Developing a Grant Proposal
Eligibility
Piper Trust considers letters of inquiry from nonprofit organizations whose requests fall within the program guidelines. In keeping with our charter, we do not award grants to individuals.
To be considered for a grant, an organization must meet three criteria:
- Serve residents of Maricopa County.
- Have operated as a Section 501(c)(3) organization or governmental entity for at least three years.
- Not be a private foundation or ineligible Type III supporting organization.
Grant Application
To be considered for initial review, your organization's grant inquiry must include:
1. A completed grant summary form (you may complete online), outlining brief background information about your organization, and the amount of funding and time period for which the grant is requested.
2. A two-page letter of inquiry, briefly summarizing the project impact, effectiveness, feasibility and sustainability.
See What Makes a Strong Proposal… - Impact—Community need, problem or opportunity as well as how your organization's proposed activity will address it
- Effectiveness—Results expected from funding and how you will measure project success. See Measuring Results…
- Feasibility—Total project cost and how the organization will use the Piper Trust grant
- Sustainability—What other sources of funding would support the project, and how the project would be sustained after the grant ends
Submission
Please fill out the Grant Summary Form and include it with your two-page letter of inquiry. You may submit your Grant Summary Form online or mail it to:
Grants Manager
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust
1202 East Missouri Avenue
Phoenix, Arizona 85014 Go to Grant Summary Form...
When to Apply
You can submit grant applications at any time. Your organization should submit no more than one request for funding per year and refrain from submitting a request if your organization already has an active grant. Piper Trust may make exceptions for complex institutions with diverse activities, such as universities, or when we initiate the project and ask an organization to apply. This limitation helps both applicants and our staff to be more thoughtful in preparing and reviewing proposals.
Review Process
The staff program review committee considers all initial grant inquiries. If the proposal does not match Piper Trust guidelines, we typically notify you of a decline within six weeks. If the initial grant inquiry matches our funding priorities, we then request a full proposal. At this time, the program director may request a site visit and full proposal.
Piper trustees consider staff recommendations at three grant review meetings during the year. Piper staff notify you in writing about the board's decision. Proposals that are still under development or pending further information carry over to a later meeting.
The application and review process can take between two and six months, depending on:
- How fully developed a request is when it is submitted
- Grant review meeting schedule
Words of Advice
Piper Trust offers informal information sessions, known as Piper 101, on the first Wednesday of each month. This session may answer your questions related to grant proposals. Reservations are required because these workshops fill quickly. See Attend Piper 101…
We also strongly encourage you to contact one of our program directors to discuss a proposal prior to officially submitting a formal application.