Good Neighbor Committees Sample Criteria for Selecting Grantees

With the Ford Foundation’s committee, we concentrate on three main questions:

• What does the applicant hope to accomplish through the proposed project or program?

• What is the capacity of the applicant to carry out the proposed project?

• What will the project or program accomplish?

By these standards, the strongest proposals are those whose goals are the most compelling (and consistent with those of the committee), whose sponsoring organizations have the clearest ability to achieve those goals, and whose eventual results will be the most tangible and lasting.

We also pay special attention to the proposed budget supplied by the grantee, asking some of the following questions:

• Is the budget clear and justifiable?

• What percentage of the project budget, or if relevant, the organization’s annual budget, is the applicant requesting?

• If the applicant is only requesting partial support, what is the likelihood of raising the balance from other donors?

​In this case, the strongest proposals are those with a clear, disciplined budget that draws support from more than just one source, especially if the other sources are clearly committed to the project or are highly likely to make a commitment.