Grants
CHANGES in IMPACT OKLAHOMA GRANT CALENDAR
- Grant Workshop (required) – 9/18/2012 @ 10 to 11:30 am or 1:30 to 3:00 pm
- Letter of Inquiry due October 2, 2012
- Approvals to submit grant – October 9, 2012
- Grant submission deadline – November 13, 2012
- Site visits scheduled - January 21, 2013 through March 31, 2013
- Finalists notified of Meeting date - April 1, 2013
- Annual Meeting (voting) in mid-April, 2013 – date TBA
To be considered for an IMPACT OKLAHOMA grant, applicants must be self-sustaining in their daily operations, outline their vision and execution concepts and meet other eligibility requirements approved by the Board of Directors as outlined in a required grant application.
Impact Oklahoma accepts grant proposals from central Oklahoma non-profits that strive to make a difference in our five focus areas. The winning grant recipients each receive $100,000 grants, as our level of membership allows. Each year, Impact Oklahoma members contribute $1,000 each to the organization and 100% of each contribution goes directly to the grant recipients. Our dream is to be a part of shepherding big ideas to fruition through monetary contribution, thus creating a substantial impact in our very own community.
Impact Oklahoma, solicits proposals, due November 13, 2012 and selects grant recipients through a three-part process that includes use of our required forms. We do not accept grant requests outside of this annual process. The rest of this page includes instructions for our current grant cycle.
Impact Oklahoma’s members combine $1,000 annual donations to fund significant grants, which are awarded in the fall of the year to local charitable organizations. Proposals are solicited for programs or projects in five focus areas: community, family, health and wellness, education and culture.
Presently, Impact Oklahoma’s funding cycle runs from November 1 of one year to October 31 of the next year. In each funding year, funds are collected through May, proposals are solicited and evaluated from February through August, and grants are awarded at the Annual Meeting in the fall. This cycle will be changing and you will be notified as soon as it is set.
Focus Area Committees made up of Impact Oklahoma members review the grant application, choose three semi-finalists to visit on-site and select a single finalist to compete for grants if there are less than five full grants available.
Each focus area finalist makes a short presentation at the annual meeting. Then, our membership votes on the winners. The available Impact Oklahoma grants go to the projects that receive the most votes, and the winners are announced live before the meeting is adjourned.
It is a completely democratic process where every woman has an equal say in which charities receive the awards each year.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for an Impact Oklahoma grant, an organization must be a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit organization. In addition each nonprofit must have an attendee at one of two possible grant workshops.
The organization’s proposal must:
- Outline a project or program that targets a specific population for a specific duration and with specific measurable goals to be achieved
- Provide services in Canadian, Logan Cleveland and Oklahoma counties
- Use the full amount of the Impact Oklahoma grant
- Plan to expend the funds within 24 months
IMPACT OKLAHOMA will not award its grant for the following:
- General operating expenses
- Operating salaries (salaries tied to a program will be considered)
- Debt reduction
- Endowments or memorials
- Bridge funding or interim financing
- Operational deficits
- Partisan, political lobbying or legislative activities
- General fund drive or annual appeals
- Fraternal, sectarian and religious organizations where the grant is intended for the principal benefit of the organization’s own members or adherents, or where the grant is intended for inherently religious activities
- Private foundations
- Legal expenses incurred in any action by or against the organization
- General construction or renovation (unrelated to a specific proposed project or program)
- General capital campaign (unrelated to a specific proposed project or program)
- Fundraising activities or events
- Advertising
- Sports teams or any sports-related activity or competition
Our guidelines continue to evolve, and Impact Oklahoma reserves the right to change its criteria without prior notice at any time.
Other Restrictions
An organization may submit only one application each year.
An organization that has received a grant from Impact Oklahoma may not reapply in the following three years.
Grant Application Process for 2011
Impact Oklahoma follows a standard grant application process:
- Letter of Inquiry: Due by 5:00 p.m. October 2, 2012. Each applicant must submit a Letter of Inquiry no later than 5:00 p.m. on October 2, 2012. Letter MUST be submitted via e-mail. Impact Oklahoma members will review all of the submitted Letters of Inquiry and, on or before October 9, 2012, will invite certain organizations to complete a Grant Application. Click here to download the requirements for the Letter of Inquiry.
- Grant Application: Due by 5:00 p.m. on November 13, 2012. Each organization invited by Impact Oklahoma to complete a Grant Application must submit its application no later than 5:00 p.m. on November 13, 2012. Only applications submitted via e-mail will be accepted.
- The Letters of Inquiry and the Grant Applications must be received by the deadline…there will be NO exceptions
- The Grant Application may be downloaded and completed upon receiving notification that the organization has been approved to submit a full application.
- Grant application Review: November 15 through January 14, 2013. Impact Oklahoma members will be part of the Five Focus Area Committees that read and review all the Grant Applications received by the deadline. Every committee will evaluate how well the Grant Application fits with the spirit of the Impact Oklahoma mission.
- Site visits for 15 Semi-finalists. The five Focus Area Committees will select three semi-finalists in each area and will visit the non-profit sites. Appointments will be made and dates will be scheduled by the Focus Area Committee Chair to visit all the semi-finalists. Finalists in each area will be selected and notified.
- Presentation of 5 finalists to Membership: Information about each finalist will be mailed to all of Impact Oklahoma’s members. A representative from each of the five finalists will be invited to Impact Oklahoma’s annual meeting to make a short presentation about their proposal to all of our members. Impact Oklahoma’s members will then vote on the finalists. Each member will cast rank the five finalists and the majority will decide the grant recipients.
Impact Oklahoma reserves the right to reject a Letter of Inquiry or a Grant Application for any reason, including if it is late or incomplete in any way. See each document for more detailed instructions.
Terms of Grant: Prior to receiving the grant money, the grant recipient must execute a Terms of Grant document substantial similar to the sample Terms of Grant.
Evaluations: Impact Oklahoma requires that the grant recipient submit periodic progress reports. Impact Oklahoma emphasizes the use of evaluation to measure program progress and outcomes, promote learning from experience, improve program performance and encourage our grantees to build effective self-evaluation plans into their projects. Copies of the interim and final report forms can be downloaded.
