Frequently Asked Questions

We support projects and programs that provide students and educators with enhanced resources for hands-on, STEM-based learning. This effort aligns with our mission to empower students and educators in the U.S. to regain their status as global leaders in innovation and technology.

Entrepreneurial programs that teach business, money management, marketing, leadership, strategy, financing, and startup skills.

Innovative Environmental Projects (IEPs) that utilize interdisciplinary research to identify and address critical environmental problems with cutting-edge, innovative solutions that are scalable and replicable.

Projects and programs that contribute to advancements in biomedical research and innovation to accelerate the progress in medical research and drug treatment developed specifically for high-mortality, under-funded areas of need such as pancreatic and colon cancers.

There are no deadlines for submitting letters of inquiry or grant applications. The Foundation’s Board holds meetings at least monthly to review submitted information from the prior month. Take our Eligibility Quiz to get started with a Letter of Inquiry or visit the program pages to submit a program grant application.

Potential grantees may submit only one Letter of Inquiry (LOI) and wait for a determination, or submit one Program Grant application. Please do not apply to multiple grant programs within the same calendar year; such applications will be denied. Likewise, please do not submit an LOI and a Program Grant application at the same time, as the Program Grant application will be rejected.

Only one application will be approved per organization, per EIN, per calendar year. Organizations with multiple sites operating under the same EIN are responsible for coordinating internally to ensure that no more than one application is submitted each year.

If your letter of inquiry or grant application has been approved, you will be contacted by our executive director or a program officer within 60 days of submission.

We review letters of inquiry and grant applications on a monthly, rolling basis. There are no due dates.

If the Letter of Inquiry is approved by the Board, the prospective grantee will be sent a link with our form grant application to the e-mail address on file.

Depending on when our last meeting took place, the most recent grant applications are prepared for the next scheduled board meeting. From the Letter of Inquiry to the award letter, the entire process takes anywhere between 60 and 90 days.

The Foundation considers requests on a monthly, rolling basis. Requests should be feasible, cost-effective, and central to the organization’s mission.

An average grant from our Foundation typically ranges between $20,000 - $35,000.

The process, from Letter of Inquiry to check, takes approximately 60 - 90 days. Typically, you will receive an email with the tracking number of the letter and check, which is automatically generated by the system as a notification of the award.

After the Foundation awards a grant, the grantee must submit a grant report on how the grant funds were used. This report is due within one year from the date of the award letter. A link is provided on our website. Failure to submit the report will prohibit your organization from being eligible to receive funding in the future.

While reporting will vary depending on the type of project that was funded, topics generally of interest to the Foundation include:

Progress achieved, future progress anticipated, and unanticipated developments;

Outcomes and accomplishments of the project, including what the grantee would have done differently;

How the grant benefited the organization and its constituents;

Financial information, such as an accounting of expenditures, updated project budget, or updated funding for the project;

Photographs of the endeavor, preferably “before and after” photos, when applicable;

Copies of publications, CDs, DVDs, or other products that relate to the project.

The Foundation Board will consider multi-year funding after successfully completing one grant cycle (LOI, Application, Grant Report). We do not grant multi-year awards to first-time grantees and even still we only award 3-4 multi-year grants per year.

We review letters of inquiry and grant applications from organizations that are both operating and whose programs benefit organizations within the United States. We do not fund internationally or internationally-reaching programs.

The Letter of Inquiry should be used to share an idea for any project or program that 1) falls outside of the scope of our programs and/or 2) requires funding above the $25,000 funding cap of our Foundation's named programs. Please visit our Programs page before submitting an LOI.