STEP 1: NONPROFIT GRANT TRAINING
Impact 100 Palm Beach County holds a Nonprofit Grant Workshop in the late summer. We strongly urge applicants to attend our Nonprofit Workshop to learn about our grant application process and guidelines. This year’s workshop will be held August 30, 2023, from 9:30 to 11:30 am at the Downtown Boca Raton Library, 400 N.W. 2nd Avenue, Boca Raton, Florida, 33432. Attendance is highly recommended, and registration is required.
STEP 2: INVITATION TO SUBMIT LETTER OF INTENT
Impact 100 Palm Beach County considers $100,000 grant requests. We send invitations to local nonprofit organizations to submit a Letter of Intent through the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties ("CFPBMC"). On September 6, 2023, the CFPBMC Online Grant Interface will open to submit one Letter of Intent (LOI). To access the 2023–2024 LOI application, all users must login: https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=cfpbmc
STEP 3: LETTER OF INTENT
The Letter of Intent (LOI) submission deadline is November 1, 2023, at or before 5:00 p.m. Focus Area Committees extensively review and competitively rank each Letter of Intent. Each section of the LOI application must be completed or the application is subject to disqualification at the discretion of the Focus Area Committee. In addition, each nonprofit must submit a copy of their organization’s 501(c)(3) IRS Letter of Determination with their LOI application. Failure to do so renders the application subject to disqualification.
STEP 4: INVITATION TO SUBMIT FULL PROPOSAL
Following a comprehensive review process of the LOIs, each Focus Area Committee selects the grant applicants that will be submitted to the Board of Directors for approval as Semifinalists. The Board of Directors votes to approve approximately five (5) Semifinalists from each Focus Area. The Semifinalists will be announced on December 15, 2023. On December 16, 2023, the Semifinalists will receive a formal request to submit a Full Proposal (RFP) on the CFPBMC Online Grant Interface.
STEP 5: FULL PROPOSAL
The Full Proposal application is available only to Semifinalists. Complete the Executive Summary carefully, as it plays a significant role in the evaluation and voting process (see Step 8). The submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. on January 11, 2024.
STEP 6: SITE VISIT
A 90-minute Site Visit is scheduled for each Semifinalist, at a mutually agreeable date and time, between mid-January and mid-February 2024. During the Site Visit, Semifinalists meet with members of the Focus Area Committee and share information about their proposed project and organization. Participation of a board member, executive director, finance manager, project manager, and a beneficiary are encouraged. Site Visits provide an opportunity for the Focus Area Committees to meet the people behind the organization. The objective is to complete due diligence and resolve any remaining questions regarding the organization, the project, and the budget.
STEP 7: FINALIST SELECTION AND ANNOUNCEMENT
Focus Area Committees extensively review and competitively rank each Full Proposal. The Focus Area Committees then select the Semifinalists that they will recommend to the Board of Directors for approval as Finalists. The Board of Directors performs a final review of the proposed Finalists for each Focus Area and then votes to approve the selections. The Finalists will be announced in early April.
STEP 8: FINALIST PRESENTATIONS AND SELECTION OF GRANTEES
The Executive Summary section of each Finalists’ Full Proposal is provided to all members of Impact 100 PBC. A representative from each Finalist is invited to make an oral presentation at the Grand Awards Celebration, which is the annual meeting of Impact 100 PBC’s membership held in April each year. Following the presentations, Impact 100 PBC’s membership votes to award $100,000 grants from the five Focus Areas. Every Finalist who does not receive a $100,000 grant is a Merit Award recipient who will receive an equal share of the residual funds available that year. The amount of the residual funds available for the Merit Award recipients varies each year depending upon the number of members who join Impact 100 PBC that year. Merit Award recipients are not subject to contracts or compliance terms.
STEP 9: COMPLIANCE REPORTS, CONTRACTS, AND FUNDS DISTRIBUTION
In late April, the $100,000 grant recipients meet with members of the Compliance Committee to finalize contract timeframes and deliverable results. Contracts are signed in late May at which time each grant recipient receives its initial $50,000 payment. The second $50,000 payment is typically made midway through the grant period, unless the contract provides otherwise. Merit Award recipients also receive their unrestricted payments in late May.
DISCRETION
At each stage of the selection process, we follow these guidelines in reviewing and assessing whether an applicant can and should move on to the next step. We make these decisions in good faith at our sole discretion based on all the information available to us. We understand that it can be disappointing and frustrating for an organization when its LOI application is disqualified or it is not selected as a Semifinalist or Finalist. We strive to honor these guidelines in the selection of those projects that proceed to a vote of our membership. Countless hours of volunteer time are spent in the process. The decisions we make are often hard, but they are made after a thorough review and consideration of all relevant information. It is important to note that several nonprofit organizations that did not make the Finalist cut in one year have gone on to be awarded a $100,000 grant in a subsequent year. Please reapply and make sure that the project meets Impact 100 PBC’s grant and eligibility guidelines.
DISCRIMINATION
Impact 100 Palm Beach County does not discriminate in its grantmaking on the basis of race, religion, age, sexual preference, or national origin. Applicants for grants from Impact 100 Palm Beach County must hold similar standards. Therefore, competitive grant applications from organizations known to have discriminatory policies will not be considered.
Impact 100 Palm Beach County reserves the right to change these Grant and Eligibility Guidelines at any time without notice.
