COLUMBIA.ORG

Deadlines for Application Application Form Application Instructions
Grant Proposal Format Screening Procedures Contact with Staff

Application Instructions

Please follow these application instructions carefully. Applications that are incomplete or that do not follow these instructions will not be considered.

Proposals should be submitted by the application deadline stated for each respective program. The foundation will only consider proposals that are within the current program guidelines and are from organizations that qualify as public charities under the laws, rules and regulations of the United States Internal Revenue Service (or the foreign equivalent thereof for organizations based in the U.K.).

The foundation does not accept proposals sent by facsimile or the Internet, and strongly discourages them being sent by overnight express services of any kind (with the exception of proposals from organizations in the U.K.). Please use the regular postal service. The deadline will be considered met if the postmarked date on your application envelope is on or before the stated program deadline date.

Proposals submitted to the foundation should be two-sided and produced on recycled or tree-free paper (see www.conservatree.com for information about paper alternatives). Please staple and number your pages so they are not lost. Do not enclose binders, folders, report covers, or other excess packaging materials. Please do not send videos, DVDs, CDs, cassettes or other bulky items, unless requested.

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GRANT PROPOSAL FORMAT

If your organization or program matches our program guidelines, the items listed below.

An application form (see application form section)
A two-to-three page summary addressing all of items number one through thirteen below (this is a condensed summary of the main proposal and should highlight the most important points in each of the thirteen sections)
A proposal narrative and attachments as outlined below

Please clearly indicate whether the proposal is for general support or for a specific project. Proposal narratives should not exceed ten pages. Proposals must provide all of the following information and should be formatted with sections numbered and subtitled to correspond to the order below.

1.	Grant purpose and funding request
2.	Need for the program or project
3.	Plan of action, including the rationale for this approach
4.	Goals (what the organization/project is attempting to achieve)
5.	Methods/strategies to achieve goals (how goals will be accomplished/achieved)
6.	Timeline
7.	Anticipated barriers/challenges and the strategy for negotiating these
8.	Impact and significance, including potential relevance beyond immediate scope
9.	Evaluation/assessment plan outlining how progress toward goals will be assessed, what work products will be developed, what discernable effects on the problem being addressed are expected to be achieved, what public interest benefit is anticipated, and how this will be determined, monitored and reported
10.	Qualifications of the organization and staff to implement the program or project
11.	Relationship to similar programs or organizations
12.	Future plans for the program or project, including dissemination of results
13.	Organizational development/capacity building needs and plans

Please provide the following attachments on separate pages labeled to correspond to the order below (NOTE: If the grant proposal is for general support, please provide information for the organization only).

A.	Organization description (including mission and summary of accomplishments for the past year)
B.	Itemized project budget and time period covered
C.	Itemized organizational budget and time period covered
D.	List of funders and grants secured (include dollar amounts) for the project and time period covered
E.	List of funders approached and grant requests pending (include dollar amounts) for the project and time period covered
F.	List of funders and grants secured (include dollar amounts) for the organization and time period covered
G.	List of funders approached and grant requests pending (include dollar amounts) for the organization and time period covered
H.	Board of directors list, including board position, organizational affiliation, and telephone number for each board member
I.	Brief biographies of key project and organization staff, including a summary of qualifications and responsibilities
J.	Statement of actual income and expenses for the project for the last two years, if applicable
K.	Statement of actual income and expenses for the organization for the last two years
L.	Balance sheet/statement of financial position for the organization for the last two years (include an audited statement for the most recent fiscal year available)
M.	Annual report, if available
N.	One copy of relevant articles, publications, or other publicity about the project or organization (do not send copies of videos, DVDs, CDs, cassettes, and other bulky items unless requested by foundation staff)
O.	IRS Letter of Determination of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for the organization or fiscal sponsor
P.	Fiscal sponsorship agreement, if applicable

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PROPOSAL SCREENING PROCEDURES

Columbia Foundation receives approximately five hundred requests each year. Although many applications merit support and fall within its guidelines, the foundation is only able to fund about ten new applicants in each program area each year. A three-stage review process follows each program application deadline: 1) a screening process by the foundation's staff; 2) review and discussion by the foundation's program committees and community advisors; 3) foundation staff develop and present recommendations to the board of directors for decisions on grants. Grant decisions are made approximately four to six months after the program area deadline.

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CONTACT WITH FOUNDATION STAFF

The Columbia Foundation welcomes phone calls from applicants to clarify the foundation's program guidelines and application procedures. However, foundation staff will not pre-evaluate proposed programs or projects, and will not solicit grant proposals over the phone. Calls to discuss the details of pending proposals or to schedule meetings are strongly discouraged. Meetings to discuss pending grant applications are initiated and scheduled by foundation staff. Such meetings are usually scheduled following receipt of a full proposal.

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Please follow all application instructions carefully. Applications that are incomplete or that do not follow these instructions will not be considered.