Frequently Asked Questions
Please review these common questions to make your grant proposal as successful as possible. If your question is not answered in the FAQs, you may reach out via email.
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The best way is to review the Grant Guidelines here.
Following the grant guideline review, you can submit a letter of inquiry, via the online grant portal here.
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You can review the Grants Awarded pages as a guide. Our typical grant range is $5,000-$25,000.
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No, we do not consider grant requests outside Northeast Ohio. On rare occasions, we have made grants outside of our region that are board member driven.
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We do make multi-year grants anywhere from 2 to 5 years depending on the size of the grant. This allows us to make a larger grant over a longer period of time. Frequently, multi-year grants are made for capital projects and capital campaigns.
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No, we only give to non-profit organizations that benefit children in NE Ohio.
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No, we do not fund salaries or operations. We prefer to make one-time grants that do not require funding year after year.
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We typically make site visits after a grant proposal has been submitted as part of the review process to meet with key people and see the organization in person. We do not have the time nor the staff to make site visits prior to a grant submission.
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No. All forms are now accepted, exclusively, on-line through our GrantInterface portal here.
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You will receive an e-mail to confirm submission, and your application status will be updated in your online account.
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You may reapply for the next granting cycle, but first, find out why your grant request was declined to see if your request is a good match with our guidelines. There is no point to reapplying if you are not aligned with our grant priorities.
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No. We do not make operating grants that would need funding year after year.
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No. We do not make grants for research projects as specified under our grant guidelines.
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We recommend that you wait for your 501(c)(3) status as this form must accompany your grant request.
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No. We already get more requests than we can possibly fund.
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Yes, we recommend this and will sometimes send our logo for publications.
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No. If timing is an issue for some reason, you may email this request to amay@thehersheyfoundation.org
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We tend to notify grantees within a week of our board meeting with a letter and the grant. The schedule for notification is at the bottom of the Applying for Grants page.
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Please contact Debra Hershey Guren with questions or concerns via email at dguren@thehersheyfoundation.org
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Board members review the proposals and prioritize based on our grant guidelines and funding priorities. The organization must be in NE Ohio and specifically benefit children.
We tend to give full grants to fewer organizations to have a greater impact. We sometimes defer a grant we would like to make when funds are not readily available. Sometimes these grants are made 6-12 months later.
It is helpful to list other grantors in your proposal, especially if we are unfamiliar with your organization. Doing your homework and following the guidelines will more likely lead you to successful grant funding.
