PRE-APPLICATION

Please visit our Strategies web page for more information. If you are still unsure, please contact a member of our program team. If you want to know if we fund your type of organization, please visit our Funding page.

We have no formal pre-application process or required LOI. Please visit our Funding page for detailed information on our process for each of our grant opportunities. The first step is to reach out to inquire about whether a ‘get acquainted’ meeting would be appropriate.

If you are requesting a staff discretionary grant ($25,000 or less), there is no deadline—the staff reviews these on a rolling basis. For board grants (more than $25,000) we have specific deadlines —please refer to our Funding page for the most up-to-date deadline information. For Community Grants (up to $6,000) there are 2024 quarterly deadlines – please refer to our Community Grant page for more information.

Not at this time. Instead, you are asked to set up a Get Acquainted meeting with one of our program staff. Please contact us at grants@stlukesfdn.org or 216-431-8010 to set up the meeting.

It is highly discouraged, as we want to understand the context of your organization and the project well before reviewing anything in writing. Having a conversation with one of our staff will also help save time and create the best climate for success.

There is a wide range in the dollar amounts of grants awarded. Please discuss the amount you plan to request with your program officer before submitting an application. Decisions regarding amounts are based on project costs, budget size and our available funds. We strive uphold transparency with you prior to your submission of an application.

Nothing at this time. Please complete the new application.

APPLICATION FAQS

Please contact the Grants Manager at grants@stlukesfdn.org or 216-431-8010 for assistance.

There is no harm in asking for clarification while you are working on the application. We encourage you to ask questions as needed so that we get the right information and your valuable time is not wasted writing something you are unsure about. The best person to ask is the program team member with whom you have been working closely.

We ask that proposals requesting funds for projects, programs, capacity building, or capital expenses include detailed line items in the budget. Please include all expenses and be specific (e.g., instead of $75,000 for “planning,” please specify if this is a consultant or staff time). We ask that you also include a budget narrative explaining the line items and their costs if it is not specific in the overall budget. We also ask that you include information on the other funders of the project (including your own organization’s contributions). If you have further questions, please contact the program team member with whom you are working closely.

We have a question for optional documents to be uploaded as one file—this could include reports from prior years of the project, news articles, examples of assessments, or other things. As it says, it is completely optional, so please do not feel that you need to add things there. It is most important that we receive all pertinent information about the work in the proposal itself, including citing previous success with the project.

Please reach out to the Foundation to meet with a program officer for a conversation regarding your work and potential intersection with our mission. During that conversation with a program officer, please indicate if you are interested in multi-year funding.

You may apply each cycle for a project that is not currently being funded by the Foundation. As always, we encourage you to discuss the proposals with the program team prior to submission.

Extensions are discouraged, but we recognize that there are circumstances beyond our control sometimes. Please contact the program team member with whom you have been working and the Grants Manager at grants@stlukesfdn.org or 216-431-8010 to provide further information.

You may apply as soon as the next cycle, however we ask that you work with the program team prior to re-submission. We want to ensure that your time and effort is used wisely with regard to the Saint Luke’s Foundation.

ONLINE SYSTEM

If you are not a new organization, please contact the Grants Manager at grants@stlukesfdn.org or 216-431-8010 with the following information: the name of the person who is no longer at the organization and the name and contact information (title, email, phone number, address) of the person who needs a login. You can add multiple people to login, but only one person can be assigned to complete grant reports.

Please contact the Grants Manager at grants@stlukesfdn.org or 216-431-8010 for assistance and have a clear description of the problem ready. A screenshot is also helpful if you are able to get one.

You may be able to change the organization’s mailing address yourself, but if you are having difficulty or if you need to make other edits, please contact the Grants Manager at grants@stlukesfdn.org or 216-431-8010 for assistance.

AWARD FAQS

For staff discretionary grants ($25,000 or less), we review these on a rolling basis. You will typically receive a decision within four weeks. For community discretionary grants, please see our Community Grant page. For board grants (more than $25,000), you will receive a final decision after the board meeting following the cycle in which you applied. You will find more information on the Board Grant page.

You will login into the portal that you used to apply. A grant agreement will be assigned to you under that grant name. Click “Edit” to carefully read through it, accept the terms, electronically sign it and submit it. You may also print it for your records. You will not receive a check until the grant agreement is accepted, signed, and submitted through the system.

If you are having difficulty getting the agreement signed electronically, please contact the Grants Manager at grants@stlukesfdn.org or 216-431-8010 to let them know. They will work with you to find an alternate solution.

Once you submit the grant agreement and submit a blank check, you will receive a check via ACH. Please allow for a few weeks as we have to go through several internal controls to process checks.

Your report is due as listed in your grantee portal. In the meantime, please stay in touch with us about what is happening with your efforts. We are eager to connect with you over the course of this grant—not just when the report is due. Our support is more of an investment than a gift; in that spirit, we want to know about your work, its successes, what we might be able to do to help and the challenges you may experience along the way. We would like to consider ourselves your partners.

STRATEGY LEARNING SESSION

In philanthropy, it’s common for grantees to undergo a site visit. At Saint Luke’s, we rega our grantees not just as grantees, but as strategic partners. We are committed to transforming our site visits into collaborative, conversational, and interactive sessions that involve not only our staff and board members but also other strategic partners. This approach underscores our dedication to working alongside our grantees to achieve mutual goals. That is why we call them strategy learning sessions.

Strategy learning sessions can be an important part of the grantmaking process, but it is not always necessary, so we will be in close contact with you on that. If held, you may elect to determine where such a visit would be most convenient for you.

Strategy learning sessions are scheduled quarterly, shortly after each grant cycle deadline.

Our virtual strategy learning sessions are typically 1.5 hours. Following the visit, we would request for the strategy partner to leave, and approximately the staff and board will debrief for 30 minutes to discuss the strategy learning session.

In some instances we will conduct a strategy learning session to learn more about your work. We encourage you to invite no more than 4 staff/board and we request that the Executive Director/CEO be present if at all possible.

Strategy learning sessions are held virtually via Zoom or in person at a location of the Foundation’s choosing.

Strategy learning meetings are not required with all proposals. When a strategy learning session is requested it is being conducted so that the board and staff can get to know your work better. It is intended to be a casual and open dialogue to learn more about you and facilitate an exchange of ideas.

We will be in touch with you regarding scheduling, should a strategy learning session be appropriate. If you have questions, please contact us at grants@stlukesfdn.org or at 216-431-8010.

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Saint Luke’s Latest News & Updates

We and our strategy partners work together to close the health equity gaps. Stay informed about our latest initiatives, grantmaking news, and upcoming events, as well as the recent efforts of our strategy partners.