Grantmaking Process

The Competitive Grantmaking Process

The Community Foundation follows a grantmaking process designed to closely align our grantees’ work with our mission, vision and values. Our rigorous process ensures that our donors’ dollars are directed to local nonprofit organizations that share our high standards of integrity — and impact.

Grantseeker Session

The Community Foundation’s annual Grant-Seeker Sessions concluded in December 2023, and we encourage grant seekers to view the session presentation above to learn about key information in this year’s competitive process.

Letters of Inquiry

The first phase in the process is submitting a Letter of Inquiry, also known as an LOI, that summarizes your project and outlines the challenge you seek to solve.

Full Proposals

Once LOIs are reviewed by the Community Impact team, your agency may be invited back to the second phase: submitting a full proposal, which includes details on how you will approach your work, the staffing involved, the budgets, the projected outcomes, etc.

Site Visits

Once full proposals are accepted, the Community Impact team will move to phase three: conducting site visits to your organization. The visits — which are conducted in person or virtually — are an opportunity to clarify aspects of your project, provide additional details, tour our staff or Community Impact Committee members around your facility, etc.


Organizations that submit a summer program proposal may be requested to participate in a virtual site visit.

Committee Review

The Community Impact Committee — made up of Board of Directors members as well as a slew of community volunteers — reviews all grant applications and recommendations submitted by the Community Impact team. The committee ultimately approves the slate of competitive grantees year over year in this phase. The committee recommends the slate of competitive grants each year to the full Board of Directors, which gives final approval.

Grants Awarded

As the final step, grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations twice a year: Summer program awards are distributed in April; all other awards are distributed in June.

Grant Reports

Throughout the lifecycle of the grant, the Community Impact team will make regular contact or visits with grantees to communicate on the success of the project. Per the terms of the grant, grantees are required to give periodic progress reports. When appropriate, the Community Foundation requests stories of success from the projects to share with donors.

Timeline

Our timeline for nonprofits with year-round or summer programs is as follows:

December 1, 2023

Letter of Intent (LOI) opens​

January 5, 2024

Letter of Intent (LOI) due at 5 p.m.​

February 9, 2024

Full Proposals invited​

Mid-February

Summer Request calls​

March 1, 2024

Full Proposals due at 5 p.m.​

March 27, 2024

Summer Program award notices​

March – early April 2024

Site Visits (Full Proposal invitees)​

May 31, 2024

Full Proposal award notice​

June 3 – 21, 2024

Measurement calls w/ Program Officers​

July 1, 2024

Grant period begins​

 

The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, socioeconomic status, or national origin. Applicants for grants from the Community Foundation must hold similar standards. Competitive grant applications from organizations known to have discriminatory policies will not be considered.