Request for Proposals

Deadline: 5:00 p.m. July 12, 2003 


July 2, 2003

Dear Friend:
We are pleased to invite you to apply for a grant from the Open Door Fund, a fund of The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. This fund was established in 1996 to provide funding opportunities for Boulder County’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) organizations and other groups serving GLBT needs. We will be accepting applications through Monday, August 11, 2003.

Grant funds have been made available this year by our annual Monsoon dinner and auction, as well as local fund raising. This year, about $20,000 will be available to individuals, groups, and organizations serving the Boulder County GLBT community.

Categories of special interest for funding include:

• Gathering Places: GLBT people have identified as a primary need safe venues to gather.
• Communications and Networks: This might include – but is not limited to – newsletters, resource guides, or Internet services.
• Social, Recreational, Arts and Cultural Programs
• Spiritual Needs
• Mental Health and Counseling
• Youth Needs
• Family and Relationships
• Workplace Issues
• Other Unmet Needs: If we failed to identify an area that is important to you or your organization, we encourage you to let us know. Please identify the need and offer evidence of why it is a need.
  

Please be advised that policies of The Community Foundation and the Open Door Fund prevent us from funding the following: 

• Proposals where grant money would be used to further a particular political or religious doctrine; 
  
• Agencies or individuals without §501(c)(3) status, although you are invited to apply under the umbrella of a sponsoring agency; or 
  
• Proposals serving populations outside of Boulder County.

Your proposal should include the following:

1. The Colorado Common Grant Application cover;
2. A typed discussion (no more than three pages, please) of your proposed project, including who will be involved and how the program works or will work;
3. A program budget, indicating how you anticipate using the grant money, and where any additional funding is coming from;
4. If you received funding last year, YOU MUST SUBMIT A ONE-PAGE PROGRESS REPORT ON YOUR PROJECT, OR YOUR PROPOSAL WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED;
5. A list of your board or directors, or that of your §501(c)(3) sponsor*;
6. Proof of your (or your sponsor’s) §501(c)(3) status*. If you are partnering with a fiscal sponsor, we will require a letter on their letterhead confirming the affiliation;
7. A copy of your organization’s non-discrimination policy (preference will be given to those that include sexual orientation)*;
8. Additional documentation or letters of support are welcome.
   

* If you have applied for funding from The Community Foundation within the past 12 months, and the information you submitted is still current, you do not need to resubmit these items.

Mail or deliver your application (one original plus four copies) to:
The Open Door Fund
C/O The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County
1123 Spruce Street
Boulder, CO 80302
DEADLINE: 5 p.m. August 11, 2003

Please feel free to call Morgan Rogers at 303.442.0436 or e-mail morgan@commfound.org if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Joe and Pat Gillach
Co-Chairs, Grants Committee

P.S. The Advisory Committee of the Open Door Fund encourages all GLBT organizations in Boulder County to list themselves on the special web site called Culture of Giving which has been established by The Community Foundation to offer nonprofits a chance to tell potential donors about themselves. For information and to register your organization, visit http://www.cultureofgiving.org/nonprofits.cfm