The Ford Foundation has a clear and precise process of accepting enquiries for grant requests. However, the foundation advises all its applicants or grant seekers to go through its priority areas carefully before asking for funds.
Ford Foundation provides grants for addressing a variety of issues and under each issue there are specific initiatives under which grant seekers can request funding. But these specific initiatives can have different criteria for grant seekers. For example, the issue related to ‘Democratic and Accountable Government’ has the initiative called ‘Promoting Electoral Reform and Democratic Participation’ but under this initiative, only organizations from United States can apply. Similarly the ‘Climate Change Responses that Strengthen Rural Communities’ under the Sustainable Development has grant opportunities only for organizations based in Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and Central America.
Therefore, this means that before sending a request for grant to the Ford Foundation, it is important to carry out some research to ensure that your proposed project falls within its priority areas. A good place to start this research is this link.
After assuring yourself that your project does fall under the issue/initiative mentioned by the foundation, you can then move ahead to make the grant inquiry.
Visit this link and click on ‘Begin Grant Inquiry’ to begin exploring funding support from the foundation. In the new webpage, select your region and language. You will then be taken to the online grant inquiry form. This form seeks the following information from the organization requesting grants:
- Contact information for yourself and your organization
- Brief description of your organization
- List of those who would carry out the project
- Description of the purpose of the project and the issues/problems it is intended to address
- Estimated project budget and time frame
An important cross-cutting theme of the foundation is equal opportunity in all its projects. So make sure that your project has integrated this and you highlight it in the project information you submit.
Every valid grant request (if it falls within its priority issue) will get a confirmation number which will be sent to the applicant. The concerned program team will review the request and then if it suits its priorities and budgetary expectations, it will ask the grant seeker to submit a formal proposal.
There is a grant application guide made available by the foundation that describes all the steps to be taken by the grant seeker while inquiring for a grant. You can download the guide at this link.
