Grants
Grants Application Process
The first step in the process is to have your application reviewed carefully and discussed by the Standing Committee on Grants (the “Committee”). During this step, the Committee may contact you for additional information or to schedule a meeting with you. Once the members of the Committee have thoroughly assured themselves that they understand what you hope to accomplish with the proposed grant, your proposal will be evaluated further. It will be reviewed in light of other applications for available funds and a recommendation will be made to the West 117 Foundation Board of Directors.
Members of the Board of Directors evaluate each proposal independently. They will take the Committee’s recommendations into consideration and vote to either approve (with or without considerations), reject, or to table the grant proposal. The results of the Board of Directors’ review will be communicated to you as soon as possible. Grants that are approved will be administrated according to the instructions of the Board of Directors.
Grant Monitoring
The trust placed in the West 117 Foundation - by its donors, contributors, and its status as a tax-exempt charitable organization - requires the highest fiscal integrity. Our organization has been given the stewardship of charitable dollars. In return, we are expected to ensure their proper and lawful use by our grantees. Our requirements from grantees are simple and straightforward.
- The grant must be used in accordance with the purposes set forth in the grant proposal, for purposes clearly identifiable as charitable under applicable state and federal laws. Any variation from the proposal must be approved in advance by us.
- Where projects or programs are operated by less than anticipated budgeted figures, all excess (unexpended) funds must be returned to us.
- All grant recipients must submit a midterm and final narrative report describing the progress of the program or project, as well as financial reports on how the appropriated funds are being used. These reports are reviewed by us to see if the program or project is progressing as anticipated and to verify that the expenditures are in accordance with the grant proposal. In the event that these reports are not submitted or contain discrepancies, the additional distribution of funds will be held in abeyance until satisfactory reports are received or the discrepancy is removed. When possible, some of our members will attempt to meet with the grantee (or with one or more of its representatives) and visit the project or program site.
On occasion, we will call for an independent audit, and in rare instances, it may be necessary to cancel a grant entirely. Such action, however, is highly undesirable for both us and for the grantee. The West 117 Foundation must always stand firmly on its obligation to ensure that all grants are spent solely in furtherance of the charitable purpose for which the funds were given to us. To act otherwise would compromise our public trust that our donors and contributors have invested in us.
Grant Review Schedule
Grant applications are reviewed quarterly. We will post deadlines for each quarter soon. Please check back.