We continue to hear many good questions from our partners, such as:
How many funding opportunities will you have this year?
In 2016, there is one major funding call across the three active portfolios: Housing Opportunities, Healthy Environment and Building Community. Each has a slightly staggered deadline, so you will want to think through which portfolio area and goal is the best fit and apply by that deadline. Housing Opportunities, for example, has the first deadline for inquiry applications, on Monday, May 9th at 5pm. Deadlines for the other portfolios will follow.
I have an existing grant with Meyer. May I still apply?
Absolutely.
How much should I apply for?
That is a great question without a simple answer. We can say that Meyer is rarely the first funder or only funder of a project. We look for projects that leverage other resources.
Each portfolio gives ranges for the types of requests that it will be accepting. In general, we expect to make a few grants at the very high end of the range. Those projects will tend to be bigger, more complex, and may involve several organizations working collaboratively. We'll look at the grant request relative to the full budget for the project and the organization, and how much of an organization's budget Meyer would support if it has multiple grants.
No single factor determines the answer. So, consider these points and try to craft a request that makes sense within the ranges described in each portfolio. See more answers to questions we've heard on our FAQs page. And, finally, reach out to the portfolio staff or questions [at] mmt.org (questions[at]mmt[dot]org) if you want to talk through a grant request size.
Don't forget: the deadline for Housing Opportunities funding is 5 p.m., Monday, May 9th.