Application Guidelines
General Considerations
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation will consider grants for IRS-qualified non-profit organizations located within the United States. The Foundation aims to support organizations and programs for which a relatively small amount of funding might make a large difference. The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural and performing arts programs; schools and hospitals; educational, skills-training and other programs for youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and programs. Awards typically range from $1,000 to $20,000. The Foundation cannot make grants to individuals.
Application Requirements
Our application requires organization and contact information, answers to questions related to your organization's non-profit status, answers to questions related to past awards/requests, a summary of your organization's purpose and programs, a summary of how potential funding would be utilized, a letter of request, your organization's most recent 990 (if applicable), an itemized program budget (for organizations applying for program support), and a copy of your organization's IRS letter stating your Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt/ not a private foundation status.
Should your request be selected for further consideration additional financial information, including (up-to) your organization's four most recent 990s filed with the IRS, will be required.
Details
Summaries: Our application requires two summaries: one of your organization's purpose and the population it serves, and one regarding how potential funding would be utilized and the population it might serve. Because the Foundation receives a large number of requests in relation to our size, these summaries act as your "elevator pitch," providing the basis for further examination of the attached letter of request. Your summaries should be straightforward and concise. Our Directors should have a basic understanding of your organization's purpose, service population, and programming based solely on these summaries- independent of your three-page letter of request. Summaries that are vague or obscured by jargon, and/or those built around an organization's aims or goals without substance, may not be considered. Examples of well- and poorly-executed summaries may be found on the Summary Example page.
Letter of Request: The letter of request serves as an opportunity to reiterate, elaborate, and expand on the information you have included in your summaries. Your letter of request should further detail your organization's purpose and how its aims are executed through its programming. The Foundation is also interested in the aspects that make your organization unique in relation to other, similar organizations, whether that be through programming, population served, or execution.
We ask that your request be formatted as plainly as possible- utilizing a common font and single spacing. Pictures, graphs, charts and additional materials such as newsletters, pamphlets, reports, etc. should not be embedded in the letter of request or included as part of any attachment. Our decisions are made solely based on the content specifically requested by the Foundation. Your organization's name, contact, contact title, organization's address, grant's purpose, and the amount requested should be included in the upper left of the LOR as follows:
Organization: The Percheron Foundation, Inc. (DBA: Percheron)
Contact: Jane Smith
Position: Executive Director
Address: 1421 Spring St., Suite A Minneapolis, MN 55405
Grant Purpose: The Percheron After School Program
Funding Request: $5,000
Attachments: The letter of request, most recent 990, program budget (if required), and 501(c)3 determination letter will need to be uploaded as .PDF attachments.
Instructions
Click the Application Portal button at the bottom of the page to access our Application Portal. The Application Portal can be used to create an application, check status updates for existing requests, update contact information, submit reports, and view past applications. New users will be prompted to sign-up and create an Organization Profile for their organization. All aspects and features of the portal are connected back to this Organization Profile.
When signing up, please be aware that the login email address chosen cannot be changed by the user at a later point. For this reason, we ask that organizations use a general email address that can be accessed by multiple people within the organization for the login email address and not an address tied to a single person. The login email address is used strictly for logging in and, when necessary, updating the password. It does not need to be the same as the contact email address which is entered at a later point and can be updated by those with access at any time.
Once your Organization Profile is created you will be able to begin work on your application. Work on your application will be saved automatically every five minutes. You may also save your work manually. Be aware you will not be prompted to complete your request in the event it remains incomplete as the deadline date approaches. Once submitted you will not be able to make changes to your application. Please ensure the information and attachments you've included are correct and accurate before submitting. Due to the volume of requests we receive, we will not be able to contact organizations to request corrections. Once your application is completed and submitted, you will receive an automated email confirming your application has been received.
For information on the Foundation's timeline and deadlines, please refer to the Timeline and Deadlines page.
Questions
If you have any questions regarding the Foundation, its priorities, feedback, requirements, etc. please refer to the FAQ page. If your question remains unanswered after reviewing our FAQ page, you are welcome to contact the Foundation by email: info@mvdreyfusfoundation.org or phone: (202) 337-3300.
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation