Grant Proposal Guidelines
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Proposals to the Foundation should set forth the material terms of the grant. A prospective grantee should be prepared to work closely with program staff in revising and refining the proposal before it is finalized. When preparing an invited proposal, please note that the Foundation values concision and few, if any, superlatives in proposal narratives.
Invited proposals should follow the requirements set forth in the Foundation's "Grant Proposal Guidelines" (see below).
Proposal Guidelines by Program Area
- Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities (PDF)
- Arts and Cultural Heritage (PDF)
- Diversity (PDF)
- Scholarly Communications (PDF)
- International Higher Education and Strategic Projects (PDF)
Forms to be Submitted with Proposal
As described in the "Grant Proposal Guidelines," invited proposals to the Foundation should include:
- a completed "Proposal Information Sheet"; and
- a completed budget, using the Foundation's "Budget and Financial Report" or "Budget and Financial Report for Non-US Institutions" templates.
- (Please note, we recommend first saving these templates to your desktop as "Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook" files, rather than opening them directly in the browser.)
In most cases, a prospective foreign grantee will also be required to provide information for the Foundation to determine that it is the equivalent of a United States public charity. When necessary, program staff will contact prospective grantees with instructions for beginning the equivalency determination process.
Policies Governing Submission of Proposal
Prospective grantees should consult the following policies before submission of an invited proposal:
- the complete grantmaking policies;
- the Foundation's "Intellectual Property Policy," for proposals involving the development of software and/or the creation of digital images or content; and
- "Guidelines for Grants Involving Consultants and/or Subcontractors" (PDF).