Fund for the Environment & Urban Life About Proposals
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line		 spacer spacer As our Fund is a new organization, our guidance to would-be grantees is likely to be frequently updated; we urge interested parties to visit this page periodically. The section was last updated on May 1, 2008.

Our funding parameters are flexible but include the following key features. The projects we fund generally range from $20,000 to $60,000. Requests for more that $60,000 will also be considered (likely as phased grants), and a smaller pilot project category exists for $5,000 to $15,000 initiatives. Applicants may propose multi-phase projects that would be funded year-to-year based on progress, or would submit follow-up proposals. We rely on performance-based and phased funding whenever possible. Larger requests will receive greater scrutiny and may have the involvement of Fund personnel. We strongly prefer projects that offer opportunities for replication and impacts beyond the project itself.

Please click the following links for further information.

Proposal process for information on the solicitation, receipt and review of proposals, pertinent timeframes, provision of responses or award notifications, etc.

Proposal guidelines, including information on eligibility, project size and project phases.

Project criteria, which are relied upon in evaluating proposal submissions; all of these considerations are not necessarily relevant to all individual projects, and additional considerations often apply.

Pre-proposal outline, which provides the format and information needed from you to provide us with an overview of your proposed project. It is a downloadable Microsoft Word document.


PROPOSAL PROCESS

Our main avenue of giving relies on unsolicited proposals. The Fund will accept unsolicited proposals in its areas of interest at any time, and awards grants three times during the year. Proposers are invited to submit their pre-proposal information at any time. Closely following our guidance for pre-proposals, both in length and content, is vital.

We solicit full proposals only after pre-proposals are reviewed. Due to the volume of proposals we receive, many excellent projects that meet our criteria may not receive funding. The Fund does not provide critiques of proposals submitted. However, in some cases we may provide recommended changes for your proposal that might enable it to be funded at a future time.

If we decline a pre-proposal or subsequent submission, it is not a reflection of our opinion of the merit of your idea, your organization, etc. Most likely it will reflect only our funding limitations and how closely it matches our objectives.


PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

Proposals should generally address The Fund’s mission. They should also address our areas of interest or other topics related to our mission. However, we are open to new ideas; innovation is important to us. We generally do not support lobbying efforts.

We seek proposals that can have significant impacts. We are less interested in proposals that only offer local impacts as opposed to broader initiatives. In some instances we are interested in seeing our funds matched or otherwise supported by resources from other entities (not necessarily financial resources), but we can also decline pre-proposals if other support is readily available and the case for our funding is not made. We are not necessarily opposed to having our resources applied to support other fundraising efforts; while we seek to have direct results from the funds we provide, we recognize that some initiatives require more support than we can provide. We usually will not provide funds purely for the support of an existing organization’s ongoing activities (general support).

Very generally, we are interested in funding: research, project development, pilot programs (unique and innovative), communications, education, fund raising (in selected situations), program support for specific projects, capacity and leadership building (in some cases), and program expansion. We will not fund capital/endowment campaigns or scholarship programs.

Our project funding parameters suggest proposals requiring $20,000 to $60,000, although these are flexible parameters. We prefer discrete projects but some proposals will be funded in phases, based on milestones stated in the proposal or award letter, though we are reluctant to make multi-year commitments. Follow-up proposals in different years may be recommended. We do not discourage ambitious projects, but small start-up proposals for ambitious projects are likely to be reviewed more favorably.

The proposed budget will be a very pertinent evaluation parameter, and it should be appropriate to the proposal in all ways. Of course, proposals with smaller budgets entail less risk for The Fund, but we emphasize that the budget must be consistent with the specific requirements of proposed tasks. We are especially interested in innovative activities and acknowledge that specifics for this type of project may be harder to state.

PROJECT CRITERIA

The Fund has no firm criteria for awarding grants. However, we offer the following as guidance to indicate the considerations we use to evaluate funding requests that are submitted to us. While all criteria will not be applicable or applied in all cases, we hope this information is clear and encourage proposers to consider this information carefully in order to avoid wasted effort.
  • The proposer must be an organization that has the capabilities to accomplish what it proposes. A track record, and evidence of the track record, is important. If the organization is newer, we will focus on the capabilities of key individuals.

  • Projects that seek to motivate behavior change by individuals or organizations, and thus have potential results that are broader than what can be accomplished by the proposer, are encouraged. We rarely support lobbying, however, and are prohibited from supporting directly political activities.

  • Projects that are scalable and replicable — capable of being expanded and replicated in other settings — have appeal.

  • We generally prefer to have our support, when appropriate, integrated with resources from other organizations or the proposer's own resources, so that favorable results are maximized. Having our support leveraged is appealing. But we also consider the availability of resources from other organizations in making our decisions; we consider whether an organization that is more able to get support elsewhere. Determinations are often project-specific.

  • All projects should be "doable" — projects with appealing but unrealistic goals will be rejected. Objectives should be specific.

  • The capabilities of the individuals proposed to carry out the project are especially important.

  • Short-term results are desired but projects that can be accomplished in phases, with our support for subsequent phases conditioned on performance in earlier phases, will also have appeal. Opportunities for continuation with diminished support or without our support have appeal. Some demonstrable early results are strongly preferred, but these results can of course be part of a broader and longer-term vision, and should be. When appropriate, submissions should speak to this.

  • We encourage projects that include communications elements, such as a media program, or have the potential for creating media attention, such as innovative activities that would have broad interest. When appropriate, we want to make news. But we do not consider general outreach for an organization's existing mission, and especially lobbying, to be an appealing media program.

  • We have a preference for projects within 100 miles of a board member’s city. This reflects our desire to focus efforts and minimize travel when interface is necessary. Projects that we feel are compelling but are beyond 100 miles will also be considered, however. Nationally or even internationally focused activities, when compelling, are not discouraged.

  • We have a strong preference to fund smaller organizations, for example, those with annual operating budgets below $2 million.

  • Project funding is strongly preferred relative to general program support; we are especially interested in innovative projects that offer specific opportunities, and "breakthrough" ideas can have very strong appeal.

  • Projects that address concerns of underserved and under-represented communities have added appeal.

  • Projects should generally seek funding between $20,000 and $60,000, although smaller start-up grants and larger multi-year proposals will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We have a small project reserve and smaller projects can of course be easier for us to fund.

PRE-PROPOSAL
To avoid wasted effort, those considering submission of a pre-proposal should first send a very brief general inquiry to our Executive Director. To submit pre-proposal information, provide the information requested in the downloadable Microsoft Word document. Submissions that do not follow this format and length will not be considered.

PROPOSALS

Full proposals should not be prepared until we request them.


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QUICK LINKS:

Proposal Process
Proposal Guidelines
Project Criteria
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