Grants
Grant Preparation Timeline
- February 28 - Letter of Intent Deadline
- March 15 - Accepted nonprofit organizations notified and Grant Application sent
- April 15 - Completed Grant Application Deadline
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Overview
Impact Oklahoma solicits proposals, due April 15 and selects grant recipients in October 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 2008 grant cycle.
This page includes most of the information contained in Impact Oklahoma's Grant Guidelines. Click to download a complete copy of the Grant Guidelines.
Impact Oklahoma's members combine $1,000 annual donations to fund significant grants, which are awarded in October of each year to local charitable organizations. Proposals are solicited for programs or projects in five focus areas : culture, environment, education, health and wellness, and family.
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 April, proposals are solicited and evaluated from June through September, and grants are awarded in October. The exact amount of funds available for award in any given funding year will be announced after April 30.
Members of Impact Oklahoma serve on committees and evaluate the grant proposals. The committees select finalists in each of the five focus areas. In October, all members have the opportunity to vote for grant recipients.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for an Impact Oklahoma grant, an organization must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
In addition, 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, Cleveland, Logan, and Oklahoma counties, Oklahoma;
- Use the full amount of Impact Oklahoma's available grant; and
- Plan to expend the grant funds within 24 months.
Types of Programs We Will Not Consider: Impact Oklahoma will not award its grant for the following:
- General operating expenses;
- Debt reduction;
- Endowments or memorials;
- Bridge funding or interim financing;
- Operational deficits;
- Partisan, political lobbying or legislative activities;
- General fund drives 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 campaigns (unrelated to a specific proposed project or program);
- Fundraising activities or events;
- Advertising; or
- Sports teams or any sports-related activity or competition.
Our guidelines are continuing 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 2008
Impact Oklahoma follows a standard Grant Application process:
- Letter of Inquiry: Due by 5:00 p.m. on February 28, 2008. Each applicant must submit a Letter of Inquiry no later than 5:00 p.m. on February 28, 2008. Impact Oklahoma members will review all of the submitted Letters of Inquiry and, on or before March 15, 2008, invite certain organizations to complete a Grant Application. You may download the requirements for the Letter of Inquiry.
- Grant Application: Due by 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 2008. Each organization invited by Impact Oklahoma to complete a Grant Application must submit its application no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 2008.
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Please mail applications to:
Impact Oklahoma
The application must be received - not simply postmarked - by the deadline.
P.O. Box 20149
Oklahoma City, OK 73156 - Impact Oklahoma will provide our 2008 Grant Application Form to those organizations invited to submit a detailed grant application. If you wish to see what will be included in the form, the Grant Application Overview provides a summary of the questions you will be asked to answer and the types of information you will be expected to provide should you be invited to apply. You may use the Grant Application Overview to assess your readiness to participate in the Grant Application process and to begin collecting information.
- Grant Application Review: April 15 through August 1, 2008.
- Site visits for 15 Semi-finalists: *Dates to be arranged. By appointment with Focus Area Committees for site visit. The FAC chairs will schedule the visits.
- Presentation of 5 finalists to Membership: October 23, 2008. 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, with each member casting one vote and the majority deciding the grant recipients. The annual meeting is scheduled for October 23, 2008.
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 substantially 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.
Correspondence: All written correspondence should be sent to: Impact Oklahoma Grant Administrator, P.O. Box 20149, Oklahoma City, OK 73156. If you have any questions regarding the application process, please e-mail us at impactokgrants@cox.net.