To be eligible for a Service Grant, an organization should:

• Be a nonprofit charitable organization classified as a 501(c)(3) public charity by the Internal Revenue Service or operate under the fiscal sponsorship of a 501(c)(3). The Foundation does not support nonprofits with other than 501(c)(3) status, for-profit corporations, or individuals. We do not make Service Grants expressly intended to support candidates for political office, or to influence legislation.
• Be headquartered and provide direct benefits primarily or entirely to residents of our service areas:
  • New York City: Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, or Brooklyn
  • San Francisco Bay Area: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Conta Costa or Marin counties
  • Chicago: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry or Will counties
  • Boston: Within the Route 128 boundary
  • Seattle: King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties
  • Washington DC Area: District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, and Arlington and Fairfax counties and the City of Alexandria in Virginia
• Not be seeking funding for religious purposes. We may support agencies operated by religious organizations that serve secular needs.
• Have written policies and a track record of not discriminating on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, national origin, political affiliation or religious belief.
• Have a strategic plan if applying for the Key Messages and Brand Strategy, Naming & Visual Identity, Visual Identity & Brand Strategy, Performance Management, or Strategic Scorecard grants.
• Have a mission that fits within one of these four categories:
  • Education: Organizations that strengthen our public education (pre-K and K-12) system or enhance the educational success of students.
  • Environment: Organizations that preserve or restore the environment.
  • Health: Organizations that improve people’s physical or emotional health.
  • Social Services: Organizations that provide social services to those who suffer hardship or who have been unable to participate fully in the social and economic life of the community. Services usually target children and families, employment and training, the elderly, immigrants, the disabled, housing and homelessness, and foster and adoption services.

The Taproot Foundation supports strong organizations with effective, high-quality programs. Our holistic review includes indicators such as:

• A well articulated mission, vision and values that guide the organization.
• A strong board of directors and management team.
• Strong results from outcomes-based evaluation and/or the support and testimony of knowledgeable funders.
• A commitment to performing ongoing outcomes-based assessment, or a defined logic model with clear understanding of how data could be collected and analyzed to measure the organization's short- and long-term program outcomes.
• Financial strength as evidenced by historical record of stable, growing revenues, diversity of income sources, strong cash reserves, long term grants and/or strong involvement by board members.

Taproot Foundation’s Service Grants are only likely to be successfully completed and effectively leveraged under the right circumstances. Successful applicants meet baseline requirements against each of these criteria, and score highly against them in aggregate.

• Clear need for the service being requested and fit with the nature of the Taproot Foundation project model. Key indicators might include goals within the strategic plan that can be furthered by the requested grant, existing tools or materials that are not sufficient to accomplish those goals, and reasonable deadlines.
• Ability to work effectively with volunteer teams, as evidenced by factors such as experience successfully managing consultants, effective volunteer program, or work experience in professional services by key staff members.
• Board, management and staff time, and commitment, to providing such time as explained in the description of each project in the Grant Catalog. Applicant has a clear internal project lead who can dedicate at least 5 hours per week to the project through its completion to facilitate scheduling, information gathering and decision making. Management and the board strongly support the project, and staff is available to work with volunteers during the project as needed.
• A clear and simple decision-making and approval process. We generally do not support local affiliates of national organizations. Successful applicants will demonstrate that a limited number of decision-makers have been identified and will be available for timely turnaround of key decisions.
• The internal resources to effectively leverage a technical assistance project, as evidenced by factors such as having at least 3 full-time employees, and a budget of at least $350,000. As described in the Grant Catalog, some Service Grants are best suited for larger organizations.
• Stability in finances, management and strategy. There shouldn’t have been, nor is there expected to be, a dramatic growth or decline in revenues, a change in executive leadership or significant board turnover. Start up organizations, and organizations with no or temporary Executive Directors are not supported. Successful applicants can commit to keeping the Executive Director in place for at least 12 months from the date of the grant application.
• Financial resources required to complete the project (e.g. printing budget for a brochure), and maintain the grant deliverables after the project is completed.
• Completed preparatory work. In the ideal case, an applicant has a strategic plan, programmatic logic model and an assessment of its capabilities. This makes it possible to clearly articulate the important role the service grant will make in enabling the organization to execute its strategy and accomplish its mission.

Availability for application deadline: June 2, 2008

San Francisco Bay Area: The Bay Area office will be accepting applications from all nonprofits that meet our basic eligibility requirements. We welcome applications for all Service Grants types, however we expect to have a strong supply of volunteers in the following areas and encourage applications for these grant types:

• Donor Database
• Performance Management
• Human Resources Capacity Assessment
• Strategic Planning Preparation
• Strategic Scorecard
• Competitive/Collaborative Analysis
• Financial Analysis

In addition, eligible applicants from Contra Costa and Alameda Counties are particularly encouraged, as well as organizations focusing on youth development programs. Grantees of the following funders are also encouraged to apply:

• Blue Shield of California Foundation
• The California Endowment
• Columbia Foundation
• Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund
• Gap Foundation
• Walter S. Johnson Foundation

Special Note: We are now offering our new Strategy Management practice area for public release. In the June round, Strategy Management Service Grant types will be available exclusively in the Bay Area.

Seattle: The Seattle office will be accepting applications from nonprofits that meet our basic eligibility requirements and are located within King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties.

Applicants for Donor Database, Brochure, and Annual Report Service Grants are particularly encouraged, as well as eligible grantees of the following funders:

• Microsoft Unlimited Potential program
• Stuart Foundation
• Bank of America Neighborhood Builders program

Please note that we do not yet have the capacity to award Human Resources or Strategy Management grants in Seattle.

Chicago: The Chicago office will be accepting applications from all Chicagoland nonprofits that meet our basic eligibility requirements. Grantees of the Community Memorial Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation Land Conservation Grantees, Topfer Foundation, or Partnership for New Communities are also strongly encouraged to apply.

Applicants for Key Message & Brand Strategy, Donor Database, Brochure, and Annual Report Service Grants are particularly encouraged. A limited number of Website Service Grants will be awarded.

Please note that we do not yet have the capacity to award Human Resources or Strategy Management grants in Chicago.

New York City (all boroughs): Up to 30 eligible organizations will be awarded Service Grants in the June 2008 grant round. We are especially interested in organizations that fall within the following service categories: Environmental; HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and coalitions; Animal Welfare; Family and Parenting; Disability Services; Youth Development and Education. Please note: Strategy Management Service Grants will be available starting in SEPTEMBER 2008.

Boston (within Route 128 boundary): 5 eligible organizations will be awarded Service Grants during the June 2008 grant round. Environmental Conservation, Animal Welfare, Children and Youth, Poverty Alleviation, Community Development, Education Reform, and Health organizations are strongly encouraged to apply. *We will be accepting applications for Annual Report, Brochure, Key Messages & Brand Strategy, Naming & Visual Identity, and Website Service Grants.

Washington DC Area: We will award 5 Service Grants to eligible organizations during the June 2008 grant round. Legal and Human Rights Services, Environmental Conservation, Animal Welfare, Children and Youth, and Health-focused organizations are strongly encouraged to apply. *We will be accepting applications for Annual Report, Brochure, Key Messages & Brand Strategy, Naming & Visual Identity, and Website Service Grants.

Taproot Foundation staff will use their discretion to award all Service Grants. Taproot Foundation will notify all nonprofit applicants of next steps via email by late July. If you have not received notification by July 31, please check your spam filters since legitimate emails sometimes are identified as spam.