Please follow these application instructions carefully. Applications that are incomplete or that do not follow these instructions will not be considered.
U.S. APPLICANTS
The foundation considers proposals that are within the current program guidelines from organizations that qualify as 501(c)(3) public charities.
Columbia accepts proposals sent sent by regular postal service, or electronically as attachments to an email to Alex Hoskyns-Abrahall at alex@columbia.org.
If the proposal is hard copy, it should be produced on recycled or tree-free paper (see www.conservatree.com and www.papercalculator.com for information about paper alternatives and how to improve paper use.) Columbia Foundation encourages double-siding as a means to save paper. Please staple and number your pages so they are not lost. Do not enclose binders, folders, report covers, or other excess packaging materials. Please do not send videos, DVDs, CDs, cassettes or other bulky items, unless requested.
The foundation does not accept proposals sent by facsimile, and strongly discourages them being sent by overnight express services of any kind. Please use the regular postal service. The deadline will be considered met if the postmarked date on your application envelope is on or before the stated program deadline date.
U.K. APPLICANTS
Proposals must be sent electronically as attachments to an email to Alex Hoskyns-Abrahall at alex@columbia.org. Please do not send attachments in hard copy unless requested by the foundation.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Proposals should be submitted by the application deadline stated for each respective program. The foundation will only consider proposals that are within the current program guidelines and are from organizations that qualify as public charities under the laws, rules and regulations of the United States Internal Revenue Service (or registered charities that are the foreign equivalent thereof for organizations based in the U.K.). For all requests for continued support, please include an update on the program currently funded by Columbia Foundation and a rationale for continued support.
The Columbia Foundation welcomes emails from applicants to clarify the foundation's program guidelines and application procedures. Please contact Alex Hoskyns-Abrahall, alex@columbia.org, with all grant application-related questions. Please note that meetings to discuss pending grant applications are initiated and scheduled by foundation staff. Such meetings are usually scheduled following receipt of a full proposal. If your organization is a current Columbia grantee, please contact Carolyn Koo, carolyn@columbia.org, for questions regarding your grant.
A two-to-three page summary addressing all of items number one through thirteen below (this is a condensed summary of the main proposal and should highlight the most important points in each of the thirteen sections)
A full proposal narrative and attachments as outlined below
For all requests for continued support, please include an update on the program currently funded by Columbia Foundation and a rationale for continued support.
Please clearly indicate whether the proposal is for general support or for a specific project. Proposal narratives should not exceed ten pages. Proposals must provide all of the following information and should be formatted with sections numbered and subtitled to correspond to the order below.
1.
Grant purpose and funding request (for renewal requests, please include a rationale for continued support)
2.
Need for the program or project
3.
Plan of action, including the rationale for this approach
4.
Goals (what the organization/project is attempting to achieve)
5.
Methods/strategies to achieve goals (how goals will be accomplished/achieved)
6.
Timeline
7.
Anticipated barriers/challenges and the strategy for negotiating these
8.
Impact and significance, including potential relevance beyond immediate scope
9.
Evaluation/assessment plan outlining how progress toward goals will be assessed, what work products will be developed, what discernable effects on the problem being addressed are expected to be achieved, what public interest benefit is anticipated, and how this will be determined, monitored and reported
10.
Qualifications of the organization and staff to implement the program or project
11.
Relationship to similar programs or organizations
12.
Future plans for the program or project, including dissemination of results
13.
Organizational development/capacity building needs and plans
Please provide the following attachments on separate pages labeled to correspond to the order below (NOTE: If the grant proposal is for general support, please provide information for the organization only).
A.
Organization description (including mission and summary of accomplishments for the past year)
B.
Itemized project budget and time period covered
C.
Itemized organizational budget and time period covered
D.
List of funders and grants secured (include dollar amounts) for the project and time period covered
E.
List of funders approached and grant requests pending (include dollar amounts) for the project and time period covered
F.
List of funders and grants secured (include dollar amounts) for the organization and time period covered
G.
List of funders approached and grant requests pending (include dollar amounts) for the organization and time period covered
H.
Board of directors list, including board position, organizational affiliation, and telephone number for each board member
I.
Brief biographies of key project and organization staff, including a summary of qualifications and responsibilities
J.
Statement of actual income and expenses for the project for the last two years, if applicable
K.
Statement of actual income and expenses for the organization for the last two years
L.
Balance sheet/statement of financial position for the organization for the last two years (if your organization performs an audit, please include an audited statement for the most recent fiscal year available)
M.
Annual report, if available
N.
One copy of relevant articles, publications, or other publicity about the project or organization (do not send copies of videos, DVDs, CDs, cassettes, and other bulky items unless requested by foundation staff)
O.
IRS Letter of Determination of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for the organization or fiscal sponsor
Columbia Foundation receives many more applications than it can fund each year. Although many applications merit support and fall within its guidelines, the foundation is able to fund less than a dozen programs in each area each year. A three-stage review process follows each program application deadline: 1) a screening process by the foundation's staff; 2) review and discussion by the foundation's program committees and community advisors; 3) foundation staff develop and present recommendations to the board of directors for decisions on grants. Grant decisions are made approximately four to six months after the program area deadline.
Please follow all application instructions carefully. Applications that are incomplete or that do not follow these instructions will not be considered.
