About the Grant Application
1. Purpose
Our grants are awarded to enable projects or activities that fulfill our Statement of Purpose: in brief, to advance public awareness and understanding of ethical polyamory, its principles and best practices, and to aid the ethical-polyamory community.
2. Eligibility and Process
– Applicant must be age 18 or over.
– For now, we can only issue grants in the United States.
– Our grants are made toward educational or charitable purposes per the IRS. We cannot make grants to support or oppose political candidates or ballot measures or lobby for items of legislation.
– We cannot pay your counseling, legal, or other personal bills.
– Grants can be made to individuals or to organizations, but in either case the applying individual agrees to take personal responsibility for proper use of the grant, documentation of expenditures, and the required report(s) on the work done. We do not pay individuals for time worked, only for expenses incurred. (However we may help another nonprofit organization pay for work.)
– Since polyamory is founded on good ethics, grants shall be awarded to individuals or organizations that act in line with high ethical standards in our opinion, including ethics toward the wider poly community. We support safe, caring community. We support equal respect for persons of all identities.
– Grantees need to explain to us the expected benefits/ impacts of the project, report to us during and/or after the project what was done, and provide us with a statement and/or documentation that all funds were used as agreed in pursuit of the Foundation's charitable/educational Statement of Purpose. We may provide any or all of this information to the IRS.
– You will need to inform us of any relationship you have to Polyamory Foundation directors, officers, or major donors in order for us to avoid conflict of interest.
– To apply, use the application form in the link below. You’ll need to agree to the checkbox points (certifications) at the end of it, and sign it.
3. Some of our priorities in choosing among applications
– The Foundation gives priority to projects that will have concrete, widespread, and permanent benefits. Efficacy matters.
– The Foundation holds dear the principles of ethics, morality, honesty, goodwill, and transparency, especially as exhibited in community.
– An application gains weight with us if it will serve or benefit marginalized or under-represented communities, including by increasing representation.
– As a practical matter, the less you ask for the better your chance may be, given that our early funds are limited and we want to spread them around.
4. Award limits / Use of grant funds
– Typical awards range from $100 to $5,000, with our hope of funding at least 10 projects/activities each year.
– We wish to directly fund specific projects/activities. If you are a nonprofit organization that aligns with our Statement of Purpose, we have more flexibility. We cannot fund any unrelated travel or personal expenses. We do not pay individuals for their time worked, only for expenses incurred.
– Recipients agree to return grant funds if the project or activity is not completed or is substantially changed from the application or other agreement without approval. Unused/leftover funds must be returned, unless we both agree in writing how they will be used for further allowed purposes.
5. Deadlines
For now, proposals may be submitted anytime.
6. Reports
A report on what the project did, and its outcomes and impacts, is due within one month of the project/activity’s completion. Interim reports will be required for grants with expenditures extending more than three months. We'll send you a report form along with approval of your grant application
The report(s) should specify accomplishments, problems, and any lessons learned. The final report should include a summary suitable for publication in the Foundation’s newsletter, website, or elsewhere.
NOTE: Grantees need to tell us the expected benefits/ impacts of their project, report to us during and/or after the project what was done, and provide us with receipts/statements documenting that the granted funds were used as agreed in pursuit of the Foundation's charitable/educational Statement of Purpose. We may provide this information to the IRS.
To submit an application, please download our application form using the button at right. It's a Word document in .docx format. Open it in a word processor and fill it out by typing into it. Then save it on your computer (including the instructions at its top) as a .pdf file with the filename "PF grant application [your name].pdf" , and email it as an attachment to polyamoryfoundation@gmail.com.
If necessary you can print out the blank application form, fill it out on paper (attach additional paper as needed), and mail it to The Polyamory Foundation, 160 Alewife Brook Parkway #1114, Cambridge, MA 02138. But this will be slower and more cumbersome to process.
If you'd like to talk in more depth or have questions along the way, write us at polyamoryfoundation@gmail.com. Or we can set up a phone call if you like.