The Irving Foundation is interested in supporting organizations whose work focuses on educating youth for self sufficiency in New England or Montana. Focus areas include the arts, STEM, environmental stewardship, or health. Most grants are in the range of $1000 to $10,000, with rare larger grants. We rarely fund organizations whose organizational budget exceeds $1,000,000. Please note that fewer than 10% of proposals are funded. No grants are made to individuals; all grant recipients must be U.S. 501-c3 charities registered with the Internal Revenue Service.
Proposal Guidelines:
Proposals are reviewed twice a year, in June and November. To be considered, proposals must be submitted by June 1 or November 1, respectively. Proposals should be submitted through the web form below and must be received by midnight Eastern Time on the indicated deadline date. Each organization may only submit one proposal per funding cycle. Submissions that do not include all required elements will not be reviewed.
Proposal Categories:
We will review proposals in the following categories: Arts, STEM, Environmental Stewardship, Literacy, and Health. All proposals should have a focus on youth and education for self-sufficiency.
Mission and History: Summarize your organization’s history, mission, and future goals/plans/projects. Not to exceed 1 page.
Scope and Impact of Work: Discuss the impact of your organization’s work. What need is being filled? What evidence do you have of your organization’s impact? Please provide specific metrics of success when possible. Not to exceed 1 page.
Specific Ask for Irving Foundation Funds: Indicate the amount of money you are requesting ($1000-$10,000), and whether this request is to:
Fund a new project
Continue your ongoing general work or projects. If you are looking to continue your general work, we are interested in learning how you will continue to grow and build on past efforts in a cost-effective way
Irving is interested in funding both types of requests. Include a detailed description of the new or ongoing work that you are hoping to get funded, a budget, a timeline, and your plan for evaluation of your work. Include any information (data, observations, previous similar projects) that provide evidence of need for or potential impact of the funded work. If you have received a previous grant from Irving Foundation, include the specifics of the award (date, amount) and clear description of what was accomplished with those funds. Not to exceed 4 pages.
Progress Reports
If your organization is the recipient of an Irving Foundation grant, we require you submit short progress reports at the conclusion of your grant period (1 year). Two exemplary progress reports are attached here for reference.