For Schools
The resources of the Foundation are devoted to the support of independent secondary (grades 9-12) education. As a matter of Board policy, a school will be considered for a grant only if it is in the United States or its territories and is a full and active member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).
The first step in the process is for the Head of School to request a place on the Agenda by phone for one of the meetings of the Board. This should be done promptly since there are a limited number of spaces on each Agenda. The Board meets three times a year to consider proposals - November, April, and June. Deadlines for submitting proposals are September 15, March 7, and April 1, respectively. No proposals can be considered from schools that have not reserved a place on an Agenda.
The Head of School should next arrange an appointment with the Executive Director of the Foundation at his office. Interview deadlines for the November and June Agendas are September 15, and April 1, respectively.
Most grants are made at a level of $50,000 or less, and every grant is expected to have a matching component (at least one-to-one) with the extent of the match being an appropriate challenge for the particular school. The Board hopes that schools will see a grant from the Foundation as a means to leverage other support as significantly as possible. Matching grants are used with a view towards creating greater impact and broader results, particularly in attracting gifts from corporations as well as individuals. In general, the Board assumes that matching funds will be used to address the same general need as the grant monies. Even though endowment grants are not made to schools with established endowments, matching funds may be directed to endowment to support a program initiated by a grant.
Matching challenges must be completed within one year following the date of the grant unless an alternative, later twelve-month period is specifically described in the grant proposal and agreed to by the Board. To be counted, a gift must be made within the agreed matching period and for the specific purpose of meeting the matching challenge. No gift may be counted toward the match if it is made or pledged outside this specified matching period. If a distinct, focused effort is made to secure the matching funds, every dollar raised in the effort will count toward the match. On the other hand, if the matching dollars are raised as part of regular annual giving efforts, only the increase in a donor's giving from the previous year may be counted. Moreover, the Foundation only matches cash gifts, not pledges or gifts in-kind. Finally, the Foundation will not match funds given in response to another matching challenge, but there is no conflict if a third party offers to match some or all of the Edward E. Ford funds and the funds given to meet the matching challenge.
The Board has agreed to consider under the normal application process some grants as large as $100,000 in order to participate more substantially in projects that are particularly imaginative and likely to be of benefit broadly to independent schools. Generally speaking, such grants will not be made for building projects and with few exceptions will be directed to program initiatives rather than endowment with the expectation that once begun, the right initiative should find the support needed to continue from within the school's constituency. The Edward E. Ford Educational Leadership Grants are solicited by invitation only and at the present time are 250,000 each.
Schools which plan to submit proposals for grants larger than $50,000 must discuss that intent with the Executive Director well in advance of the month during which the Board will consider the proposal. For such proposals the school can expect to add an additional page to its presentation of the project, using 4 rather than 3 pages for the narrative portion of the submission package.
The Board hopes to generate creative thinking within schools so that the resources of the Foundation can be used to do important things that might otherwise go undone--things that can make a real difference in the lives of students and faculty. The Board will consider any proposal that a school sees as essential to its needs but is particularly interested in opportunities to participate in projects and programs of direct benefit to teaching faculty and to the ability of schools to attract talented people to the profession. We encourage schools to develop proposals that address: faculty recruitment including recruitment from minority populations, approaches to faculty compensation in the broadest sense to include benefits and quality of life as well as salaries, innovative models for faculty growth and professional development, and planning for retirement. There must be ways to use resources more imaginatively and more effectively to make a life of teaching in an independent school more visibly attractive to those who have the talents needed for the profession. The Board is eager to partner with schools in such initiatives.
As noted earlier, the Board concentrates its efforts on grants for direct application to program initiatives. Some endowment grants may be made to spur endowment giving in schools that are young or without a meaningful endowment, but for schools with established endowments such grants would only be considered if leveraged significantly by matching funds. Endowments established, at least in part by grants from the Foundation, must be able to be tracked in terms of total gift value and current market value. A reasonable yield from such endowments must be used annually for purpose intended.
All applicants considered by the Board for a grant, whether or not a grant is made, are asked to wait at least three years before making another application. Schools which secure a place on the Board's agenda and then withdraw late in the process when it is no longer possible to have another school take that place have essentially used the opportunity even though they have not presented a proposal to the Board. They should also expect to be asked to wait three years before entering the process again.
Grants are not made to schools where the Head has held that office for less than a year.
No grants are made to individuals or to schools in foreign countries.
Because of limited funds and numerous grant requests, the Foundation unfortunately has to turn down many worthwhile proposals that fall within its guidelines.
Grant recipients are expected to report to the Foundation on the use of the grant once the money has been put to use.
All correspondence should be sent to the Executive Director at his office.
The Foundation reserves the right to reject any proposal. Grounds for rejection include but are not limited to a lack of compliance with the Foundation's guidelines as outlined herein. Proposals which are incomplete, which do not meet the stated deadlines, or which do not follow these guidelines may not be accepted for consideration.
For Associations
On the urging of NAIS, the Foundation initiated a pilot program to assist NAIS State and Regional Associations in funding professional development for teachers and administrators. That program is no longer experimental. The Board sees it as an essential part of its effort to support independent secondary schools in this country and their students and faculty, particularly when issues arise that simply can't be successfully addressed by individual schools. An apparent declining pool of qualified candidates for leadership positions in schools is one of those issues, and the Board is interested in helping to provide more extensive training for new and potential school leaders and additional support for Heads of schools in their early years in that position. The Board encourages Associations to think about those issues as well as others of importance to them as they consider the possibility of bringing a proposal to the Foundation.
All applicants must be State or Regional Member Associations of the NAIS. Since the focus of the Foundation is directed to the work of students and faculty in independent secondary (grades 9-12) schools, proposals from Associations must be for support of programs that directly affect one or both of these groups. Support will not be provided for administrative expenses of the Association.
The Board will consider grants as large as $100,000 and would expect a matching component that is appropriate to the particular proposal, which might well be less than the amount of the grant. Both the size of the grant and the nature of that matching component should be discussed with the Executive Director of the Foundation well in advance of actually submitting a proposal. As in the past, proposals developed collaboratively by more than one Association will also be considered, and the Board continues to be particularly interested in initiatives that can become models for other Associations.
The Director of any Association applying for a grant must meet with the Executive Director of the Foundation at the office in Portland, Maine to discuss the grant and discuss with the Executive Director the structure and purpose of his or her Association. The Director should expect to discuss the history and programs of the Association, its funding sources, and its plans for the future. He or she should send in advance the completed Supplementary Information for Associations form and a copy of the current operating budget for the Association.
All grants will include a matching component that is appropriate for the particular project. The maximum grant from the Foundation will be $100,000. Funds may be expended over a period of three years or at one time. In securing matching funds, an Association may, of course, obtain gifts or grants in response to the Foundation's grant. Such monies do count. But it is also possible for the Association to count fees and other charges generated by a project or monies simply transferred from other resources. The important point is that some appropriate portion of the total cost of the project will be supplied by sources other than the grant of the Foundation. A Resolution of the Board of the Association to this point is sufficient support for a request to the Trustee to release the funds granted.
Proposals developed collaboratively by more than one Association will be considered.
All applicants considered by the Board for a grant, whether or not a grant is made, are asked to wait at least three years before making another application. Grants are not made to Associations where the Executive Director has held that office for less than a year.
Associations receiving grants will be expected to share the results of their grant.
Because of limited funds and numerous grant requests, the Foundation unfortunately has to turn down many worthwhile proposals that fall within its guidelines.
Grant recipients are expected to report to the Foundation on the use of the grant once the money has been put to use.
All correspondence should be sent to the Executive Director at his office.
