SAMPLE Vision, Action, and Multiplier Grants LOI Form

SAMPLE Vision, Action, and Multiplier Grants LOI Form

SAMPLE Vision, Action, and Multiplier Grants LOI Form

Welcome! This is the Letter of Inquiry (LOI) form for applying to the Illinois Humanities Community Grants program for Vision, Action, and Multiplier Grants.

This SAMPLE form is for your convenience only – a place for you to create, edit, and save your proposal before submitting it online by copying and pasting the information into the appropriate fields of the online form. This form will NOT be accepted as a submission.

If you have any questions or problems with the application process, please reach out to Mark Hallett at for assistance or visit ilhumanities.org/grants.

ORGANIZATION

The following questions are about the applying organization.

*Name:

Department/Center/Program (if applicable):

*Address:

Street Address:

Address Line 2:

City: State: Zip:

*Year Founded:

*Mission:

ORGANIZATION (cont.)

The following questions are about the applying organization.

*Employees:

# Full-Time:

# Part-Time:

Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN):

Data Universal Number System (DUNS) #:

*Current Year:

Revenue Budget: Expenses Budget:

*Prior Year:

Actual Revenue: Actual Expenses:

*Top 5 funders for the past year, with amount and what support was ‘for’:
(If your organization has received funding from fewer than five donors/grantors in the past year, please just list those from whom you have received funding.):

ORGANIZATION (cont.)

The following questions are about the applying organization.

*Does your organization have a Cultural Data Project profile? Yes OR No

*Does your organization have a formal Strategic Plan?

If yes, briefly describe your Strategic Plan:

*Does your organization have an active Accessibility Plan?

If yes, briefly describe your Accessibility Plan:

PROJECT DIRECTOR

The following questions are about the person who will be heading the project at the organization that is applying.

*Contact Name:

First: Last:

*Contact Position/Title:

*Contact Phone (include area code):

*Contact Phone Type: Mobile, Home, Work, OR Other

*Contact Email:

PROJECT

The following questions are about the project for which you seek funding.

*Project Name:

*Project Summary:
Please write a paragraph that includes a basic description of the project, what you hope to accomplish, and what you hope to learn from it. (maximum length: 100 words)

*Request Amount: $

*Grants Category (choose one): Vision, Action, OR Multiplier

PROJECT (cont.)

The following questions are about the project for which you seek funding.

PROJECT NARRATIVE

*In 500 words or less, describe your organization and the proposed project:

Consider the following when describing your organization and the proposed project in the section above:

1. Organization

  • Your organization’s history
  • In what ways are your mission and programming related to the humanities
  • Any significant collaborations with other organizations
  • Your organization today and where you hope your organization will be in 3-5 years

2. Project

  • A basic description of the project
  • An approximate timeline for the project
  • Any partnerships involved in this project
  • To what degree this project represents an attempt by your organization to do something new and different in terms of interactive public programming, audience engagement, etc.
  • How you would describe the ‘need’ for this project; in other words, describe why it is important

3. Audience

  • The communities you regularly serve and how you reach them
  • The role your organization plays in your community
  • Any professional or community networks with which your organization is involved
  • How your programs are accessible and available to the general public
  • Whether there are members of the target audience involved in program planning

4. Evaluation

  • How you will define the success of this program or project
  • How you will determine if your program or project was successful in meeting its goals
  • The evaluation methods you plan to use
  • Any interest in guidance on evaluation that Illinois Humanities might be able to offer
  • Plans to use an outside evaluator, if any

5. Budget

  • How you will use Illinois Humanities support
  • Other support you will leverage to make this project happen
  • Note that applicants must assume at least 50% of the total cost of the project, which may include substantial “in-kind” support. The applicant organization must contribute at least the same amount of funds to a project as it is requesting.

PROJECT (cont.)

The following questions are about the project for which you seek funding.

*If this is a Vision grant request, describe in detail the planning that would result from this grant.

  • Why are you undertaking this planning process?
  • Who will you convene (partner organizations, scholars, members of the public, etc) to conduct this planning?
  • How will this planning equip you to take next steps?
  • Please describe any outside professionals you hope to work with on this. How will this planning help you to further your mission?
  • How much support are you requesting from Illinois Humanities and what will it be used for?

*If this is an Action grant request, describe how this public humanities project will teach you about engagement.

  • How will this project further your mission?
  • In what way does this project represent an effort to engage with new audiences or harness digital tools?
  • If this is a media or story telling project, how will it be used to spur public engagement?
  • How do you intend to provide interactive and engaging programming? What do you hope to learn from this initiative?

*If this is a Multiplier grant request, describe the collaboration that is making this project happen, who the collaborating entities are, and how the collaborators will learn from this project.

  • Do you have experience working together?
  • In what way will this project help to engage a sector (e.g., libraries, or museums, or others), a new audience (e.g., youth, or families, or others) or a geography (e.g., your neighborhood or town) in public humanities work?

Information saved here should be copied and pasted into this online form and submitted for consideration.

* = Required

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