February 26, 2015 | Read Time: 1 minute
Kids’ Food Basket, an anti-hunger group in Grand Rapids, Mich., uses this letter of inquiry as a starting point when seeking grants from family, private, and corporate foundations.
During the 2014 fiscal year, about $828,000 of the organization’s $2.1-million budget came from foundation grants.
Kids’ Food Basket doesn’t change the boilerplate in this letter much from foundation to foundation. It describes the problem the nonprofit is working to fix and the impact it’s had so far.
Bridget Clark Whitney, the organization’s executive director, signs the letter.
About half the time, the organization sends the letter before an initial meeting, but many foundations’ internal processes require a letter following a face-to-face meeting. Kids’ Food Basket sends it through the mail or electronically, depending on the grant maker’s preference.
