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A Special Source of Funds

The John B. Findling Legacy Fund provides support for projects that benefit the neediest children of Tipton County.

Projects need not take place just at the Christmas holidays, but may be considered in any of the quarterly grantmaking cycles of the Tipton County Foundation. Proposals submitted by the October 1 deadline will not receive Board approval until December 2. Proposals submitted by August 1 will be acted on before October 1.

"Findling" proposals have had a special "shorthand" application process in recent years, but it has become clear that some important information was therefore not available to the committee. Accordingly, all grant requests to the Tipton County Foundation must use the same proposal process, beginning with a Letter of Intent. The details of your final proposal need not be cumbersome, but will probably be more extensive than a "Findling" application had to be in 2006-2008. Be sure to allow enough time for a response to your letter of intent and preparing the proposal.

It is not necessary for you to designate a proposal as a "Findling" project, but we will advise you if that is the Fund that supports your successful grant proposal. We also have Funds for Education, Women's Philanthropy, Arts & Cultural Interests, Senior Citizens Programming, the United Community Fund, and other projects that may be the best source to pay for your grant. Contributions to any of these Funds are welcome at any time! The committee, and ultimately the Foundation Board, will determine which of our Funds is the best one to use for a particular project.

The procedures for requesting support for a charitable project or program from the Tipton County Foundation are outlined below. Rather than printing them directly from this web page, the same information can be downloaded as a Microsoft Word document. Download the instructions for a grant proposal as a Microsoft Word document.
 

STEP ONE… the Letter of Intent
 

If you are interested in submitting a grant proposal to the Tipton County Foundation, the first step is to send us a Letter of Intent. Please include the following information in your letter:

1. What you would like to do.

   1. The nature of the project, no more than 200 words.

   2. Who will benefit (both the target population and number to be served).  Please Note: Funds granted by the Tipton County Foundation are for the direct use of the recipient organization in a project they conduct, and may not be re-granted to another organization.

   3. When a decision will be needed, when the project will begin, and when the project will end.

   4. Total project cost.

   5. Portion of project cost you are asking TCF to fund
       

2. Who you are.

   1. Name of organization, website if any.

   2. Contact Info (contact person, phone, mailing address, email address).

   3. Mission of organization.

   4. Although it is not required that a grantee organization be incorporated and/or registered with the IRS, please give your EIN # and 501(c)(3) status if you have them.

Please mail the completed letter to Tipton County Foundation, PO Box 412, Tipton, IN 46072. You may also email the letter as an attached document, NOT incorporated in the body of your email. Please feel free to contact us with questions, 765-675-8480 or grants@tiptoncf.org.

STEP TWO… the Narrative

After we respond to your Letter of Intent, please draft your own word-processed document when writing your grant proposal. You must include ALL of the following information, in the order it appears, for your proposal to be considered for funding.

1. Rationale.

In this section, you should first incorporate the information from your Letter of Intent with any appropriate updates. This is also where you should explain in detail (1) the need for your project, (2) how the project will be implemented, and (3) how the success of the project will be measured.

2. Collaboration.

Please tell the committee (1) who else is involved in this kind of project in or for the Tipton County community, (2) how their work is like or different from the project you are proposing, and (3) what other agencies/organizations are likely to work with yours in fulfilling your plan.

For example, be sure to communicate with the Tipton County Extension Education Center on adult education or training projects. Or, if your project is school/education related, please explain how your project might benefit students in the other school system or those who are home-schooled or privately-schooled.

3. Organizational Strength.

Please analyze the internal and external strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that your organization might face. Include your findings in this Narrative.

STEP THREE… the Attachments

Please include the following documents with your proposal in the order they appear.

1. List of Board members, including business affiliations if any, and identification of Board officers.

2. Financial statements of the organization, both year-end and most recent period.

3. Organization budget, including planned fundraisers (month to be held, and net dollars anticipated).

4. Detailed project budget.

• Revenue

• Expenses

• In-kind revenue/expenses

• Indicate whether revenue is pending, received or approved.

Please indicate the portion of the project budget you are asking TCF to fund, whether it is a specific item in the budget or a percentage of the total. Your project budget may include an appropriate portion of your organization’s administrative expenses. For example, if staff is needed for oversight of the project, the corresponding portion of his/her salary and benefits could be allocated to this project budget.

5. Evidence that this proposal has the approval of your Board of Directors or governing body.
   For example, if you are a teacher, you must obtain a statement of support from your principal and the superintendent/board of education. If you have a proposal from a public safety or other government agency, you must obtain a statement from your supervising elected official.
    

The Annual Grants Programs may change from time to time.  Applicants are encouraged to contact the  Foundation prior to submitting a proposal to be certain the project qualifies for funding.

Questions? Assistance?   

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Last modified: Tuesday, June 15, 2010