Text: 501c3 nonprofit organizations, public schools, hospitals and government agencies in 26 Delta counties are eligible. (See “Where We’re Currently Making Grants”.) Other organizations may be eligible if the proposed project has a clear charitable purpose.

Your proposal should address one of these purposes:

• Improving the conditions of people and families in the Arkansas Delta
• Building local capacity and infrastructure in the Arkansas Delta
• Fostering networks and connections across the region

Generally, we don’t provide funding for:

• Support for annual fund raising events
• Support for capital campaigns
• Projects that address sectarian religious purposes (however, faith-based organizations may apply for community-based programs)
• Projects that have a political bias
• Multi -year proposals
• Scholarships or fellowships for formal education at any level

Projects serving one or more of these counties in the Arkansas Delta are eligible:

• Arkansas
• Ashley
• Chicot
• Clay
• Craighead
• Crittenden
• Cross
• Desha
• Drew
• Greene
• Independence
• Jackson
• Jefferson
• Lawrence
• Lee
• Lincoln
• Lonoke
• Mississippi
• Monroe
• Phillips
• Poinsett
• Prairie
• Randolph
• St. Francis
• White
• Woodruff

Grant requests can begin at $5,000 and go up to $20,000, depending on the comprehensiveness of the project. While larger grant requests will be accepted, we encourage you to request only an amount that your project warrants. Larger requests can be considered if the applicant provides evidence that receiving a grant from the Arkansas Delta Endowment for Building Community will enable match funding from other sources.

This year we're using a quick and easy two-step process for applications:

• May 1 - May 22, 2012 - Letters of Inquiry accepted.
• June 1 - Finalists contacted to request full proposal. (We'll also notify you if the committee decides not to request a full proposal from your organization.)

The main question we'll ask when reading your Letter of Inquiry is, “Does this project or program improve the social and economic opportunities for children and families in the Arkansas Delta?” We’ll also consider:

• Potential benefit to the particular population served and to the Arkansas Delta as a whole
• Capacity of the organization to achieve the results outlined in the proposal
• Potential for sustainability beyond the period of the grant
• Evidence of cooperation and collaboration with other organizations working on the same issues
• Creativity of the approach

If you are asked to submit a full proposal, we’ll ask you for some basic information about your project.

1. Background and rationale (describe the challenge, need or opportunity to be addressed and why it was chosen, how the proposed concept was developed, who was involved in the planning)
2. Description of proposal’s concept (describe what will take place, when it will happen, where it will happen, who will make it happen, who will participate, partnering organizations)
3. Anticipated outcomes to be evaluated (describe the changes or improvements you expect to occur; how the changes will address the situation described above; how you plan to determine if expected outcomes did actually occur; and how the change will be measured)
4. Capacity of grantee (brief history of the organization and how it and the project director are qualified to plan and to implement the proposal)
5. Dissemination [if applicable] (if the project could be replicated elsewhere in the state or region describe how the results will be shared at the close of the grant period)
6. Sustainability [if applicable] (describe how the program will be funded after the grant ends)

You’ll also be asked to provide a project budget, list of contributions from other sources, proof of tax-exempt status (if applicable) and a list of your board of directors.

For this grant, we're looking for projects that take a creative or innovative approach to challenges facing the Delta region. What do we mean by that?