Grassroots Grants FAQs

There are three common reasons::

1) The applicant does not have required tax-exempt/public charity status. Only 501(c)(3) organizations that are not private foundations, or that are publicly supported, are eligible to apply for Grassroots Grants. Other 501(c) organizations [e.g., 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(6)] are NOT eligible for Grassroots Grants.
 
501(c)(3) status is granted by the Internal Revenue Service. It is not enough that the organization has no money or does not make a profit or that it is registered with the State Corporate Division as Nonprofit or it has submitted an application to the IRS but has not yet received a determination letter. In addition to 501(c)(3), the organization must be determined by the IRS to be a public charity and not a private foundation under 509(a). [In 1969, the U.S. Congress required the IRS to differentiate between public charities and private foundations, so the IRS added section 509(a) that established conditions that must be met in order to be recognized as a public charity.]
 
MMT requires that Grassroots Grant applicants have both 501(c)(3) and 509(a) rulings. Usually reference to both sections is made in the same letter. When an organization first applies for tax-exempt status from the IRS, the agency rules on the tax-exempt status but makes only a preliminary determination about whether it is a public charity. Within 90 days after the advance ruling period ends, the organization must submit evidence the IRS uses to make a final determination. Organizations may apply for Grassroots Grants within their advance ruling period, but after that period has ended a final determination letter must be submitted with the proposal. (Organizations that apply within 90 days of the end of the advance ruling period must demonstrate to MMT that it has met the IRS requirements for the final determination.)
 
In some cases, organizations (such as government entities) that have tax exemption because of their publicly funded status are also eligible to apply for Grassroots Grants.
 
2) There are contingencies. Because the Grassroots Grants program is intended to fund projects that can be carried out soon after funds are awarded, applicants that still need to raise additional funds or resolve other conditions should not submit a Grassroots Grants proposal. With the exception of capital and operating support requests, if additional funds are needed, those must already be in hand or pledged at the time the Grassroots Grant proposal is submitted.
3) The proposal is submitted too late for trustee consideration before the project will occur.

No. The Grassroots Grants program does not permit the use of fiscal agents. A 501(c)(3) organization would have to adopt the project as its own, with its board of directors assuming legal and fiscal responsibility, and submit its own application for the project.

Yes.The Grassroots Grants program was established to give smaller organizations an opportunity to compete for MMT funds. Many of these organizations are without sophisticated grantwriters and sometimes even without paid staff. In some cases, their Grassroots Grant proposals are the first time these organizations have sought funds from a foundation. Although some Grassroots Grants have been made to large well-established organizations, that is the exception and MMT still primarily views the program as a way to help smaller organizations.

Because accounting practices vary and there are many ways of dealing with in-kind contributions, we do not include the value assigned to in-kind labor as part of the $150,000 budget limit. For example, if an organization wanted to apply for a Grassroots Grant to renovate its building, and the sum of materials and total value of labor is $230,000, but $100,000 of the labor is donated, the total project cost would be $130,000, which is within the limit for a Grassroots Grant.

A quick look at the list of past Grassroots Grants on this website (link) reveals that the projects funded under this program are highly varied and impossible to precisely define. MMT wants to be open to ideas grantseekers generate themselves rather than limiting their approaches by prescribing priorities.

In general, however, projects are viewed more favorably when:

• the project is important for the organization and those it serves,
• the project has a demonstrable outcome that helps the organization meet its goals,
• the effect of the project lasts beyond the period during which grant funds are expended,
• the organization has figured out a way to sustain funding for the project after grant funds are expended (if necessary)

The only written rule about how often applicants can submit proposals is the one that states that "an organization should not resubmit a declined proposal for at least 12 months" from date of decline, unless substantial changes related to the proposed project occur.

In general, MMT is interested in helping organizations fund worthy projects but is cautious about making organizations overly reliant on our support. That means organizations should exercise good judgment about how often to apply for Grassroots Grants. In general, it is a good idea for an organization to undertake long-range planning so that it can foresee its needs for several years and plan ahead about which projects to seek assistance from MMT, rather than applying for each project idea as it emerges. We also like to see that an organization is diversifying its resources by successfully seeking funding from sources other than MMT.