Stronger Philanthropy recognizes the challenges many foundations face with traditional application processes which are reactive. With open processes where any charity can apply for grants, the foundation is overwhelmed by a high volume of requests. Most of these are quickly discarded. It is unfortunate that extensive work is done by charities to develop LOIs and grant applications, and the result is a disappointing no. This approach is a waste of resources for charities and is overwhelming for funders.

We encourage foundations to become more proactive by selecting only those charities that interest them in advance of any application received.

In Stronger Philanthropy’s new system, we’ve done away with LOIs and the confusion of whether a charity’s hard work will pay off. First, we interview charities to determine their top three priorities for funding. Next, we create one-page Charity Profiles aligned to the stated priorities of our clients and present them to clients at the beginning of their annual granting window. Each client makes a decision whether to invite a grant application from the charity at this time. We will contact the charity if any of our clients request an application.

Charities can book an appointment with us if they believe their work aligns with any of our clients’ stated priorities. Click on the Client tab in the menu bar to explore the priorities of our clients.

We do the work of creating your Charity Profile. Only if clients express an interest will we contact charities directly to complete a brief application for funding.

UPDATE: This process has been modified and is described here.