Overview & Guidelines
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How to Apply
The Medina Foundation uses an online grants management and application system. Applicants log into this E-Grant System to create an account with Medina Foundation, and to submit and manage new requests. All of our final reports and any other “follow-ups” associated with a grant are also submitted through the system. We are always happy to discuss any questions or special issues via phone or email.
The Medina Foundation uses an online grants management and application system. Applicants log into this E-Grant System to create an account with Medina Foundation, and to submit and manage new requests. All of our final reports and any other “follow-ups” associated with a grant are also submitted through the system. We are always happy to discuss any questions or special issues via phone or email.
Timeline
The Medina Foundation has no calendar deadlines for submitting requests. Any 501(c)3 organization working within our geographic funding area is welcome to submit an LOI (Letter of Inquiry) at any time.
However, we do ask that you wait 12 months after your last decision date before submitting a new LOI (and submit the Final Report for the previous grant, if applicable).
All LOIs are reviewed at the next available review meeting. You will typically be notified within one to three months as to whether your LOI is approved and you are invited to submit a full application.
If your LOI is approved, you have up to one year to submit the full application. Once your application is received, you will typically be notified of the funding decision within two to five months, depending on the volume of applications we receive. Applications are processed in the order they are received. Please see What happens after I submit an LOI?, below, for more information.
Please see our FAQs for more information on approximate timelines and grants in subsequent years.
Funding Areas
The Medina Foundation funds in the following focus areas:
Positive Pathways for Youth
Helping youth achieve positive outcomes.
We support organizations that:
Ensuring basic needs are met.
We support organizations that:
Helping people secure employment, increase income, and build assets.
We support organizations that:
Geographic Funding Region
The Medina Foundation funds in the following fourteen Greater Puget Sound counties of Washington State: Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom.
Funding Guidelines
The Foundation makes grants to organizations qualified under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and classified as public charities (not private foundations) under Section 509(a). No grants are made to environmental, arts, healthcare-related or political programs, or to religious institutions for religious purposes. If you are unsure if you are eligible to apply, please review the Eligibility Quiz below before submitting an LOI.
For full instructions on how to apply, please see Application Process. For FAQs related to our E-Grant System, click here. For general FAQs related to the Medina Foundation, click here. For all other questions, please contact us.
Eligibility Quiz: Can I submit an LOI?
What happens after I submit an LOI?
Your LOI will be reviewed by our staff and Trustees at the next available review meeting. If approved, you will be invited to submit a full application. Typically, you will receive a decision within one to three months of submitting your LOI.
What happens after I submit an Application?
If you are invited to submit an application, you will have a year to do so. Once your application is submitted, we will contact you within the next couple of months to set up a site visit, which is our chance to ask you any further questions. After your application is complete, your request will be reviewed at the next available meeting of the Trustees. Decisions are typically made within two to five months of your application submission. During periods of high volume, your decision may be somewhat delayed as we schedule site visits and review applications in the order they come in. Please be patient with our small number of staff and check in any time on the status of your review.
If your application is approved and a grant is made, we will ask you to submit your Grant Agreement through the E-Grant System before the grant funds are issued. You will also be asked to submit a Final Report through the E-Grant System, approximately one year after the grant is made. Final Reports must be submitted before a new request can be reviewed.
What makes a strong proposal?
The Medina Foundation considers many qualities of an organization when reviewing proposals.
We look for organizations that are addressing critical community needs, engaging in strategic planning to meet well-mapped programmatic and financial goals, and seeing positive results through their programs. We believe organizations that are driven by strong leadership, through a diverse and engaged board and a dedicated executive director and staff, have a high likelihood of success.
Grant amounts awarded reflect both the needs of the nonprofit and the Foundation's desire to see the presence of other support. Generally, this means no more than 10% of an operating or capital budget. We do consider making exceptions for innovative start-ups. Since grant sizes vary widely, please review the grants list to see the size and types of grants that we have recently awarded. The Foundation’s median grant size is around $25,000.
Application Assistance
After reviewing the grant guidelines, application process, and frequently asked questions, feel free to contact the Foundation at grants@medinafoundation.org if you need assistance or are still unsure whether your organization might be eligible for funding.
The Medina Foundation has no calendar deadlines for submitting requests. Any 501(c)3 organization working within our geographic funding area is welcome to submit an LOI (Letter of Inquiry) at any time.
However, we do ask that you wait 12 months after your last decision date before submitting a new LOI (and submit the Final Report for the previous grant, if applicable).
All LOIs are reviewed at the next available review meeting. You will typically be notified within one to three months as to whether your LOI is approved and you are invited to submit a full application.
If your LOI is approved, you have up to one year to submit the full application. Once your application is received, you will typically be notified of the funding decision within two to five months, depending on the volume of applications we receive. Applications are processed in the order they are received. Please see What happens after I submit an LOI?, below, for more information.
Please see our FAQs for more information on approximate timelines and grants in subsequent years.
Funding Areas
The Medina Foundation funds in the following focus areas:
Positive Pathways for Youth
Helping youth achieve positive outcomes.
We support organizations that:
- Ensure that young people’s basic needs such as safe, stable housing are met
- Mentor, tutor, and support youth as they find their own voice, achieve their own goals, and build new skills
- Support transition points through school, from early education through postsecondary, including job training
Ensuring basic needs are met.
We support organizations that:
- Alleviate hunger, primarily through larger food distribution networks or rural food banks that are also a hub of additional services
- Prevent homelessness or quickly stabilize people who are experiencing homelessness
- Offer programs that prevent or reduce the effects of domestic violence, sexual assault, trauma, and abuse
Helping people secure employment, increase income, and build assets.
We support organizations that:
- Offer job training and entrepreneurship opportunities
- Teach skills and assist with obtaining credentials needed for career advancement
- Provide financial education
Geographic Funding Region
The Medina Foundation funds in the following fourteen Greater Puget Sound counties of Washington State: Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom.
Funding Guidelines
The Foundation makes grants to organizations qualified under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and classified as public charities (not private foundations) under Section 509(a). No grants are made to environmental, arts, healthcare-related or political programs, or to religious institutions for religious purposes. If you are unsure if you are eligible to apply, please review the Eligibility Quiz below before submitting an LOI.
For full instructions on how to apply, please see Application Process. For FAQs related to our E-Grant System, click here. For general FAQs related to the Medina Foundation, click here. For all other questions, please contact us.
Eligibility Quiz: Can I submit an LOI?
- Is your organization a registered 501(c)3?
- YES – Proceed to Question 2.
- NO – Unfortunately, you are ineligible to apply for funding.
- If you have a Fiscal Sponsor agreement with a registered 501(c)3 organization, then the Fiscal Sponsor may apply on your behalf. Please contact us to discuss your situation before submitting a request.
- Is your organization located within our geographic funding area, or are you requesting funding for work carried out primarily in our geographic funding area?
- YES – Proceed to Question 3.
- UNSURE - Feel free to contact us if your work is statewide and/or you are unsure if the request would be a good fit for the Foundation based on your primary geographic region.
- NO – Unfortunately, you are ineligible to apply for funding.
- Does your work fall within the scope of one or more of our focus areas? (Please note the Medina Foundation does not fund arts, healthcare, or environmental requests.)
- YES – You are eligible to apply for funding. Proceed to Question 4. Due to the large volume of requests we receive, and the Foundation's limited funding, we are unable to fund every worthy program that falls under our general focus areas. The Foundation relies heavily on the specific priorities of our Trustees, including organizations that provide direct services to individuals and serve under-resourced communities.
- UNSURE - If you are unsure if your program is a good fit for our funding priorities, you may contact us to discuss your program, or simply submit an LOI to have your program reviewed by our staff and Trustees at the next available date. Proceed to Question 4.
- NO – Unfortunately, if your work is clearly outside the scope of our grantmaking, you are ineligible for funding from the Medina Foundation. If you choose to submit an LOI, it will not be considered for funding. Due to the limited nature of our resources, we are only able to consider funding for organizations working in our issue areas.
- Have you applied for funding from Medina Foundation within the past 12 months?
- YES – You may work on your new LOI at any time, and click “Save” to save your progress. However, we cannot accept a new LOI until at least 12 months have passed from your last decision date. Contact us if you are unsure of when to submit your next LOI. If your last request was approved, we will also need you to submit the Final Report for that grant before we can review your new LOI.
- NO – You are eligible to submit a new LOI at any time. Please read through the Application Process or proceed to our login page to apply.
- If this is your first time applying to the Medina Foundation, click “Create New Account.”
- If you have applied before (or are unsure) and need a login/password, please contact us.
What happens after I submit an LOI?
Your LOI will be reviewed by our staff and Trustees at the next available review meeting. If approved, you will be invited to submit a full application. Typically, you will receive a decision within one to three months of submitting your LOI.
What happens after I submit an Application?
If you are invited to submit an application, you will have a year to do so. Once your application is submitted, we will contact you within the next couple of months to set up a site visit, which is our chance to ask you any further questions. After your application is complete, your request will be reviewed at the next available meeting of the Trustees. Decisions are typically made within two to five months of your application submission. During periods of high volume, your decision may be somewhat delayed as we schedule site visits and review applications in the order they come in. Please be patient with our small number of staff and check in any time on the status of your review.
If your application is approved and a grant is made, we will ask you to submit your Grant Agreement through the E-Grant System before the grant funds are issued. You will also be asked to submit a Final Report through the E-Grant System, approximately one year after the grant is made. Final Reports must be submitted before a new request can be reviewed.
What makes a strong proposal?
The Medina Foundation considers many qualities of an organization when reviewing proposals.
We look for organizations that are addressing critical community needs, engaging in strategic planning to meet well-mapped programmatic and financial goals, and seeing positive results through their programs. We believe organizations that are driven by strong leadership, through a diverse and engaged board and a dedicated executive director and staff, have a high likelihood of success.
Grant amounts awarded reflect both the needs of the nonprofit and the Foundation's desire to see the presence of other support. Generally, this means no more than 10% of an operating or capital budget. We do consider making exceptions for innovative start-ups. Since grant sizes vary widely, please review the grants list to see the size and types of grants that we have recently awarded. The Foundation’s median grant size is around $25,000.
Application Assistance
After reviewing the grant guidelines, application process, and frequently asked questions, feel free to contact the Foundation at grants@medinafoundation.org if you need assistance or are still unsure whether your organization might be eligible for funding.