*** Before You Apply ***

Does The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio offer any opportunities to learn more about its grant guidelines and application?
Yes, The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio holds grant workshops twice a year, conveniently located throughout Central Ohio, to explain our grant guidelines and application, our funding priorities, and to address any specific questions applicants may have before applying. To see the upcoming grant workshop schedule, please click here.

Do I need to attend a grant workshop in order to apply for a grant from The Women’s Fund?
No, although the grant workshops are not mandatory but highly recommended, they are a great opportunity to learn whether your program is a good fit for The Women’s Fund before taking the time to fill out the application. In addition, it is an opportunity to clarify any questions that you have about our application, or grant process. In our experience, grant applications are more successful if the applicant has attended a workshop. Please note: Adherence to the application guidelines must be followed in order to be considered for funding.

What are the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio’s funding priority areas?
The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio makes grants to programs, new and established, working for positive social change in Central Ohio in three priority areas:

• Advancing the lives of girls and young women (birth - 18 years old) by providing opportunities to develop life skills.
• Promoting economic independence for women.
• Facilitating leadership development for women.

What is Social Change?
The Women's Fund of Central Ohio believes that social change can come about in a variety of ways. But how do you know that lasting systemic change has been achieved? The Women's Fund of Central Ohio along with other Women's Fund's worldwide use five indicators of social change developed by The Women's Funding Network (www.wfnet.org) to measure and categorize social change. These indicators are as follows:

• Shifts in definition or reframing of issues: The issue is defined differently in the community or larger society. For example, "going green" becomes a mainstream definition as the result of environmental awareness and action.
• Shifts in individual or community behavior: People behave differently in the community. For example, people recycle at greater rates and buy energy efficient appliances.
• Shifts in critical mass or engagement: People in the community are more engaged in your issue. For example, people attend talks and information sessions on environmental issues.
• Shifts in policy: Specific organizational, local, regional, state or national policy has changed. For example, the local school district enacts a "no idling" policy for school buses.
• Maintain or holding the line: Earlier progress on the issue has been maintained in the face of opposition. For example, a bill to ease clean water standards is defeated.

Here is one definition that compares social change with social service: Social change addresses the root causes of problems; social service addresses the consequences of those problems. Social change addresses whole communities, systems and institutions; social service aids and assists individuals. - Ben & Jerry’s Foundation www.benjerrys.com

Who is not eligible for a grant?

• Capital or endowment requests.
• Programs that looked to serve women and girls outside of the seven central Ohio counties: Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison, Pickaway, and Union.
• Proposals that are for a personal business.
• Scholarships that fund individual students.
• Co-educational programs that do not clearly communicate the specific and unique aspects for girls/women.
• Events seeking sponsorship.
• Women’s health programs.

My organization does not have a 501(c)(3) designation, can we still apply?
Yes, you can still apply; however, you will need an organization with a 501(c)(3) to act as your fiscal agent.

Will you fund a program if it provides services to men and boys?
Yes, we will support co-ed programs. However, the specific benefits for women and girls must be outlined. The budget cannot support funding for the men or boys in the program. It is important to The Women's Fund of Central Ohio that the programs we support use a gender lens, meaning that the program must inherently be different for the girls and women in the program than for the men and boys. The application would have to address how the program has developed the co-ed program using a gender lens.

What is a gender lens?
Instead of simply funding projects that serve primarily women or girls, utilizing a gender lens means going beyond serving women and girls or having female board and staff members. When applying a gender lens, an organization intentionally designs the program to account for the notion that gender can powerfully affect experience and opportunity. Social and cultural expectations may vary based on sex as can men and women's reactions to the design of a program. Gender roles may also vary based on cultural differences. When using a gender lens, all of these issues are taken into account when designing a program.

A gender lens is all about social change. When common societal problems are considered by how they specifically affect women and girls, solutions to these problems differ from traditional approaches.

Does the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio fund advocacy initiatives?
Yes, we make grants for advocacy as long as your organization seeks support for an initiative that is congruent with The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio’s funding priority areas.

Do you have multi-year funding?
The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio makes grants for 12 month periods and does not preclude reapplication.

If I have been funded by The Women’s Fund before, can I apply for a grant for the same program?
Yes, The Women’s Fund is interested in supporting programs that best promise social change for women and girls in our community. However, previous funding does not guarantee future funding.

How are your grantmaking decisions made?
The Women's Fund recruits a diverse group of women and girls to review grant applications. These 60 - 80 women and girls participate in training and then review grant applications. The Grant Readers score the applications according to The Women's Fund selection criteria, in particular, the potential of a program to create long term social change for women and girls in our community. Their recommendations are shared with The Women's Fund Board Grants Selection Committee where other considerations such as monies available for grants and representation of all of our priority areas are also taken into account. The Board Grant Selection Committee then shares their funding recommendations with The Women's Fund Executive Committee and ultimately the Board of Directors, for review and approval of funding.

When are the grant decisions announced?
There are two grant deadlines each year, one in spring and one in fall. Grants partners are announced in July and December.

Can I e-mail my application?
Yes, we are now encouraging that you email your application, for both the August 20 deadline and the August 27 final deadline. If you are unable to email your application for any reason, we will need a hard copy sent in the mail or dropped off to our office, located at Suite 230 Huntington Center, 41 S. High Street, by August 27th, 2008 at 5:00 pm.

Are the grant deadlines the date received or the postmark date?
Grant applications must be postmarked or email date stamped by the application deadline, August 27, 2008 at 5:00 pm. There are no exceptions to the deadline

What if I miss the grant application deadline?
The Women's Fund does not accept late grant applications. However, we welcome you to apply on or before our next grant deadline. We also encourage you to submit your application on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 to our offices for staff assistance and review. Any applications submitted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 will be considered for funding exactly as it is submitted. No additions or changes can be made to an application after the August 27 deadline. Adherence to the application guidelines must be followed in order to be considered for funding.

In the past, we have offered assistance to applicants after the grant application deadline. We are unable to continue to offer this assistance. However, we are offering an opportunity to strengthen your application before the deadline if your application is submitted by August 20, 2008.