Step 1
Assess Eligibility
An applicant must meet the following criteria:
Be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code or have a fiscal sponsor that has 501(c)(3) status and provides written authorization confirming its willingness to act as the fiscal sponsor.
Engage in work that aligns with the Foundation’s funding interests and priorities. Please read our Grant Guidelines to understand our funding interests and priorities.
Step 2
Submit an Application
The Lawrence Foundation does not require a Letter of Inquiry. You can submit a grant application by using the Common Grant Application Web site. Our grant application is fairly simple. We ask for some contact information, a brief description of your organization and funding needs, confirmation of your tax-exempt status and the amount of money you are requesting.
Our foundation has two grant cycles: June and December. A completed application must be submitted online, using the Common Grant Application, by midnight (23:59:59) Central Time (CT) on either April 30 or October 31. Any grant applications received after the deadline for the current grant cycle will be considered for the next grant cycle.
If you haven't opened an account on the Common Grant Application then please register by clicking the “Register” button. If you already have an account, click on the “Login” button.
Step 3
Application Review
All grant applications will be collected together and reviewed by the foundation at one time. We do not start reviewing applications until the grant cycle is closed.
It varies from grant cycle to grant cycle, but we typically receive between 800 - 1000 applications per grant cycle. With our current budget, we’re typically able to make about 20 grants from those applications.
Jeff, his two children and Lori are all allocated grantmaking budget. We also allocate grantmaking budget to a guest grantmaker each grant cycle. The guest grantmaker is different every grant cycle. They each review the grant applications independently, and they each have different areas of interest and focus. There may be some questions from us if we need to understand elements of your grant application. After the review is complete, we will select the grant applications that will be funded. We will notify your organization via email by either the beginning of June or December if we decide to fund your grant application and also if we decide to not fund your grant application. You can always check the status of your grant request by logging into your account on the Common Grant Application.
After an application is selected for funding there may be some additional discussion between us and your organization, after which a check will be issued to your organization. Depending on the grant cycle, our goal is to issue grant checks by either June 30 or December 31.
Our foundation does not require a grant report, but we are happy to read one if you would like to tell us what you did with the funds.