GRANTMAKING PROCESS

The Jernigan Foundation does not accept any unsolicited proposals or letters of inquiry.

If an organization has been invited to submit a funding proposal to the Jernigan Foundation, the executive director and/or board members may send questions, request documents, or request a site-visit before making a decision on the grant.

If a grant is made, an accompanying grant agreement letter will outline the reporting requirements for the grant and the timing of the expected report.

When a grant report is due, the grantee will download the grant report template from the foundation’s website (below), complete it and return it to the foundation. Grant reports must be current before future grants will be considered.

GRANTMAKING PHILOSOPHY & GUIDELINES

  • We lean toward funding prevention or upstream solutions vs. downstream or band-aid type programs.
  • We invest in already proven solutions and therefore do not make risky grants that could fail and do not invest in learning in an area to find a new solution.
  • We primarily grant to smaller organizations, so our donations can be impactful on the issues and programs we’re funding vs. a drop in the bucket.
  • We make grants to organizations for projects/programs, capital projects, and general operating funds, but are not inclined to fund organizational effectiveness (i.e., funding evaluations to prove their work, helping their board get better, help with their strategic plan, etc.).
  • We believe organizations doing work overseas should have a majority of indigenous leadership working on the project/program.
  • We require all grantees to submit a report to the foundation outlining how they spent the grant funds and the impact made.
  • We do not generally fund more than 50% of a particular project or program.
  • We do not fund multi-year grants.

GRANT REPORT FORM

If you have previously received a grant from the Jernigan Foundation and are ready to submit your grant report per the instructions in your grant agreement letter, please download this form, complete it and return it based on the instructions within.

Download Form