Q:
Who is eligible to apply for a grant?
A:
Nonprofit organizations that are exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of
the IRS code and fall within the Foundation’s guidelines and areas
of interest are eligible to apply for a grant. Further, we seek
organizations looking to collaborate with us as to break the cycle
of poverty through education, as we view our grantees as our
partners without whom we cannot achieve our
mission.
Q:
Does KDK-Harman have a specific geographic
focus?
A: KDK-Harman
Foundation grants funds exclusively in seven counties of Central
Texas: Travis, Williamson,
Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell,
Burnet, and Llano counties. We are seeking 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organizations with programming excellence that align with our
mission and serve the economically disadvantaged within those
geographic areas.
Q:
What organizations or programs are generally not
eligible?
A:
Grant requests must be consistent with the mission and program
interest of KDK-Harman Foundation. The Foundation does
not support:
- Grants
or loans to individuals
- Organizations
that exclude participants based on race or religion
- Adult
Basic Education (ABE) and adult ESL
- Arts
and athletic education
- Job
skills and life skills programs
- Tax-generating
entities (municipalities, school districts, etc.) for services
within their normal responsibilities
- Political
campaigns or purposes
- Any one
program more than once per calendar year
- Scholarships
at any level
- Pregnancy
prevention programs
- Sponsorships
or purchase of tickets for galas, festivals, or raffles
- School
fundraisers or events (including sports and other extracurricular
activities)
Q: What is the Foundation’s
policy on communicating with organizations interested in submitting
a request?
A: KDK-Harman Foundation is committed
to providing the best customer service possible to all prospective
and current grantees. We seek to demonstrate fairness,
responsiveness, and approachability with all applicants. Program
officers will make themselves available to all interested
organizations via phone, email, or in person to take questions or
listen to feedback. All applicant/grantee questions and concerns
will be addressed in a timely, efficient manner. We also seek to
clearly communicate our goals and strategies so that applicants can
assess how they best fit within the Foundation’s priorities.
Foundation staff will make every effort to provide a consistent
message and clear insight into the process through which applicants
are judged, both in applying for funding and, once funded, in
evaluating the success of the grant.
Q:
How do I apply for a grant?
A:
Applicants must complete and submit a Letter
of Inquiry
as a first step. If you have a question about whether the program
you have in mind is a good fit, please feel free to contact a
program officer. Letters of Inquiry (“LOI”) are to be from the
executive director of the nonprofit organization and are to be sent
via email to admin@kdk-harman.org. All LOI’s and
grant applications are to be submitted electronically. Once
submitted, you will receive an email confirmation that your LOI has
been received. If you do not receive an email confirmation or if you
have problems with electronic submissions please contact us.
Upon
review, the Foundation will send an email either inviting you to
submit a grant application for further consideration or declining
your request. If you
are invited to complete an application, it is to be submitted
electronically to admin@kdk-harman.org.
Q:
What does your foundation look for in its
proposals?
A:
Please refer to Examples of Funded
Projects, which provides the types of projects and organizations
that we have funded. It is important to note that in addition
to being consistent with the mission and program interest of
KDK-Harman Foundation and meeting the grant guidelines, the
Foundation looks for one or more of the following conditions in a
proposal:
- Demonstrated
organizational strength and success.
- Programmatic
endeavors with measurable and proven outcomes.
- Best-in-class
programming.
- Organizations
with a mission in alignment with the Foundation’s.
- Majority
of organization’s budget is allocated to educational programs.
- Collaboration
with other entities to maximize the impact of service.
- The
proposed project is needed and supported by its surrounding
community.
- Reasoned,
efficient, and sound process plan, which includes measurable
outcomes of proposed project. See Evaluation:
Measuring Your Results.
Q:
Can you explain your Rural Central
Texas Grant Initiative?
A: KDK-Harman Foundation is
committed to serving communities throughout Central Texas,
specifically identified as the counties of Williamson, Hays,
Bastrop, Caldwell, Burnet, and Llano, in addition to Travis County.
To emphasize this commitment, we have developed a new Rural
Central Texas Grant Initiative to award grants of $10,000
to organizations in the rural counties of Central Texas with a need for capacity
building funds. A
typical applicant for our Rural Central Texas Grant Initiative will
have limited infrastructure, a smaller budget than large urban
non-profits, little or no professional staff (volunteer-driven),
and/or may or may not have a long operating history. Applicants who
qualify for this category should follow the same grant application
process that the Foundation outlines on the website; however, please
acknowledge that you are applying under the Rural Central Texas
Grant Initiative in your Letter of Inquiry (LOI).
Q:
Should we include letters of support?
A:
Generally, they are not necessary. If the staff person
reviewing your proposal concludes one is required, they will ask for
it during the review process.
Q:
Is there a deadline for grant
proposals?
A:
No, proposals are accepted throughout the year. Applicants are
encouraged to submit requests as early as possible. Furthermore, the
Foundation does need to receive the LOI within two months of
the next board meeting.
It is recommended that if invited to complete a grant
application, it should be submitted within three weeks of invitation
to allow enough time to process the request and complete the due
diligence process on a timely basis for the next quarterly board
meeting. For example,
if you are seeking funding for a fall program, it should be
considered at the May board meeting, preferably, or the August
meeting at the latest.
We should receive the LOI no later than March for a May
meeting and June for the August meeting. This will provide the
Foundation staff the time to first review the LOI, and if invited to
the next step, complete the due diligence process which takes
several weeks. Board
meetings are held February, May, August, and
November.
Q:
What is the grant proposal process?
A:
The grant proposal process is simple and
straightforward:
- All
applicants must complete a Letter
of Inquiry as the
first step. LOI’s are
accepted any time throughout the year.
- Foundation
staff will review submitted Letters of Inquiry (“LOI’s”) and will
send an email either declining your request or inviting you to
submit a grant application for further consideration.
- If you
are invited to submit a Grant
Application, it is
recommended that the application be submitted within three weeks
of invitation to allow enough time to process the request and
complete the due diligence process on a timely basis for the next
board meeting. A telephone conference and site visit will be
scheduled as part of the review process.
- All
decisions are made at the quarterly board meeting.
- Funds
are disbursed typically 30-45 days after board approval, once
the grant contract has been
executed.
Q: If
my Letter of Inquiry is accepted, does that mean that our
organization is likely to be funded?
A:
Not necessarily. If you are invited to submit a grant
application on the basis of the Letter of Inquiry that does not mean
the request has been approved. It means the Foundation is willing to
give the proposed program further
consideration.
Q:
If my Letter of Inquiry or grant application is declined, will you
explain why it was rejected or critique the
proposal?
A: Most
often, the reason for a grant denial is simply that the Foundation
is only able to fund a small percentage of qualified applicants.
This means that excellent projects, even ones that fall within our
areas of interest and are in alignment with our mission, may not be
funded. That being said, because the KDK-Harman Foundation is
committed to transparency in its grantmaking process, Foundation
staff will do their best to provide specific feedback as to the
reasons for a grant denial at the time that an LOI or application is
declined. If further explanation or clarification is needed,
applicants are encouraged to contact their program officer with
additional questions.
Q: If
my grant application is declined, when can we reapply for
funding?
A:
You can reapply twelve months after your grant application is
denied. The process
begins again. The first
step of the process is a Letter of Inquiry. If it is approved, the
second step is the grant application.
Q: If
my grant application is presented to the board at the quarterly
board meeting, does that mean that our organization is likely to be
funded?
A:
Not necessarily. If you are invited to submit a grant
application that does not mean the request has been approved. It
means the board will consider it at the quarterly board
meeting. All grants are
approved by the board, not the staff.
Q:
Does KDK-Harman fund newly established
nonprofits?
A:
The Foundation strongly prefers to fund organizations that have been
established for at least three years and have demonstrated
organizational strength and success. With this said, KDK-Harman is
interested in funding outstanding programs that have been
established and proven to be successful in other parts of the
country, yet new to Central Texas.
Q:
Does KDK-Harman have a minimum grant
size?
A:
Due to our small staff and our desire to make a significant
financial impact with our grants, KDK-Harman prefers to make grants
of $25,000 and above.
Q:
Does KDK-Harman fund multi-year
grants?
A:
The Foundation generally gives grants for the current year
only.
Q:
Does KDK-Harman require grant
evaluations?
A:
KDK-Harman Foundation considers evaluation to be an essential part
of its grantmaking. The evaluation process allows us to assess the
impact of our grantmaking partnerships to insure that our
contributed dollars have maximum effect in assisting members of our
community achieve academic success with our ultimate goal of
breaking the cycle of poverty through education. Evaluation reports
are a required condition of the grant.
Q:
When are grant evaluations due?
A:
An evaluation report is required of each grantee every six
months until the project funded by the KDK-Harman
Foundation has been completed. For example, if the project lasts one
year, two evaluation reports are to be submitted (i.e., an interim
and final).
Q:
What information will the evaluation report
request?
A:
A sample Evaluation
Report
is posted on our website.
The goals outlined in the evaluation report are specific to
each grantee and will be those same goals stated in the original
grant application. It
is recommended that the evaluation report be reviewed in conjunction
with the completion of the Grant
Application. For more information
regarding evaluation reporting, view Evaluation: Measuring Your
Results.
Q:
If we become grantees of the KDK-Harman Foundation, what should we
expect in the area of communication, beyond the written interim and
final evaluation
reports?
A: We
love to meet and talk with our nonprofit partners throughout the
year. Foundation staff are always eager to answer questions or
receive feedback. Please e-mail us updates regarding your
organization or specific program we are funding. We also enjoy learning about
the success stories of individual participants or students, so
please send us a quick e-mail when you have an opportunity and tout
the successes you are having changing the lives of Central Texas
families. Regarding the
evaluations, we typically will have a meeting over coffee to review
the interim and final evaluations. In short, we want an open
dialogue and relationship with our partners.
Q:
What is the purpose of the KDK-Harman Foundation Feedback
Questionnaires?
A: KDK-Harman Foundation is
committed to excellence and continuous improvement, and seeks to
pursue high engagement with our prospective, past and current
grantees. Therefore, we have developed two questionnaires to gather
feedback. All responses are anonymous. Your candid insights about
the LOI/grant application process will allow our board to review and
determine future improvements in our process. All agencies that
submit a request to the Foundation will receive the Applicant
Feedback Questionnaires approximately 30 days after each quarterly
board review meeting. A second questionnaire will be sent out to all
grantees after the end of their grant period. We value your opinion
and encourage you to complete these questionnaires which are sent
electronically.
Q:
Do you accept outside donations?
A: We are often asked if we
accept outside donations.
People generously offer to contribute to the KDK-Harman
Foundation so that we can further support our grantees. If someone is truly
interested in advancing the causes that we are passionate about, we
prefer that they give directly to our nonprofit partners. We are very proud of our
grantees and the work that they do to help break the cycle of
poverty through education.
We have the stable funds that we need to help us fulfill our
mission. However, our
grantees often do not.
To
be responsive to those who still wish to give to the KDK-Harman
Foundation, we have adopted guidelines for accepting donations from
individuals. To be
clear, the Foundation does not and will not solicit donations. Our goal is not
fundraising. Our goal
is simply to honor the intentions of generous people who are
passionate about breaking the cycle of poverty in Central Texas through education and may not
have the time to research all of our grantees to make their own
selections. It is
important to note that 100% of any contributions that we receive
will be directed to our grantee partners. There are no overhead or
administrative costs associated to such gifts. KDK bears all expenses of
operating the foundation.
For more details, please refer to our Donating
Page
Q:
I am interested in establishing my own foundation. Do you have any advice to
get me started?
A: We are occasionally asked by
generous and charitable individuals how to start and operate a
foundation. We are very
interested in sharing our experiences to help others form and run
private foundations. We
offer advice regarding structure and operations, not legal or tax
matters. Please contact
Jacqueline S. Mata the Executive Director to schedule a
meeting. Whether you
are in the formative stages or currently operating, we would love to
share our expertise in grantmaking. Equally, we are interested
in learning about new ideas in the field of
philanthropy.
Additional
resources regarding starting a foundation can be found
at:
Q:
What are the common ways of misspelling the Foundation’s
name?
A:
The correct name of the Foundation is KDK-Harman Foundation. We have found that many
misspell our name and thought it was worth noting that Harman is
spelled HarmAn, not HarmOn.
Also, note that
there is a dash between the three initials and Harman. Making these common mistakes
when searching for our website may prohibit users from finding
us.
Below
is a list of commonly used incorrect spellings of our
website:
www.kdk-harmon.org
www.kdkharmon.org
www.kdkharman.org
