Letter of Inquiry Application Information
The first step in submitting a letter of inquiry should is to thoroughly review the eligibility criteria and grantmaking guidelines in order to ensure that your organization is a good fit for our grant program (this will save both your time and ours). Organizations that meet the eligibility and funding criteria are encouraged to submit the letter of inquiry form. Please understand that even if you fit within our guidelines, we are only able to invite full proposals from approximately 10% of the organizations that apply.
Timeline
Deadlines for Letters of Inquiry are January 15th and June 15th (LOIs must be received by these dates) for Spring and Fall grantmaking meetings. Decisions usually take at least 4-6 months from date of submittal.
Eligibility
Geographic Limits:
The Acorn Foundation currently prioritizes funding to organizations based in the western and southern United States and Appalachia.
Eligibility Checklist:
To be eligible for support from the Acorn Foundation, organizations must meet all or most of the following criteria:
- Are you in the specified geographic regions?
- Is your organization based in and working in a low and moderate-income community?
- Is your organization engaged in community, neighborhood, and/or workplace organizing?
(We define organizing as work to build a base of low-income leaders to come together, take leadership on local and regional issues and win concrete improvements for themselves, their communities and environments, while altering the balance of power.)
- Does your organization engage in regular community and/or workplace outreach to build your membership? Do you have a concrete plan to grow and to build more power by getting more people involved?
- Does your organization have a strong group of leaders and board members that represent the community they serve and who are accountable to the community?
- Does your organization have clear policy and/or institutional change objectives and a strategy for reaching them?
- Does your organization use the collective action of your members to bring your concerns to public officials and other decision-makers?
- Does the work of your organization impact the daily lives of your members? Can you say how your members? lives are improved by the work of your organization?
- Does your organization have a strong leadership development program so that new people can become leaders and the group can continue to grow?
- Does your organization have an annual budget under $400,000?
- Does your organization have limited access to corporate, government, or mainstream sources of funding?
- Does your organization have a strong fundraising plan that includes a healthy amount of grassroots fundraising?
(This means that your group is not supported solely by foundations. We consider grassroots fundraising to include such sources as: membership dues, fundraising events, individual major donors, workplace giving, canvass, raffles, and benefits.)
- Do you have IRS 501 (c) 3 tax exempt status or a fiscal sponsor who does?
Exclusions:
The Acorn Foundation has concluded that they are UNABLE to support the following:
- Organizations with total annual budgets over $400,000 per year;
- Intermediary organizations that serve grassroots organizations or that are primarily training or technical assistance providers;
- Large national or regional networks;
- International organizations and organizations located outside of the United States;
- Direct social services such as counseling, mentoring, healthcare, housing shelters;
- Educational, cultural or medical institutions or programs (including environmental-education);
- Capital campaigns, construction or renovation programs, endowments;
- Film, video, publications, or other media projects;
- Grantmaking institutions;
- Scholarship funds or other aid to individuals;
- Research or fellowships;
- Land trusts/land acquisitions;
- Government sponsored programs or programs undertaken by tax-supported institutions;
- Organizations with access to mainstream funding; and
- Emergency funding.
How to Submit a Letter of Inquiry
If your organization fits all or most of the above eligibility criteria, then you may submit a Letter of Inquiry Form to the Common Counsel Foundation. Organizations that meet the eligibility criteria for more than one of Common Counsel’s open LOI funds need only submit one LOI form.
1. Download the Common Counsel Foundation Letter of Inquiry Form and fill in all requested information. This form is required for all applicants and asks some basic questions about your organization, your membership, your funding and your issue campaigns. (If you are having trouble downloading the form, you can click HERE and copy and paste the LOI Form into a word processing document).
2. Email or mail your Letter of Inquiry Form so that we receive it in our office by either the January 15th or June 15th deadline. Email submissions are preferred (
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). LOIs or attachments that can't be sent via email may also be submitted by regular mail:
We invite a limited number of proposals from selected organizations within three months of the LOI deadline date. Board grant selection meetings take place within six months of the LOI deadline.
