Frequently Asked Questions About the Impact100 South Jersey Core Mission Grant Process
Q: Is attendance at a Grant Information Session required to be eligible to submit a grant application?”
A: No, however it is recommended that you attend. This an opportunity to get a better understanding of the mission of Impact100 SJ and our grant review process.
Q: “How does Impact100 SJ decide who receives the Core Mission Grant?”
A: All applying organizations first submit a Grant Eligibility Application, which consists of providing information on their non-profit and finances. These will be evaluated by our Finance Review Committee.
Those organizations determined to be eligible will be invited to submit a project proposal to one of our three Focus Areas. Each Focus Area has its own Grant Review Committee, consisting of Impact100 SJ members, who will evaluate the proposal and determine which organizations will receive a site visit. These organizations are considered the semi-finalists in our process.
After site visits are completed, each Focus Area committee meets to determine its finalist for our Core Mission Grant. All Impact100SJ members then receive a packet of information on the three finalists prior to our Annual Meeting, which takes place in June and is attended by our members. At the meeting, after each finalist gives a short presentation, our members then vote by individual ballot to select the organization to receive the $100,000 Core Mission Grant. The other two finalists will receive general operating support grants – the exact amount determined by the number of our 2025 members.
Q: “What do you mean by a grant in support of “core mission”?”
A: We want our grant award to improve an organization’s ability to effectively deliver its services, which goes right to the core of their mission. This almost always means a project to strengthen its programming in a significant way. This typically means developing a new program or expanding an existing one to serve an unmet need in the community. We want organizations to look towards their future and identify what would enable them to do what they do better, and how our support could make that happen.
Q: “Do you provide guidance as to which focus area our organization should apply?”
A: No, we do not provide advice about selecting a Focus Area. Each organization must make that decision for itself, based on the focus of the proposal.
Q: “Can our organization submit a proposal to more than one focus area?”
A: No, each organization may submit only one grant application per year and must choose the Focus Area in which the proposal will be considered.
Q: Can former applicants submit a new application to lmpact100 SJ?
A: Yes; we encourage those who applied previously but did not receive funding to apply again. Those grantees who received our $100,000 Core Mission grant must wait three years to apply again. Those grantees who received a General Operating grant must wait two years to apply again.
Q: “What were some of the reasons that applications were not selected for grant review or as finalists in the past?”
A: As a collective grantmaking organization, we are responsible for awarding the donations of many generous women. Therefore, we are very diligent about doing thorough reviews to ensure the organizations that we select to receive our grants are financially stable and that the project is well thought out and impactful for the organization and/or the community that it serves.
We have reluctantly passed on organizations with a shaky financial situation, or whose proposal did not fully explain how the project would accomplish its goals, or whose timetable and activities did not correspond with the timing of our grant award. We look for proposals that clearly and completely answer the questions, and make a thorough and thoughtful case for the project.
Q: “Can we include additional materials with our proposal, such as a brochure or a report?”
A: No, please submit only the documents requested. We will not consider anything else received as part of your proposal.
Q: “We are an organization that serves communities across New Jersey. One of our satellite offices is in one of the counties in which you fund and we would like to grow our program there. Are we eligible to apply?”
A: Yes. We will fund organizations that serve residents of our four-county region of Cumberland, Gloucester, Burlington and Camden Counties, but are headquartered elsewhere – such as in Philadelphia or in another part of New Jersey. Your organization must either be headquartered in or have a satellite office in our four-county region of Cumberland, Gloucester, Burlington and Camden Counties. If you are asked to submit a proposal, it must be for a project within our four counties.
Q: “Our organization does not have its own 501(c)3. May we apply if we have a fiscal sponsor?”
A: We require that your organization operates under its own 501(c)(3) status.
Q: “Will Impact100 South Jersey consider a proposal from a group of organizations collaborating on a project or program?”
A: Yes, as long as one of the collaborating organizations acts as the lead organization, applying as if it were an individual organization on behalf of the collaboration. The lead organization must be willing to take on all the potential rights, responsibilities, restrictions and liabilities of the grant, if it is received.
Q: “May we submit as part of a collaborative project and then separately as an individual organization?”
A: No. Each organization may only submit one grant application each year.
Q “Will lmpact100 SJ consider an infrastructure improvement or construction project?”
A: Yes; however, lmpact100 SJ requires the application include detailed plans, with a detailed line item budget and a detailed timeline, all signed by a licensed NJ Contractor. The contractor’s submittal must also include any and all planning and zoning permits from the respective municipality, and county, if applicable.
lmpact100 SJ also requires all funding for the project be identified in the application with letters of commitment from any outside organizations funding the project. We are looking for projects that are “shovel-ready” meaning they can be implemented and completed within our two year timeframe.
Q: “What kind of communication from Impact100 SJ can we expect during the grant review process?”
All applications and communication will be made through an on-line portal. Each applicant will register through the portal and submit their initial Grant Eligibility Application. Applicants will be notified through the portal if they are invited to submit a full proposal to Impact100 SJ. During the review process, all communication will go through the portal.
In order for our grant review to be fair, we do not respond to any unsolicited communication apart from questions about the guidelines or the grants process, which may be directed to us at grants@impact100sj.org.
Q: “Is there a period of time in which the grant money must be spent?”
A: The organization awarded the Core Mission Grant has up to 24 months to spend the grant funds. We request the organizations receiving the general operating support grants provide us with a summary of their past year’s activity 12 months after the receiving the grant.
Q: “How does Impact100 SJ pay out the money for the Core Mission Grant?”
A: Prior to the release of grant funds, the recipient must complete an Impact100 SJ Grant Agreement. The Grant Agreement does two things: it provides us with a means for tracking that the grant funds are spent in a manner consistent with the project that was voted on by the Impact100 SJ membership. It also provides the grantee with an opportunity to develop, in partnership with the Grants Chair of Impact100SJ, a workable timetable for distributing the funds over the two-year period of the grant.
QUESTIONS?
Email grants@impact100sj.org