Application Guidelines

We at the Betty and Davis Fitzgerald Foundation are humbled by the work of non-profits in Georgia. We consider grantees and potential grantees as essential and valued partners in our work.  We believe that change happens through funding:

• Advocacy that pushes policy change, the greatest leverage for change
• Small organizations that keep the Foundation proximate to the need
• Organizations led by / serve Black-Indigenous-People of Color to equity

We are a relatively small foundation with a mission of making a difference by creating opportunities in education and health care. We believe we can provide the greatest value with a focus on these three areas within education and health care in Georgia:

1. Increasing access to mental health resources
2. Supporting equity in education through early child development and services that support student completion
3. Supporting opportunities in accessing job training and securing jobs 

The Foundation also considers grants to previous grantees for crisis needs.

The Foundation also consider grants to support racial justice leading to racial equity.

If your Georgia non-profit has programs in any of these areas, we would like to receive a grant proposal from you. Of course, the Foundation can make no commitment about the Board’s decision to conduct a site visit or award you a grant.

The Foundation follows a two-step process in determining grant awards:

STEP 1

Email the Foundation – no mail-in applications – with an attachment of your one-page proposal. The board will determine which one-page proposals to investigate further (Step 2).

• At the top of your one-page proposal, list your EIN, amount requested, focus area (Mental Health, Student Success, Employment Success, Crisis, or Racial Equity), geographic area served, web address, and contact’s name and email address. 
• In the one-page proposal, describe the community you serve, the issue you are addressing, the service you provide, and specify the use of the grant. Also, please tell us about the diversity, including but not limited to the racial and gender composition, of your executive director, board, staff, and community served.
• If you have a question about the amount to request, include your question in the email. We will give you guidance on the amount if we think your asking for a different amount would be best.
• Do not send any additional information. If the Foundation determines to investigate with a site visit, we’ll request more information then.
• You may send a grant proposal for operating expense, for a special project or program, or for capital projects.
• You do NOT need to send a grant proposal via U.S. Postal Service. You do NOT need to call the Foundation office. You do NOT need to know anyone at the Foundation to apply.
• The Foundation administers three grant cycles per year. Applications may be submitted at any time throughout the year and will be considered during the next appropriate grant cycle. We process proposals at Board meetings, and close a cycle by collecting the proposals for Board review on each of the following dates:
  • February 1st at 5 p.m.
  • May 1st at 5 p.m.
  • July 10th at 5 p.m.
• The Board meets approximately six weeks after each of the above deadlines to determine which proposals to take to Step 2. The staff will notify each organization applying about the status of its proposal within eight weeks after the deadlines above and provide guidance to those organizations whose proposals were declined about when they might re-apply.
• The Foundation does NOT make grants in the following areas:
  • To religious organizations for projects that primarily benefit their own members or adherents
  • To sports booster clubs
  • For tickets to charitable events or dinners
  • For research
  • For conferences or seminars
  • To sponsor productions, performances or special events
  • For legislative lobbying or other political purposes
  • To retire accumulated debt

STEP 2

The Foundation staff requests strategy and financial information and then conducts a site visit. The board then determines whether or not to award a grant to each site visited and how much money to award.

• The Board, typically, determines awards in the First and Third Quarter Board meetings though we try to make decisions sooner when possible.  The staff communicates the Board’s decisions to each organization visited by the end of the applicable quarter.