Apply for a Grant

Before You Apply

Before you begin the application process, review these items to ensure that your organization and proposed project are a good fit with The Jewish Fund’s requirements and priorities.

Tax Exempt Status
To qualify for a grant the organization must be recognized as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Geographic Concentration
The Jewish Fund’s grantmaking is solely focused on programs and services that impact the lives of residents in the metropolitan Detroit area of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

Priority Areas

To encourage the best possible alignment between our interests and those of potential applicants, we have identified broad program outcomes for each of our focus areas. Only those Letters of Intent that align with the following three areas will be reviewed and considered:

Health of Children in the Metropolitan Detroit Community

The quality of life of vulnerable Jewish residents of metropolitan Detroit will be improved as a result of the program’s impact in areas of health and social welfare.

Health of the Metropolitan Detroit Community

Vulnerable residents of metropolitan Detroit will experience improved health outcomes as a result of increased access to quality health care.  Priority may be given to urban communities.

Vulnerable children will experience improved health outcomes as a result of participation in early childhood health intervention programs. Such programs may include pre-natal services and/or those targeting children up to kindergarten age. A primary outcome must focus on improved health.

Enhancing the Historic Bond between the Jewish Community and Detroit

We are interested in supporting efforts among collaborating organizations that will serve to promote the quality of life in Detroit.  Grants should involve collaborations that include at least one Jewish organization and at least one Detroit-based organization and should engage Jewish individuals with the broader community.  Grants may support new initiatives and/or capacity building strategies.

Additional Funding Priorities to Consider

With so many vital and deserving organizations and programs in Metro Detroit, determining which grants will receive funding can be a challenging task. Here is a list of guiding principles The Jewish Fund board considers, to help make those difficult decisions.

Our board gives the highest priority to requests for:

• New programs with a defined period that address a critical need
• Evidence-based programs that are new or expanded offerings in a specific community
• Programs and services that impact the lives of residents of the metropolitan Detroit area of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties
• Development and implementation of capacity building strategies that will result in the organization’s strengthened operations and/or overall service delivery. These may include strategic planning, board and staff development, infrastructure enhancement, and transition planning, among others.

Our board also prefers programs that:

• Have a defined plan for sustaining the program beyond the grant period
• Include a financial or in-kind contribution from the organization
• Involve collaboration with others, when appropriate
• Leverage financial support through multiple funding sources
• Have an outcomes-based and measurable evaluation plan
• Can be funded and replicated by others

Lowest priority is given to request for:

• Grants made directly to individuals
• Loans
• Grants to support religious activities or sectarian education
• Overseas projects
• Capital projects or equipment purchases
• Endowments, annual fund drives, fundraising events
• Past operating deficits

Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence

Programs are evaluated for the award using eight criteria, highly valued by The Jewish Fund in its overall assessment of a project’s success. These criteria attempt to measure the short-term impact of a program and to predict its long-term success. Criteria numbers 3 through 5 are weighted double in recognition that the Sosnick Award emphasizes innovation, collaboration, and impact.

Grant Terms

The Jewish Fund will generally provide funding for a new program for a limited, defined term of:

• Up to three years for proposals submitted under the Health and Welfare of the Jewish Community and Enhancing the Historic Bond priority areas.
• Up to one year for proposals submitted under the Health of the Metropolitan Detroit priority area, with a possibility for renewal.

This term should provide for start-up as well as securing of support for the program following completion of the grant. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of The Fund. All multi-year grants are subject to annual review by the board and are contingent upon satisfactory progress and grant compliance.

Grants for capacity building initiatives, equipment, and other projects that are not new program developments will typically be considered for one year of funding support, regardless of focus area.

Check in With Our Staff

We encourage you to discuss your proposed project with our staff before applying for a grant. In addition to being sure your organization’s project is a good fit with the mission and priorities of The Fund and meets its criteria, we have found that these conversations may be helpful in strengthening the proposed project and the development of the Letter of Intent.

First Application Stage: Letter of Intent

While organizations can complete a Letter of Intent at any time, there are two annual deadlines for submission, once in the fall and once in the spring.

Letters of Intent are completed in our Grant Partner portal using a standardized form. Email and paper submissions are not accepted.

Contact our Grants Management Coordinator, Kris Moskovitz, at (248) 833-2434 or moskovitz@jfmd.org if you have questions.

Required and Recommended Documents

Required
IRS Tax Exempt Determination Letter
Organization Budget
Most Recent Complete Audited Financial Statement (including Management Letter)*
Board of Directors List
Project Budget (form provided in the Grant Partner Portal)

Recommended
Non-Discrimination Policy
Annual Report
Organizational Brochure

*Contact the Grants Management Coordinator if your organization is not required to complete an audited financial statement.

Project Budget

An important step in the Letter of Intent is creating a Project Budget, using The Jewish Fund’s designated form (provided within the Letter of Intent form in the Grant Partner Portal). This step of the process generates the most questions. Here are a few things to assist you with creating your budget, and hopefully simplify the process.

Expenses vs. Revenue and Resources
The budget form is broken down into (1) Expenses and (2) Revenue and Resources.

In the Expenses section you will provide a itemization of all anticipated project costs and expenses, and identify those expenses for which you are requesting support from The Jewish Fund.

In the Revenue and Resources section you will provide a breakdown of all the resources you will utilize to finance the total project cost. The goal is to demonstrate that you have a plan to cover any expenses not paid for through The Jewish Fund grant and ensure the program can be successful. Accordingly, the total of the Revenue & Resources section should be equal to the total of the Expenses section.

Multi-Year Grants
Multi-year grant requests require an individual budget form for each year of funding being requested.

Providing Additional Information
To explain or clarify any line item from the budget form, feel free to attach a budget narrative.

Indirect Expenses
The Jewish Fund allows for up to 20% of the total request to be applied toward Indirect Costs, also referred to as overhead or administrative costs, and include the non-direct expenses utilized to manage a project. These may include grant management, accounting, rent, maintenance, telephone, copying, receptionist, insurance, technology updates, supervisory, and executive staff oversight, among others.

Any indirect costs included in the request should be noted on the appropriate budget form line. In addition, an explanation should be provided to help us understand how and why indirect costs are associated with the project and can be attached as a budget narrative.

Grant awards may include full or partial support of indirect costs.

Project Evaluation Expenses
In order for you and The Jewish Fund to clearly understand the overall impact of the project for your organizaton, an objective evaluation method is required. If you determine that an outside evaluator is needed, please include the expense related to this evaluation on the budget form.

Signature
The budget form requires the signature of the CEO/Executive Director.

Second Application Stage: Full Proposal

All Letters of Intent will be reviewed by staff of The Jewish Fund to confirm eligibility based on the criteria set forth in the “Before You Apply” section. Eligible requests will then be evaluated and assessed by The Jewish Fund Board.

Based on that evaluation organizations will be notified if they are invited to complete a Full Proposal. The Full Proposal application, also completed in the Grant Partner Portal, allows for additional word counts in text sections, encouraging more detailed descriptions of the programs, expected outcomes and plans for sustainability.

Additional Required Documents
Logic Model (template provided in the Grant Partner Portal)

Additional Recommended Documents
Letters of Support
Resumes of Key Staff (if experience will be essential to the success of the proposed program)

Site Visits
In the Full Proposal stage, organizations are scheduled for a site visit with a small delegation of TJF board members and staff.

Organizations are strongly encouraged not to create presentations for these visits. Relevant information about the organization and program should be included in the written proposal, making an organized presentation at the site visit unnecessary.

The site visit offers an opportunity for board members to get a first-hand view of the organization and for board members to ask any follow-up questions they have after reading through the proposals.