Support for Nonprofits
The Martin Foundation provides two types of grants to nonprofit organizations: unrestricted general operating support and capital grants.
We support a range of organizations including (but not limited to) health and human services, children and education, arts and cultural institutions. We support nonprofits in Davidson County. Very rarely are grants made to nonprofit organizations outside this region. Further, we strongly favor supporting nonprofits that offer coordinated services to Charlie’s Fund–our individual grant making program.
To qualify for a grant, a nonprofit must:
– Be a qualified 501(c)(3)
– Provide a most recent 990
– Provide a most recent audited financial statement
– Provide an updated budget
– Provide collateral material as you deem appropriate
Please note that we do not require this information until we have determined your initial eligibility for a grant.
The Process
We ask you to submit a statement (1,500 words or less). Please be as detailed as you can in describing your case for support. Please include the amount you are requesting in your statement. After reviewing your statement, we will contact you to discuss your request. This can take some time depending on the volume of applications received. We typically will arrange a 30 minute virtual meeting to discuss your request. During this interview we want to talk with you to better understand your needs and if we can be a good partner in the work you are doing.
After the initial interview we will inform you if your grant is advancing or if we must decline support. Sadly, we are not able to fund all the worthy non profits that seek our support.
If your application advances, we will set up a site visit with you to help us better understand the work you are doing. During this site visit we would like to meet briefly with key leadership and tour your physical plant. Please note: we recognize that this is not always possible if your organization supports individuals in crisis. We respect the privacy of your clients and would never want to violate their confidentiality. After the site visit we ask you to provide us with the above information
After the site visit, Foundation staff will meet to discuss your application. When considering support to a nonprofit we evaluate the following information:
Provides a unique service
Has a broad base of support
Coordinates services with other nonprofits/gov't.
Board provides financial and leadership support
Major Donor recommendation
Strong Leadership
Staff diversity
Client diversity
Ongoing staff development
Client recommendation
Organization longevity
At this point in the grant process, we may ask to speak with a major donor to your organization as well as a client, if confidentiality permits. Our goal throughout this process is to better understand your work and how it relates and connects to the larger community.
If we are permitted to talk to a client, we prefer that person no longer actively receives services from your organization.
Staff Recommendation
Staff will meet to prepare a slate of nonprofits for approval to the Board. Please note that you may get all the way through this process and still be turned down. This typically occurs when the volume of applications exceeds our ability to fund. If you are turned down, you may resubmit an application 6 months later in a streamlined process.
Board Decision
Slates are submitted on a rolling basis and decisions are made on a rolling basis as well.
Follow Up
If your organization is selected for a grant, we request to have a six month follow up with you to check in and see how things are going. This can be done virtually or in person.
"He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own."
— Confucius