The following comprise the official eligibility guidelines that are presented on the Everychild Foundation website. These are the guidelines potential grantees review before submitting an LOI. Applicant agencies must meet all of the following eligibility guidelines:

1. The agency is ideally seeking funding for an innovative project that targets a specific, critical, unmet, direct-service need of children in Los Angeles County.

2. The critical unmet need identified by the applicant agency can best be addressed by private philanthropy, alone or in combination with public funding. However, applicants should note that we do not consider applications for funding to replace lost dollars from other public or private sources, we do not fund operating expenses, and we do not fund the reorganization of existing services.

3. The project serves a significant proportion of the children who need the service. If the project will initially serve a small number of the total children in Los Angeles County who need the service, we would prefer the project be replicable, but it is not mandatory. If potentially replicable, the applicant must discuss how: (i) the project would be a replicable prototype and (ii) the agency would disseminate information about the prototype.

4. If the project includes services to adults, the agency must demonstrate that children are the primary population served, and adult involvement is integrated to improve those services to children.

5. A one-time grant of $1 million can constitute any of the following:
• All or a substantial part of the entire funding for the project.
• Complete funding for a discrete portion of a larger project.
• Final funding for a larger, otherwise fully funded project.
• We do not want our grant to be “a drop in the bucket.” The agency must demonstrate how our funding is essential to the success of the project.

6. The agency must demonstrate that it has the organizational capacity and experience to:
• Implement and sustain the project.
• Administer our grant, based on the agency’s history of administering grants of comparable size.
• Develop or continue diverse fundraising strategies to sustain ongoing operations and fund this and other projects of comparable scope.

7. We fund the following types of projects:

• Capital: A capital project must describe the new construction or the expansion, renovation, or replacement of an existing facility. In addition, the agency will need to provide details about the programs and activities taking place in the new or renovated facility.
• Expansion: If the expansion is based on a pilot, provide the specific data that reflects why the pilot is a success and why the expansion is warranted. If the expansion is required because of need, please identify the specific need that is being addressed.
• Pilot: The pilot project must be based on previously researched data that results in the agency believing that the pilot is feasible and the strategies for expanding the program and sustaining it as a core program of the agency are realistic.

8. The project is already part of the agency’s overall strategy and will be ready for implementation in the calendar year following the grant award in November. We generally do not provide lead grants, particularly for projects requiring substantial funding. For multi-year projects, we would expect to see concrete results within the first year of the grant.

9. The agency is an acknowledged leader in its field of children’s services.

10. The agency’s board of directors is comprised of unpaid volunteers.

11. The agency is headquartered in and its primary service is focused in Los Angeles County. It does not benefit from a national fundraising affiliation.

12. The project and agency are non-sectarian and the agency does not proselytize or target sectarian populations for services.

13. The agency is able and willing to help publicize the Everychild Foundation gift and can provide suitable donor recognition opportunities.

14. The project purpose does not duplicate the previous year’s Everychild Foundation grant.

15. Should you anticipate any leadership changes within the organization or if the CEO/ED is planning to retire, please discuss with your assigned Grant Outreach Committee member. Depending on the situation, it may impact your agency’s ability to move forward through our process. 

In the course of evaluating many LOIs, both the Grant Outreach and the Grant Screening Board have further refined some of the eligibility guidelines to take into account various issues. The following points were raised and decided on at prior meetings and represent some of these refinements:

1. The second place agency must wait a year before re-applying for our grant.

2. We will not consider proposals that specifically duplicate a previous year’s grant, but will consider proposals that fall into the same general category as a previous year’s grant.

3. Projects that focus on prevention of child abuse and neglect and 0-5 may include parent education and/or activities along with direct services to children.

4. Projects that target homeless children may include their families (e.g. temporary housing), or may provide children’s services that alleviate suffering rather than dramatically changing lives (e.g. camping).

5. Projects addressing medical needs of children may include disability assistance or support services.

6. Projects may focus on the unmet needs of youth, up to age 24.

7. Although the GSB is always sensitive to the impact of public funding cuts on services to children, we remain committed to our mission of funding new or expanded projects. The GSB would, however, consider a reorganization grant that established the sustainability of a new program model (rather than being a stop-gap or a Band-Aid).

8. We will only consider agencies with a prior year audit that identifies revenues of at least $1 million. Likewise, agencies with very substantial assets or unrestricted large endowments are not per se ineligible, but will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

9. Agencies with prior year (either single or multi-year) deficits are not per se ineligible, but will be considered on a case-by-case basis. These questions would be asked during the Grant Outreach process.

10. We have from time to time considered projects that involve collaborations with other agencies in the field; however, we do insist that one of the agencies is designated as the lead agency. An agency is eligible to apply for our grant even if it is collaborating with the grantee from the prior year. 

11. While we do not fund traditional public schools or school districts, we will consider charter school projects and educational reform organizations.

1. Examine the Everychild Foundation website. Carefully review our mission and our past grantees to determine if your agency is a good match for our grant.

2. Determine if your agency has the organizational capacity to implement our grant based on its history of implementing comparable grants and your agency’s history and sophistication in developing diverse fundraising strategies to sustain ongoing operations.

3. Carefully review the eligibility criteria.

September – January: The Foundation’s Grant Outreach Committee conducts outreach to potential grant applicants that have been identified by our members and grant consultant, provides the Letter of Inquiry format to eligible applicants, and comments on draft Letters of Inquiry to ensure that they are complete. Draft Letters of Inquiry are due to the Grant Outreach Committee in early December and final letters are due in late January.

February: The GSB reviews Letters of Inquiry to determine which meet all eligibility requirements and address the current most pressing needs of children. Applicants are notified whether they are invited to continue with the grant review process and are asked to submit a Document Package that includes the documents specified in the “Required Documents” tab.

March: Document packages are due and reviewed by GSB teams.

April: GSB determines which applicants move forward to site visits. Applicants are notified whether they are invited to continue with the grant review process and are asked to submit responses to pre-site visit questions.

May: GSB site visits.

June: GSB determines the two finalists and provides the instructions for final proposal and grant hearing presentations.

August: Final proposal due.

September: Grant hearing preparation.

October: Grant hearing.

November: Final grantee announced.

Applicant agencies must provide all the following documents during the Document Review phase of Grant Screening. Document packages should be digital and can be submitted via email.

Please do not send these documents until you have been notified that your agency has moved forward to March Document Review.

A. Agency Information

1. Annual report and/or newsletters if applicable. You can also provide copies of any digital communications if you wish including links to social media messages, etc.

2. Detailed budget for current year (with columns showing revenue and expenses for management, fundraising, and each program, and including a line that shows any allocated administrative expenses). If this is the same as the organizational budget submitted with the LOI, there is no need to submit it again.

3. Audited financial statements for 3 years: please send us a link to them on your website or on Guidestar.

4. Complete IRS Form 990 for the last year filed (including all attachments). This can be a link to the document on the website or on Guidestar. Please subsequently forward any 990s that are filed in the next few months as soon as they are completed.

5. IRS certification of 501(c)(3) status.

6. Strategic plan and status report that reflects the strategic direction of the agency.

7. Organizational Chart, Including names of staff in key positions.

8. CVs of key staff.

9. List of major funders over the last 5 years, including dollar amounts and years of grants.

10. Publications, evaluation reports, and accreditations.

11. News coverage and this can include links to relevant articles, etc.

12. Board of Directors roster with professional and community affiliations; also include Advisory Board rosters and rosters of other governance or fund-raising groups, if applicable.

13. Additional board information, including frequency of board meetings, list of standing committees, frequency of board review of financial statements, length of board terms, board recruitment process, and board giving requirements.

14. List of activities and actions that demonstrate that your agency is a leader in its field of services to children.

15. Disclose information about any lawsuits, present or former leaders’ criminal activities, adverse auditors’ opinions, and accreditation or licensing problems.

B. Project Information

1. If the project is new, provide any research, feasibility studies, models, blueprints, etc. that demonstrate the care with which your agency has designed the project.

2. If this is an expansion project, please include all of B.1 above, plus any program materials, schedule of activities, staff bios, evaluations, etc. to demonstrate how the project operates, how the agency has determined that the pilot was a success and what was learned during the pilot phase.

3. If this is a capital project, please include any renderings, timelines, construction documents, permits or any other relevant information including bio of construction team/project leader. You can include letters from landlords related to rental/lease pledges or other pertinent information. Also, share how the capital project will impact the long-term operating budget.

The Foundation relies on all statements and documents that applicant agencies provide to us throughout the grant process. Accordingly, any applicant that becomes aware of any material change in its situation or in information provided to us has an obligation to communicate changes in circumstances to the Foundation immediately. The Foundation’s formal Grant Agreement expressly incorporates all information that has been provided to the Foundation by the grantee throughout the application process.