The Swayne Family Foundation 2010 grant cycle is well underway.  The foundation will be making grants in two of its four strategic areas of focus:  Youth Development and Education and Environment.  The grant application process this year consists of the following steps:

• the submission of Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) by non-profits seeking grants;
• a review of the LOIs by the foundation leading to a selection of those organizations who will be asked to submit complete applications;
• and finally, selection by the foundation of the organizations to receive funding in this year’s cycle.

The deadline for the LOIs was May 7.  LOIs were received from two sources: organizations who were asked by the foundation to submit a Letter of Inquiry; and from organizations who submitted LOIs directly through this recently established website.  The foundation will complete its evaluation of the LOIs in early July.  Organizations who will be asked to submit complete applications will be notified no later than July 12.  Their completed applications will need to be submitted to the foundation by September 15.  The applications will be evaluated by the foundation with the 2010 grant recipients notified no later than December 1.

The Swayne Family Foundation is extremely pleased with the caliber of the Letter of Inquiries it has received.  We want to commend all the organizations who submitted Letters of Inquiry for the work they are doing in the communities they serve.  The selection process will be challenging.  Our goal will be to make grant awards to those organizations/programs we believe most nearly match our strategic objectives and our overriding goal of “Strengthening Communities for Better Tomorrows.” The number of grants to be made and the size of the grants will be determined solely at the discretion of the Swayne Family Foundation board giving consideration to its assessment of the grant requests and the foundation’s capacity for funding.