The Harnisch Foundation

Grant FAQs

How do we apply for a grant?

There’s only one way: you must submit an electronic Letter of Inquiry. It’s short and to-the-point, and it will tell us in a hurry whether we want to know more about your proposal. If it is determined from the Letter of Inquiry that the request meets the Foundation’s priorities and interests, the applicant will be provided with the instructions required to prepare and submit a formal Grant Application.

What should be included in the letter of inquiry?

Keep it simple and brief.

Using our form, tell us about the organization, the project for which you seek funding, total cost of the project, how much you’ve raised for the project so far, how much you’re hoping we’ll give you, the timeframe of your project, and why you think this would be a good investment for The Harnisch Foundation.

What are The Harnisch Foundation's funding priorities?

We give priority to the projects that promise the biggest bang for the buck – we’re proud of our return on investments in innovative and catalytic ideas. Given the recent economic conditions, we are committed to keeping the promises we have already made to projects involving philanthropy, coaching, and journalism.

In the past, we’ve given operating support, program budgets, coaching grants, and funded other specific requests. However, “past performance is no guarantee of future decisions!”

I am an arts and culture nonprofit and see that the arts are not listed among The Harnisch Foundation's program areas. Are we eligible to apply?

Since its inception over a decade ago, The Foundation has given a variety of grants for arts and cultural institutions and events. Several HF team members have earned their living in the performing arts, so we are especially sensitive to the importance of the arts in communities.

Although this is not a primary area of funding, we do consider requests from arts and culture organizations, especially for access for low income and underserved populations to enrichment that adds to knowledge, skill, level of appreciation, or something lasting beyond one-time events.

How do we learn more about The Harnisch Foundation's past grants?

Visit our Meet our Grantees page to see a partial listing of grants we have made (and why) since our inception in 1998. You can also view our IRS-Form-990PF from years past to see a complete listing of our grantees.

Does The Harnisch Foundation provide general operating support?

Most of our grants aren’t large enough to provide significant operating support.

However, we have provided start-up funding for a number of nonprofits, we’ve underwritten salaries and consultant fees, we’ve bought office equipment and paid for web services. It’s unlikely that you’ll get general operating support from us, but if your organization has an obvious point of interest for us, we wouldn’t rule it out altogether.

What is the maximum grant amount that The Harnisch Foundation funds? What is the range?

While we have given $1,000,000+ grants, we do not encourage large grant requests. We invest most heavily in projects in which we are partners or founders. If you’re not our partner, your grant will be smaller – in the range of $1000, $2500, $10,000, and up. We look at the budget for each project and make our decisions based on that.

May we apply for a grant or send a letter of inquiry via e-mail or fax?

An electronic Letter of Inquiry, found on this site under How To Apply, is required and the most expedient way to submit a request. Please don’t send any other materials until we ask you - and we’ll ask only after we approve your Letter of Inquiry. We do not accept applications via fax.

Does The Harnisch Foundation have deadlines for submitting Letters of Inquiry or Grant Applications? How much time does it take for a review?

Our promise is to review applications and award grants in April and October. This is a change for 2010. We reserve the right to award grants at any time. If we know right away that your application isn’t going to be funded, we’ll tell you as soon as that decision’s made – we won’t make you wait until April or October if we’ve reviewed the application sooner.

Deadlines for Letters of Inquiry are due on the specific dates listed in the How To Apply section, prior to the granting month.

We will respond to a Letter of Inquiry within 2 weeks of receiving it. We will either give you specific instructions on how to submit a Grant Application, or we will tell you that an application will not be invited.

No applications will be accepted past the due date listed in the How To Apply section. If you miss the deadline, you may submit in time for the next grant cycle.

Applications received before the deadline will be reviewed and responded to by the end of the granting month.

For details on How to Apply, click here.

Must we submit an audited financial statement with our application?

We won’t ask for your financial statements until we ask you to submit a formal grant application. You don’t need to send it with your Letter of Inquiry.

When you submit your formal grant proposal, at that time we will require audited financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal year if your organization has been in existence for more than five years with operating income of $500,000 or more.

Organizations with annual income under $500,000 or new agencies (founded within the last five years) must submit an independent review of their financial statements, completed by a CPA.

We can’t process your application unless it’s complete, so there will be a checklist of requirements including all the attachments we’ll need. Please do not submit your application unless it’s complete. We’ll return it to you unread.

May we contact The Foundation about our proposed project?

Please make inquiries by email. Contact Jenny Raymond, Grants Manager with any questions you may have about your Letter of Inquiry or the application process. We’re sorry, but phone calls will not be accepted.

How do we check on the status of our request?

If it’s been two weeks since you submitted your Letter of Inquiry and you haven’t heard from Grants Manager Jenny Raymond, you may inquire by email to determine the status of your request.

You will be notified when your Grant Application is received. It is our intention to process Grant Applications within 30 days of receipt.