Granting: Letter of Inquiry

FIRST:  Please carefully review the Granting Guidelines below.  If the SOS interest areas and and funding preferences are compatible with the needs of your nonprofit organization, you are invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry.

Letters of Inquiry are evaluated to determine whether the organization’s mission and proposed project fit within SOS eligibility guidelines.  The proposed project’s feasibility and sustainability as well as the organization’s ability to plan, implement, evaluate and sustain the project are other factors evaluated.

SECOND:  To submit a Letter of Inquiry, you must first register your organization on the SOS website.   Once approved (within a week) you will receive an email with a username and password which will enable you to login and upload your Letter of Inquiry. Letters of Inquiry will be accepted from Sept. 15 - Oct. 31, 2009. 

Organizations will be notified in early December 2009 if they have been chosen to submit a Full Proposal.

Granting Guidelines:

The organization must be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Organizations must be based in and provide services to the greater St. Louis area. Preference will be given to organizations with operating budgets of less than $1 million.

SOS does not generally provide grant money for operating support but may do so for specific costs associated with well-planned projects. Grants are generally made for between $5,000 and $25,000. Grants are offered to organizations focusing on:

Arts and Culture
Education
Environment
Health
Social Services

Preference is given to organizations or projects responding to urgent or critical needs, especially those not being addressed by other organizations, and projects with specific or measurable outcomes.

SOS does not fund:

Building or capital campaigns (unless program specific);
Conferences or benefits to employees Individuals, endowments or research;
Projects promoting religious or political doctrine;
Operating deficits or retirement of existing debt.

Letters should contain the following information:

• A statement of the organization's mission, purpose and goals and a brief history.
  
  
• A statement of the problem or need being addressed.
  
  
• A description of the specific project for which funding is sought, methodology, target population to be served, other funding sources or partners, anticipated outcomes and evaluation process.
  
  
• The total cost of the project (if applicable), the amount requested and specifically how the grant monies will be used.
  
  
• If your organization is affiliated with any other organization(s), provide a detailed explanation of that affiliation.

Please note:

All inquiries are responded to via email , so it is important to provide an email address that will become your organization’s login email and will be used by for SOS for all communication.

Organizations must provide a website address (if applicable) as it is included in the SOS review process.

Organizations will be notified via email on Nov. 26, 2009 if selected to proceed to the next step - submitting a Full Grant Proposal.

If you have questions or need help with the Letter of Inquiry process, contact Elaine Queathem at