Horizons Foundation For Grantseekers

Community Issues

2010 Community Issues Grant Request for Proposals (RFP): PDF | Word
(If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader and would like to download a free copy, click here.)

Application Deadline:
Friday, June 11, 2010
(postmarked or delivered to our office by 5:00 p.m.)

These materials are also available via email by contacting Jewelle Gomez, Director of Grants and Community Initiatives, at jgomez [at] horizonsfoundation [dot] org. Please specify in your email that you are requesting a Community Issues RFP and which version you would like to receive.

Please note that six complete sets of proposal materials are required - one single-sided original and five double-sided copies. These copies will be distributed to the community panelists who review the proposals and make grant recommendations to Horizons' board. Staple each set once in the upper left corner.

Complete all materials using a typewriter or computer. We cannot consider illegible or incomplete proposals. In the interest of fairness, we regret that proposals dated after the postmark deadline or sent by fax at any time cannot be considered.

Please do not send a cover letter, letters of reference, or any attachments not specifically requested in this application - they will not be forwarded to the grant review panel. Our goal is to minimize the pressure on applicants to produce voluminous proposals.

If your organization has a logo, please email Horizons a high-resolution version of it (at least 300 dpi). We will use it in our newsletter if we fund your proposal.

How to Apply Workshops
Horizons will hold multiple "How to Apply" workshops, which will give you an opportunity to walk through the proposal preparation and granting process and ask any questions you have:
• Tuesday, May 25, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Horizons Foundation, 870 Market Street, San Francisco
• Wednesday, May 26, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Horizons Foundation, 870 Market Street, San Francisco

Please RSVP to jgomez [at] horizonsfoundation [dot] org or 415.398.2333 x116 if you plan to attend.

If you are unable to attend any of these workshops and have questions about this year's grant process or your organization's proposal, or if you have applied for a Horizons Foundation Community Issues grant in the past three years and would like feedback on your proposal(s), whether funded or declined, please feel free to contact Jewelle Gomez.

Eligibility
To be eligible for a 2010 Community Issues grant, your organization must:

Be a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, or provide documentation that the organization is fiscally sponsored by an organization that has 501(c)(3) status.
Have a fiscal sponsor at the time you submit the proposal if you do not have 501(c)(3) status.
Request support for an organization or program within one or more of these counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma.
Have submitted a final report and financial accounting for any past grant(s) which are due.
Address all sections of the proposal.
Be an LGBT organization (defined as an organization whose mission includes the LGBT population as the primary focus of the work; whose staff and board predominantly reflect the LGBT community; and which primarily serves LGBT people) or be a non-LGBT primary organization with an LGBT project. (Non-LGBT organizations are strongly encouraged to contact Horizons staff before applying.)
Not be a non-LGBT organization with a budget over $1 million.

The maximum grant award is $10,000, except for grants to increase giving, which have a maximum award of $20,000 (LGBT organizations with budgets over $1 million only). Please note that grant proposals from LGBT organizations with budgets over $1 million will be considered separately from other proposals. Please note that an organization may submit only one proposal for a Community Issues grant.

The following are NOT eligible for support:

Requests for costs incurred prior to the date of the grant award
Requests from government agencies
Requests for capital support, including construction and renovation
Fundraising event sponsorship
Projects that directly benefit an individual
Non-LGBT organizations with budget over $1 million

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Funding Priorities
To help target our funding and achieve maximum impact for the LGBT community with limited resources, Horizons Foundation established priorities in 2007 to be addressed over the next several years. The priority areas that we are focusing on in 2009 are shown below. (Two additional priorities - leadership development and LGBT elders - are being phased in later or funded through a different grant program.)

Priority Area	Description
For organizations with budgets under $1 million
Creating policy, advocacy, and systems change	Organized efforts to effect change in government or private institutions and to educate leaders and others about LGBT issues. This year, special attention will be given to organizations strategizing around equal marriage rights.
Securing equality for LGBT people	Strategic work to serve and protect the civil and human rights of LGBT people within legal systems and institutions. Given its importance at this time in our movement, the struggle for civil marriage and equal relationship rights will be a major focus.
Supporting the equality, health, and empowerment of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women	Organizations or projects that address health disparities and/or provide programs to engage and empower LBT women in society.
Achieving racial equity and full participation of people of color in the LGBT community	Organizations or projects that are based in, and focused on, the issues and needs of LGBT people of color, and/or that address the legacy of racial inequity, and/or that create bridges between people of color communities and non-people of color LGBT communities.
For organizations with budgets of $1 million or more (must be LGBT-primary)
Increasing giving to LGBT organizations	Support for larger LGBT organizations to increase their own capacities to raise funds, especially from individual donors.

Your organization may already focus on one of these areas, or even a combination of them (for example, an organization developing high school "acceptance" programs for bisexual women or an arts project aiming to secure equality for LGBT people) — many of our grantees have been supported in previous years in these priority areas. However, where indicated on the application, we ask that you designate no more than two priority areas. You may certainly discuss your relationship to other priorities within the body of your proposal. Please note that while the majority of grants will be made to organizations working to further the above priorities, other LGBT organizations and LGBT projects will be considered for funding as well.

Special note to arts organizations: Most arts organizations/projects will often fall under the more general priority "Securing equality for LGBT people." 2010 Community Issues grants will include support for arts and culture.

Special note to HIV/AIDS organizations: Funding of HIV/AIDS organizations that was previously awarded through Horizons Foundation is now being done by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Please visit their web site and contact their staff for application information. LGBT HIV/AIDS organizations may apply in our Community Issues cycle. Consistent with Horizons' treatment of other Community Issues applicants, priority will be given to LGBT-primary organizations as well as those which address one of the funding priorities outlined earlier. In addition, organizations principally focused on prevention of HIV/AIDS will be given priority.

For more details, please refer to the RFP.

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Additional Considerations
Non-LGBT organizations may apply for support of their LGBT programs, but, as mentioned above, are advised to speak with Horizons Foundation staff before preparing an application.

Organizations and projects that are organized by, and work on behalf of, underserved segments of the LGBT communities will also be viewed positively in our considerations. These include programs that represent and serve diverse constituencies with respect to ethnicity, race, age, gender, gender identity, and physical and mental ability.

Horizons will also give special consideration to programs that have limited appeal to traditional funding sources.

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For any other questions, please contact Jewelle Gomez, Director of Grants and Community Initiatives, at 415.398.2333 x116 or jgomez [at] horizonsfoundation [dot] org.


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Horizons Foundation, 870 Market Street, Suite 728, San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone: 415.398.2333 \| Fax: 415.398.4733 \| Email: info [at] horizonsfoundation [dot] org Federal Tax ID: 94-2686530