Foundation Grant - Sample Letter

This is a sample letter that you might use to contact the program staff of a foundation grant initiative.

February 1, 2000

Barbara J. Tomas
Executive Director
For the Best Foundation
Giving Attitude Avenue
New York, NY 10000

Dear Ms. Tomas,

I am pleased to contact you to introduce the For the Best Foundation to the work of Families First with young women and their families from the Pittsburg, Louisiana area and to request support for our Family Services Center.

Families First- Family Services Center provides intensive counseling and support services, accessible 24 hours a day, to women at risk of having their children removed from the home and placed in foster care. Family Services Center counselors and assistants work with young mothers to help them learn to overcome problems such as spousal abuse and alcohol and/or drug addiction that threaten to break up their families. The caseloads are kept small (40 girls and women a year) enabling the Family Services Center to provide an effective and cost efficient alternative to foster care services. Our projected budget for this year is $423,541. To date, we have secured a $320,000 lead grant from the Child Welfare Administration and have received a generous commitment of $25,000 for this project from the Children’s Trust. To meet our budget, we must raise $78,541 from the private sector. Families First has approached a number of foundations to provide this support. A list of requests pending review with amounts requested is included in the appendix to our proposal. We request a grant of $15,000 from the For the Best Foundation to enable the Family Services Center to help girls and young women rebuild their families and their lives. Enclosed please find a proposal describing our program in detail. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or if you would like to arrange to visit the Family Services Center.

Sincerely,

Pamela Lawford, Ph.D.
Executive Director

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