You must have a Grant Invitation letter from The Rising Foundation to submit a proposal. These letters are issued by our board of directors.

Unsolicited proposals must go through our Letter of Inquiry (LOI) process for consideration by our board. If approved you will be issued a Grant Invitation letter.

The questions below will guide you through what our board will consider in your LOI.

If you have a Grant Invitation letter from The Rising Foundation you can use the link below to access the details of the application process.

Submission from organizations without this letter will be rejected and barred from future submissions.

Submissions that do not conform to the described format will not be considered.

I have a letter…Grant Submission

Continue on to see if your project might qualify as a Letter of Inquiry.

We support “project-based” activities including:

• Proof of concept
• Validation studies
• Capacity building (internal)
• Program expansion (external)
• New capabilities

We do NOT support:

• Operational expenses
• Organization overhead
• General staff compensation
• Scholarships
• Sponsorships

Other projects outside of what we don’t support will be considered on a case by case basis. Use our Contact link to inquire.

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We focus on a variety of areas with specific needs being considered based on our board priorities. It is also important that you are aligned with our core values. This information is available on our About page.

A key aspect of any project must also be aligned with idea of “Cooperating For A Better Tomorrow.” It is important that your project involves other organizations or is delivered to outside individuals or groups.

We have a special fund specifically focused on marginalized and impact communities, those that fall outside traditional funding channels (BIPOC, LGBTQI+, etc). Projects may be funded out of our Opportunity Fund at our boards discretion.

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You can only have one active grant during any 12 month period. If you haven’t completed a grant you are ineligible for another until it’s completed. 

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Grants are typically 12 months or less in length.

We will consider multi-year submissions, up to 3 years, for longer term projects. Second and third year funding will be released on the anniversary of the initial award based on achieving the previous year’s goals.

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Awards are typically in the $5,000 to $25,000 range with $25,000 being the maximum. The amount awarded will be determined based on the project details. We may partially fund some aspects of a project.

Larger projects may be considered with the caveat that the project must be fully funded before we will release funds. Awardees will receive a letter showing the award which can be used to support fundraising.

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Submissions are screened using our Grant Evaluation Rubric. Letters of Inquiry must achieve a minimum score of 8 to be considered.

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Submissions are evaluated on a quarterly basis at scheduled board meetings. Deadlines are:

• February 1st
• May 1st
• August 1st
• November 1st

Submissions after these dates will be evaluated in the subsequent quarter.

Upon our decision you will be contacted to schedule a call with our executive director to communicate the results of your submission.

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Letters of Inquiry are used for unsolicited projects. They can be submitted at any time and will be considered at the next board meeting as specified in deadlines above.

Submission that do not conform to the described format will not be considered.

I want to submit a Letter of Inquiry.