The cover sheet will include the following information in the order listed:

• Name of the organization (and acronym if commonly used).

• Name of parent organization (if any).

• Name and title of chief executive officer or person holding similar position.

• Organization’s address (and courier address if different).

• Organization’s phone number, fax number, e-mail address, and website address.

• Name and title of the principal contact person.

• Contact person’s phone number, fax number, and e-mail address.

• Brief summary of the organization’s focus and need for funding (not to exceed three sentences).

The letter of inquiry should not exceed five pages, should be drafted in paragraph format, and should include two sections: a description of the organization and a description of the project needing funding.

The description of the organization should include the following information in the order listed:

• History and mission statement.

• Core activities

• Number of staff (paid and volunteers).

• Primary sources of funding

The description of the project should include the following information in the order listed:

• Brief description of the proposed project, including aims and goals of this project and specific methods that will be implemented to meet these goals.

• Need that the project will meet and how current programs are not meeting this need.

• Why the organization is qualified to undertake the project.

• Geographic area or country where the work will take place.

• Sustainability of the project.

• Timeline for this project.

• Total cost of the project with an estimated budget.

• Amount of funding requested from the Foundation.

• Other funding sources for this project.

The accompanying documents that must be included are:

• The organization’s 990 tax form for the past three years.

• Letter of tax-exempt status from the IRS.

• List of current board members and their affiliations.

With few exceptions, there are no fixed deadlines. The foundation will usually determine whether to award funding at its annual meeting in October of each year. On some instances, the Foundation may request a site visit to the requesting organization.