-private foundation under Section 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) of the Code.
Proposal Guidelines
We want your proposal to be brief. Please send no more than three pages of text, one page of your projected organizational budget (you may add one additional page for a project budget, if applicable), a Statement of Financial Activity (Statement of Revenue and Expense) and the Required Documents listed below. We'll contact you if we need more information.
Some hints on how to approach the proposal:
Avoid technical jargon and "foundation speak".
Be clear; be simple.
Avoid multiple lists.
"We will implement a visioning process that leverages existing and new relationships, creating a synergy of grassroots advocacy and civic engagement that will provide new opportunities for this underserved, but vital community," is the kind of sentence to avoid.
Feel free to dumb it down for us.
The first paragraph of your proposal should contain the amount of your grant request and a simple statement of what the grant is for.
If you seek funding for operational expenses, seed money or other non-project purposes, please say so, and explain the need and how the money will be used.
All grant requests should include the following information:
Organization or Project summary (What you intend to do, and how you'll do it)
Organizations that you are (or will be) working with, if any
Expected Outcomes for grant year
Evaluation plan to determine success / failure of expected outcomes
Current Foundation support, if any
Other Foundations from which you will be seeking support, if any
Organization's Statement of Activity (also called Statement of Revenue and Expense, Income Statement, or Profit and Loss Statement), with breakdown of administrative/program costs
Project budget and personnel requirements
Contact information including e-mail address
Required Documents
All applicants must submit the following documents:
A copy of your IRS determination letter (Proof of tax exempt and non-profit status)
Federal Employer Identification Number (your tax ID #, commonly found on your IRS tax determination letter)
Typical grant amounts range from $5,000 to $25,000, with a total of $650,000 to $1,000,000 distributed during the fiscal year. If you're new to Firedoll , please do not request or expect to receive the maximum grant amount; tailor your request in the middle to low end of our grant range, depending on your need.
Queries
Don't be intimidated by our guidelines and preferences. After reading them, you will probably have a sense of who we are and what we care about. If you have a project in need of funding that does not fit our areas of interest exactly, please don't hesitate to contact us. Please direct all queries, grant requests and proposals to our Program Officer.
Phone: 925-937-4560 Fax: 925-937-4530 Email: info@firedoll.org