1) Does HMF have grant deadlines?

2) Is there a best time to submit a grant request?

3) Is HMF looking to fund certain types of requests? 

4) Does HMF limit its funding to certain geographic areas, groups, or causes? 

5) Why does HMF ask for two years of financial statements ? What if we are a new organization?

6) How do we make an appointment with HMF staff and/or directors? 

7) How do we return a completed application?

8) Do you have any tips for our organization to help us improve our chances for funding?

9) If our grant request is declined, will you tell us the reasons?

1) Does HMF have grant deadlines?

 No, HMF accepts grant applications year-round.

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2)  Is there a best time to submit a grant request?

 No. Typical private foundations are required by law to give away five percent of their assets each year. HMF is cognizant of this requirement and is constantly targeting an average five-percent payout.  Some years we distribute less, some years more; but on average, we fulfill our legal requirement. Grantees can find the level of "undistributed income" in Part 8, line 6F, in IRS Form 990-PF.

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3) Is HMF looking to fund certain types of requests? 

We do not fund individuals. We can only support organizations with a valid 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS and cities, counties, library districts, churches and schools recognized by the government. For these organizations, HMF prefers funding one-time projects that have defined parameters and specific timelines. Operating grants are sometimes funded for one to five years, but this is not our normal practice. We generally do not like funding foundations (although we will make exceptions).

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4) Does HMF limit its funding to certain geographic areas, organizations, or causes? 

A large majority of HMF funding (more than 90%) is in Idaho. Idaho projects have a higher chance of funding. HMF generally does not support political or contentious issues, but if a grantee can make a case for their cause or project, HMF will consider the request. To get a feel for what type of grants HMF makes, click here to see some prior year's list of grants from our annual report.

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5) Why does HMF ask for two years of financial information? What if we are a new organization? 

HMF considers the efficiency and resources of grantees. In general, organizations with ample resources to operate or with high overhead are less likely to receive funding.  New organizations are eligible for funding. HMF sometimes funds compelling grant request to help new organizations get started. But since these requests are riskier, they will not have the same chance of funding when competing with requests from established nonprofits. 

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6) How do we make an appointment with HMF directors?

For an appointment, contact us at 208-345-5225 or grants@harrymorrisonfoundation.org. Please make an appointment as we are a small foundation with no staff and most of our directors have other employment outside the foundation.

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7) How do we return a completed application?

You can download our application from this website.  It has two parts; one is a Word document and the other an Excel spreadsheet. Once you have finished the application, return it by email to grants@harrymorrisonfoundation.org.  If you have questions about filling out the application, please contact Justin by phone or email.

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8) Do you have any tips for our organization to help us improve our chances for funding? 

Yes. In addition to some of the tips given in the answers above, we have created a table to help you.  It compares some of the qualities and criteria we are looking at when we review a grant.

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9) If our grant request is declined, will you tell us the reasons?

No, it is not our policy to discuss the reasons why a grant is declined. We have found this often leads to arguments and ill will. If your grant is turned down, it is likely the request fell too heavily on the "lower chance of funding" side of our scale.