Guidelines for Application

Application Procedures

Proposals should be addressed to the Executive Director and submitted by mail. Proposals submitted should be postmarked by the following deadlines (or the next business day if the date falls on a weekend or holiday) in order to be reviewed for scheduled board meetings: March 1 for the May meeting, September 1 for the October meeting, and December 1 for the February meeting.

Please note that we do not accept proposals by fax or email, nor do we retrieve from the Post Office undelivered mail that requires a signature. We strongly prefer that applicants use regular postal service delivery as opposed to special USPS services (such as certified and Express mail), or alternative delivery services (such as UPS or FedEx).

Please prepare applications with a concern for the environment. We ask that you submit only one copy of the proposal and limit the amount of supporting materials. We prefer not to receive, and we do not retain, plastic binders or packaging.

Proposals are reviewed by a committee of Board and staff preliminary to setting the grants agenda for consideration by the full Board. While we have no application form, we strongly prefer that you use the New York Area Common Application form, (available below). If, however, you choose to use your own format, please include the following:

  • full, legal name of the applicant organization or the sponsoring organization to which any payment would be directed
  • on sponsoring organization’s letterhead, statement that the organization agrees to serve as fiscal sponsor for the applicant organization
  • name, title, phone number and e-mail address of contact person
  • brief narrative of organization’s mission and operations
  • narrative description of program or project (if seeking specific support)
  • the project time frame(s)
  • population to be served
  • public policy implications, if any
  • organization’s financials or project budget, as appropriate
  • the amount being requested and the percentage of the program or project that such amount represents
  • other sources of support and the amount necessary for the project to go forward
  • listing of your Board of Directors and, if applicable, project directors
  • brief description of the qualifications of key personnel
  • letter of IRS tax-exempt certification for the organization to which a grant would be paid

Proposals are reviewed for appropriateness within our grant-making guidelines, for completeness and with a view to our budget allocations by funding category. Our typical first-time grants range from $3,000 to $10,000. There is a Board enunciated preference to limit grant payments to no more than three years in a five-year period for any one organization or for a continuing project.

As part of our review process, we may request a meeting or site visit. These most often occur at our initiative and only after having received a written proposal. We caution that site visits should not be interpreted as an indication of likely support.

We do not make grants to individuals (other than our Biodiversity Leadership Awards). With rare exceptions, the Foundation does not accept proposals or provide funding for endowments, building campaigns, building construction or maintenance, sectarian religious programs, books or studies, individual scholarships or fellowships, loans, travel, film, television or video productions, programs consisting primarily of conferences, for annual fund appeals, or to other than publicly recognized charities. First-time grants for K-12 arts-in-education programs and K-12 science and math programs are currently geographically restricted to the New York City metropolitan area.

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