Letter of Inquiry and Application Instructions

The Woods Fund requires that prospective grantees first submit a completed Inquiry Form. If the Woods Fund responds positively, applicants will be asked to submit a full application. Before beginning this process, please consider carefully the Woods Fund's Guidelines to determine whether your request is appropriate for the types of grants that the Woods Fund dispenses.

As you prepare your Inquiry Form and proposal, please check to make sure that they:

• Reflect clear thinking and responsible program management
• Fit with Woods Fund program priorities and values as set out in the Fund's mission statement and core principles
• Leave the reader with a clear understanding (logical flow) of how your organization/project proposes to address a Woods Fund priority program issue in a way that involves the less advantaged in project design and implementation activities

1. The Woods Fund awards grants in June and December.  Applicants must complete the application process three months before the Woods Fund Board meets to award grants.

2. All prospective grantees should submit an Inquiry Form according to the schedule above. The purpose of the Inquiry Form is to assess, succinctly, how well the proposed request matches the Woods Fund's priorities. The Inquiry Form asks for information on the grant seeker's plans, capabilities, budget, and expected outcomes. Please use the Inquiry Form found in this Guideline package or on the Woods Fund's web site (www.woodsfund.org). The Woods Fund requires that this form be submitted in electronic format, as an e-mail word processing attachment, no later than midnight on the due date.

Forms should be sent to application@woodsfund.org.

3. Those submitting Inquiry Forms will receive a response from the Woods Fund staff at least one month prior to the submission date for full applications. The Woods Fund's response to Inquiry Forms will be one of the following:

• A request to submit a full proposal without suggested amendments (note that this is not a guarantee of funding, but rather an indication that the Woods Fund considers the project or organization worthy of consideration)
• A request to submit a full proposal with suggested amendments that may include budgetary, methodological, or other changes
• A decision that the proposed project does not meet guidelines or current priorities (such decision may or may not include suggestions for changes that an applicant might use in later grant cycle applications)

NEXT STEP IF INVITED TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

For those applicants who receive a favorable response to their Inquiry Form, the next step is a full application. The full application consists of two parts: (1) a Cover Sheet that asks for detailed information about your organization; and (2) a Narrative Section that asks about your organization's history, current work, goals, assumptions about what works, how a Woods Fund Grant would be used, and expected outcomes. As with the Inquiry Form, the Woods Fund requires that applications be submitted in electronic format. Applicants should set up their own word processing file using the template of the attached Application Cover Sheet.

The completed word processing file should be attached to an e-mail and sent to the Woods Fund at application@woodsfund.org or mailed on a CD-ROM to the Woods Fund at:

Woods Fund of Chicago
Attn: Grants and Operations Manager
35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1760
Chicago, IL 60601

The Woods Fund also requires that applicants submit the following additional documents electronically or by mail:

• A list of board members, with complete addresses and phone numbers
• Current annual operating budget, including expenses and income
• Year-to-date financial statement
• Most recent audited annual financial statement
• Project budget, expenses and income, if applicable
• A Form 990 IRS return if the organization's annual budget exceeds $25,000
• A copy of the IRS exempt-status determination letter

Applications must be received at the Woods Fund by midnight of the due dates specified in the Application and Award Timetable above.