Grant Proposal Rejection Letter Samples 2.0

I received another request for more language found in proposal rejection letters. This is a modified repost from summer 2009. 

For those of you who have never had the good fortune of receiving a rejection letter, below are a few samples of the vague language that can be included. I hope this is useful to our Savvy readers!

The first letter is from a larger foundation that reorganized its funding structure and thus many good organizations were left off of this year's funding cycle.

The second letter came from a smaller foundation in another state that funds specific programs and requires the applicants specifically mention a geographic priority. You'll notice the many reasons given, but that the foundation also welcomes future applications and discussion.

SAMPLE 1

Dear ABC Organization,

Thank you for your recent application to the XYZ Foundation. The decision-making process was a difficult one, with many worthwhile organizations vying for a limited amount of grant dollars.

Unfortunately, your organization was not selected for funding at this time. It is our hope that you will be able to obtain financial support from other sources. We wish you success in your efforts.

Sincerely,

XYZ Foundation Executive Director

SAMPLE 2

Dear ABC Organization,

Thank you for your most recent request for financial assistance. Unfortunately, we are unable to entertain your grant for this fiscal year.

In some cases, we do not approve a grant because the request does not specifically confine itself to [our program interests]. In others, it is because the request concerns salaries, professional fees, general operating expenses or building programs. Sometimes, we are unable to approve a request due to incomplete documentation. Unfortunately, in some cases, there simply are not sufficient assets from which to fund all worthy requests.

We invite you to submit a new request for assistance to us in the future. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you need further assistance with this matter.

Respectfully,

XYZ Foundation Board Chair

~Cheers!

Grant Writing Budgets: Direct vs. Indirect Expenses

This is a post from May 2009. After a few fundamental questions from peers and clients, I thoughts I'd share it again with Grant Savvy readers.

When creating a project budget you will need to determine your costs to support the entire program. This includes staff, supplies, building and transportation costs. It can seem scary or overwhelming to create a budget that supports an entire program, but if you break it down into your line items and approach it like you would a personal budget, you will save yourself some sweat and tears.

Usually, your costs will fall into two different categories, direct and indirect expenses.

Direct Expenses are costs that come from the purchasing of goods or services to support or start your program.

• Personnel costs (sometimes called personnel services)
• Supplies (office supplies, paper, pencils, rubber bands, printing, etc.)
• Travel (air travel, bus, car, train, room & board accommodations)
• Equipment (office furniture, cameras, printers, radios, shelves, scanners, etc)

Indirect Expenses are costs that are required to run your organization regardless of the program you want to create or support. It is best to work with your finance department to determine these costs because they can often be tricky to understand and interpret. In the simplest terms, they are usually the administrative and/or overhead costs and can be calculated in one of two ways:

• As a percentage of total direct costs (in my experience, this is most common)
• As a percentage of total personnel costs

Understanding direct vs. indirect costs is important not only because some funders don’t fund indirect expenses. Your budget reflects the financial viability of your program and you must be able to accurately display all costs associated with the life of the project. Yes, ALL costs. Don’t ever attempt to hide any of the costs you will need for your program, no matter how small.

~Cheers!