Grant Guidelines

Hawn Foundation, Inc. makes grants to educational, scientific, cultural, Christian and other charitable organizations with a primary emphasis on charitable organizations serving the Dallas, Texas metropolitan area. Grants are made only to nonprofit organizations which are recognized as charitable organizations by the Internal Revenue Code. Each applicant is required to provide a copy of their IRS determination letter stating that the applicant organization is a tax exempt organization as described in Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). The Board of Directors of the Hawn Foundation has a policy of accepting and reviewing only INVITED Letters of Inquiry. Organizations who have previously received funding from the Hawn Foundation as well as those specifically invited to apply by a member of our Board of Directors are invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry for a grant.

In our evaluation of Letters of Inquiry, the Foundation considers many factors including the following:

• The proposed program is well designed to meet a specific need and will produce well-defined, measurable, cost effective, positive change for the population being served.
• Sufficient financial support is available from other sources to ensure implementation of the program and the program’s continuity after the grant period.
• If funds for operations are requested, the need for operating support is either short-term or other sources of funding will be available to meet operational needs and ensure continuity of the organization in the future.
• The agency requesting funding has strong leadership and financial stewardship.

The Hawn Foundation does not provide funds for the following: grants to individuals, loans, scholarships directly to students, programs whose purpose is to influence legislation or to support candidates for political office. The Hawn Foundation grant cycle results in the distribution of monies once each year. Grant funds are generally distributed in late August and early September. Organizations considering applying for a grant should review our grant application timeline to make sure that Letters of Inquiry are submitted early enough to insure that the program timeline and our grant cycle coincide.