Local Initiative Funding Partners (LIFP)
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Focus on Funders - Community Foundations

"Get to know your own community foundation, its staff and the donors' priorities to determine if there is a source of funds for your project." ~ Annie Koppel Van Hanken, the Tulsa Community Foundation

DIFFERENT CRITERIA

  • Operating funds: Some community foundations support ongoing operations and even make it a priority to maintain existing programs. Others are bound only to fund new projects, capital expenses or other needs.
  • Donor directed: Some community foundations are composed entirely of funds whose distribution is recommended by their benefactors. If a project does not fit the criteria of any donor, the foundation cannot award any dollars to it. Staff members liaison between applicants and donors. For example, they may bring your elementary school health project to a donor interested in funding children’s programs.
  • Target area: All community foundations are defined by their geographic focus whether they fund within city boundaries, in certain counties or regionally. Your project must fit the location to qualify for funding.
  • Deadlines: While some foundations accept applications all the time, others set certain times of the year when they prepare to bring funding requests to the board. Some community foundations also develop their own projects and issue formal calls for proposals.
  • Staff size: A smaller foundation may have an executive director and two support staff while a larger one may have program officers with responsibility for grants in specific areas such as health, arts or education. Learn who is the best person for you to approach.

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Local Initiative Funding Partners (LIFP)
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RWJF Local Funding Partnerships, 760 Alexander Rd. P.O. Box 1, Princeton, NJ 08543-0001 609.275.4128
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships (formerly known as Local Initiative Funding Partners—LIFP) is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation located at the New Jersey Hospital Association through a grant to the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) of New Jersey.
© HRET 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008