Private foundations are established to maintain or aid social, educational, religious, or other charitable activities serving the common welfare, primarily through the making of grants. A staff member of a foundation who reviews grant proposals and processes applications for the board of trustees. Only a small percentage of foundations have program officers. A written application, often accompanied by supporting documents, submitted to a foundation or corporate giving program in requesting a grant. Consult published guidelines.
Public charities are the recipients of most foundation and corporate grants.
Some public charities also make grants. Public charities are eligible for maximum income tax-deductible contributions from the public and are not subject to the same rules and restrictions as private foundations. A brief letter outlining an organization's activities and its request for funding that is sent to a potential grantmaker in order to determine whether it would be appropriate to submit a full grant proposal. Many grantmakers prefer to be contacted in this way before receiving a full proposal. An acronym for Request for Proposal.