Step 1 - Familiarize yourself with the "Grant Policies for Unrestricted Funds"
Grant Policies for Unrestricted Funds
11. The number and size of grants awarded are related to the amount of funds available in unrestricted funds each year.
2. Grants will only be made to qualified 501(c)(3) and governmental tax-exempt organizations who have been in operation for one full year.
3. A nonprofit agency who is awarded a grant of $5,000 or more cannot apply again for two years.
4. All grants awarded must be used exclusively for the purpose requested. You must contact Foundation for Southeast Texas for approval to use funds for a different purpose.
5. If complete funding is not provided for the proposed project and/or funds provided by Foundation for Southeast Texas are not used for the proposed project by April 30, the funds must be returned to the Foundation.
6. Grant applicants must be based in Hardin, Jefferson or Orange Counties and grants must serve populations in at least one of the three counties. The grants committee will consider applications from all communities in the area it serves for projects beginning May 1 of the current year to April 30 of the following year.
7. Grants are made to provide for continuously changing and emerging community needs.
8. Grants will address the following areas of civic and social concerns: arts and culture, preservation, education, health, social services, youth and elderly, economic development, and civic affairs. Governmental organizations may also be served if the purpose of the grant goes beyond normal limits of service.
9. Grants are awarded once a year.
10. Grant recipients are required to make a report to the Foundation upon completion of the project for which the funds have been awarded. No new application will be accepted from the recipient before receiving this report.
11. Grants will not be made to individuals, for political purposes, for financing fund raisers, for endowments, for religious purposes, for paying off indebtedness or for advertising.
12. The grants committee may ask the applicant for an interview.
13. Grants will not be awarded for regular salaries but will be considered for special programming and services of performers or contracted specialists required to make the project possible.
14. If grant application is for scholarships for camps, programs, etc., detailed criteria for selection of the scholarship recipients must be provided in the grant application.
15. Only one application per nonprofit for competitive grants per year will be accepted.
16. Grant will not be awarded for applications that support only one person or one family.
17. Grants will not be awarded to Foundations.
18. If a grant applicant's salary budget is greater than 50% of the yearly budget, an explanation is requested.
19. Grants are awarded at the discretion of the grants committee.
