- Who do you make grants to?
- I have a good idea. Can I receive a grant?
- Do you provide grants to help start organzations?
- Do you provide grants for more than one year?
- How much should we ask for?
- Do you make grants outside of Forsyth County?
- Do I need a 501(c)(3) designation?
- Do you make grants to religious organzations?
We make grants to charitable organizations that are conducting a charitable activity in the greater Forsyth County area.
You must be part of an organization. Your organization must have a board of directors or a group of leaders who are responsible for the strategic direction and finances of the organization.
We do occasionally, but your organization should have a way to support itself long-term.
We usually make grants for one year at a time. Occasionally we will support a project for up to three years.
Your organization should decide this because you know the financial needs and the strategic plan for your own organization. The average grant size of the Winston-Salem Foundation is $15,000 - $20,000; but we make many grants that are larger and many grants that are smaller.
We consider our service area to be Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Surry, Stokes, Wilkes, and Yadkin counties. We make grants primarily in Forsyth County at this point, because most of the funds that we use to make grants are specified for Forsyth County. We are glad to have a growing number of funds, many for special purposes, which benefit all the counties in our service area.
We recognize that our community does not end at the county line, and we are trying to develop more ways to make grants in our neighboring counties.
We make most of our grants to charitable organizations with 501(c)(3) status, but we do offer some grants to groups without this designation.
The Winston-Salem Foundation funds faith-based organizations (churches, synagogues, mosques) when the organization is providing a social service and when the nature of the grant application is appropriate for Foundation funding. The Foundation tries to remain neutral, however, as to religious beliefs.
The Grantmaking Policy of The Winston-Salem Foundation states: "We do not make grants for religious activities that serve only the members of a single congregation or promote a particular religious doctrine."
For example, the Foundation could make a grant to a church for an adult day care center or an after-school tutoring program serving the broad community, but not for a vacation Bible school or religious training.
The Foundation will consider making grants to religious organizations that are:
- Committed to community service that is not primarily for spreading religious beliefs or for recruiting new members.
- Primarily serving the wider community, beyond their own members.
- Led by a broad group of volunteer leaders who take decision-making and financial responsibility for the project
- Providing financial support for the proposed project, in addition to the financial support that they are requesting from the Foundation.
NOTE: Equipment and other capital requests are a low priority for Foundation funding.