Frequently Asked Questions
If you can't find the answer to you question, please email us at support@taprootfoundation.org.
The Service Grant Process
- How long do the projects last?
- Who manages the projects?
- How much experience do the volunteers have?
- Can I select the volunteers for my team?
- What happens if one of the volunteers on my teams leaves?
- What happens if we need work done after the project is complete?
- What expenses do I need to pay that are associated with the project?
Applying for a Service Grant
- What are the criteria for awarding Service Grants?
- What are the deadlines to apply for a Service Grant?
- I know we need help in a lot of areas, but we don't know where to begin.
- Can we apply for more than one Service Grant per cycle?
- If we are awarded a Service Grant, when will it start?
- If we are already a grantee, can we apply for additional grants?
- What is a "fiscal sponsor"?
- What fiscal year should I report?
- The service grant application asks for contact information for a number of roles in our organization. What are these roles, and why are we asked for them?
Managing Your Online Account
- I lost my sign-in information. What do I do?
- Can we have multiple users on our account?
- The person who opened the account is no longer with the organization. What do we do?
- Why am I being asked to choose a new username for my account?
- Do I need to create a new account every tie I apply for a Service Grant?
Web Browser Requirements
The Service Grant Process
A: Once a project kicks off, we aim to have it take 6 months. This does not include the time it takes us to make a grant decision and compile a team of volunteer consultants. You can see a rough project plan for each project in our Grant Catalog.
A: The day-to-day management of the projects is performed by a volunteer Project Manager with a volunteer Account Director responsible for quality assurance as well as client and volunteer satisfaction. The Taproot Foundation staff checks in with our Account Directors every week to ensure the success of the projects.
A: We generally look for volunteers who have at least three years of relevant experience.
A: No. Our Account Directors, who are experienced in staffing these types of projects, handle the staffing. If you find that there is someone on the team that you feel is not a good fit, bring it up with your Account Director and they will work with you to resolve the issue.
A: We have a database of hundreds of volunteers. If one of the members of your teams needs to leave the project, we will replace them.
A: Many of our volunteers continue to work as board members, advisors, volunteers and paid contractors after a project is complete. We encourage volunteers to build long-term relationships with organizations, but it is not part of our official programs. It is up to each volunteer to continue to work with an organization.
A: We cover the labor involved in the project. You are responsible for all the other costs.
Applying for a Service Grant
A: Our grant criteria are set by our guidelines committee and Board of Directors. They are posted on the website. We generally update the criteria every 6 months.
A: The deadlines are September 15, December 1, March 1, and June 1. If you miss a deadline, you application will be automatically considered for the next grant round.
A: What must you get done, and what would you merely like to get done? What does your board think? What do they most strongly support? If, after answering these questions, you still find yourself with a number of seemingly equal needs, think about timing. Our projects typically complete about 10 months from the time of application, so if something must get done sooner, you should explore other resources. Also think about your capacity. What will bring the most benefit while putting the least strain on your resources? If you are interested in both Performance Management and Strategic Scorecard, but the staff and board members who would participate on the Strategic Scorecard project are 100% focused on program evaluation and will remain so for a year, then you might be better off applying for Performance Management.
Within our marketing practice, we recommend starting with a Key Messages & Brand Strategy project to create the foundation on which to do the rest of your marketing efforts. You can find more information on the appropriate sequence for developing marketing and communications tools in our overview of Marketing and Fundraising service projects.
Within our marketing practice, we recommend starting with a Key Messages & Brand Strategy project to create the foundation on which to do the rest of your marketing efforts. You can find more information on the appropriate sequence for developing marketing and communications tools in our overview of Marketing and Fundraising service projects.
A: We only consider one request per grant cycle. That said, if it turns out that the Service Grant you requested is not the most strategic for your organization, we can change it during the interview and due diligence process.
A: We generally award Service Grants within 8 weeks of the application deadline. We then stagger their start dates over the next 3 months. Depending on the availability of volunteers and the timing on your end, it could start anytime during that window.
A: We like to build long term relationships with organizations that are effectively use our services. To this end, we encourage most grantees to apply for additional services after their first project is completed.
A: One of the eligibility criteria for receiving a Service Grant is that an organization either be a 501(c)(3) organization itself or be fiscally sponsored by another 501(c)(3) organization. Only if your organization is not a 501(c)(3) itself do we require a fiscal sponsor.
A: Our Service Grant Application asks for some information from your most recently filed IRS 990 form (even if it has not yet been audited). Fill in the year that appears in the top right corner of that form. If your latest filing was for the period January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005, you would enter "2005" as the fiscal year. If your filing was for the period July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006, enter "2006" as the fiscal year.
Q: The service grant application asks for contact information for a number of roles in our organization. What are these roles, and why are we asked for them?
A: The Taproot Foundation staff and volunteers need to contact certain people in your organization during the application review process and during the project itself. In some cases, the same person might fill more than one role.
| Application Contact | If the Taproot Foundation has questions about your application during the review process, we will contact this person. |
| Executive Director | Typically, the Taproot Foundation awards grants to organizations that have an Executive Director, or someone with a similar title. |
| Development Director | This is the person most responsible for fundraising in your organization. |
| Primary board contact | Successful projects often require some interaction with a representative from your organization's board. This is true of all service grants in our catalog, but particularly for the marketing projects. |
| Executive sponsor | This is the executive-level staff member who will be responsible for the project. This may or may not be the Executive Director. |
| Person responsible for scheduling meetings with executive sponsor | During the service grant application review process, the Taproot Foundation may need to conduct an in-person interview with the executive sponsor as well as the primary board contact and possibly others. Knowing whom to contact to schedule the interview expedites this process. |
| Day-to-day project contact | This is the person in your organization whom the Taproot Foundation's volunteer team will work with most closely during the project. |
| Specialists #1 and #2 | Many projects require you to have a person with specialized skills on the project team. Website and Donor Database projects require someone with relevant technical knowledge. Performance Management projects require a human resources specialist. Brochure and Annual Report projects may require a copywriter, and projects involving bilingual copywriting require someone who is bilingual. |
We ask that you provide contact information for every role listed above, with the possible exception of Specialist #2.
Managing Your Online Account
A: Visit the sign-in page and click on the link that says, "I forgot my username or password."
A: Your account has one username that can be used to log in, and there is only one account per nonprofit organization. If you want another trusted colleague to have access to the account, simply share the username and password with that person. (If you do share access, we recommend that you choose a different password from any personal passwords that you use. You can change your username or password at any time by visiting the Edit Account Profile page.)
A: If you do not have the login information for your account, send us an email with your contact information and we will move the account over to you.
A: Until August, 2006, you would use an email address to log in to your nonprofit account. This caused problems for nonprofit organizations when the person with that email address left the organization, and it made it inconvenient to share access to the account with other colleagues in the organization. By transitioning to non-email usernames, we hope to mitigate these problems. (If you do share access, we recommend that you choose a different password from any personal passwords that you use. You can change your username or password at any time by visiting the Edit Account Profile page.)
A: If you have already applied for a Service Grant and would like to submit another grant application, you do not need to create a new account. You should sign-in under your previous account name and then start a new grant application.
Web Browser Requirements
Q: How do I enable JavaScript in my browser?
A: Some pages on the Taproot Foundation website require that you have a feature called JavaScript enabled in your browser.
To test if your browser supports JavaScript and has it enabled, click this link. If you saw a "congratulations" message, you're in good shape.
The Google website provides good instructions for enabling JavaScript in some common browsers.
To test if your browser supports JavaScript and has it enabled, click this link. If you saw a "congratulations" message, you're in good shape.
The Google website provides good instructions for enabling JavaScript in some common browsers.
