How to Apply, Grant Application Information, Application Calendar and Eligibility Information

• How to Apply for a Grant

  Step 1: Review the New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation Funding Priorities

  • The Foundation’s funding priorities includes specific strategies  to advance the foundation’s goal for that funding priority.
  • Before starting a Letter of Inquiry (LOI), visit the What We Fund page of this website. Carefully read the strategies listed for the funding priority that supports your interest.  Be sure your concept aligns with one of the strategies listed under the funding priority.  Contact Patti Baum, Program Director, if you have questions or would like to discuss an application concept.

  Step 2: Register Your Organization

  • Click here to access the New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation’s online system to create an account for your organization. You may register your organization at any time; you don’t need to wait for the open application announcement.
  • After you have registered your organization, you will be able to complete the online Letter of Inquiry (LOI).  Only LOIs and applications submitted via the foundation’s online application system will be considered.

  Step 3: Complete the Online Letter of Inquiry

  All applicants are required to submit an LOI to be considered for New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation funding. Not all LOIs receive an invitation to submit a full application. Please read the instructions (or view the video) before beginning an LOI.

• Eligibility Information and What We Do Not Fund

  New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation, a statewide health philanthropy established in 1997, awards grants that support organizations, coalitions, and other tax exempt entities to advance the foundation funding priorities and goals. The priority populations are children up to age five and their families.

  Who Can Apply

  • Tax-exempt organizations under any part of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code
  • State or local government agencies or a unit of government
  • Grassroots organizations, collaboratives or coalitions may apply under the auspices of a tax-exempt fiscal sponsor (fiscal sponsorship information is gathered in the Letter of Inquiry phase)

  Note: Applicant organizations must be in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations

  What We Do Not Fund

  • Biomedical research
  • Capital campaigns
  • Expenses already incurred
  • Fundraising events
  • Out of state projects that do not benefit New Hampshire
  • Sectarian or religious programs
  • Support for political activities, i.e. lobbying
  • International travel expenses
  • Organizations or projects that discriminate based on age, sex, religion, race, color, creed, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, national or ethnic origin

• Responsive Grantmaking: Single and Multi-Year

  Responsive Grantmaking

  Applicants may apply for a grant for the following funding priorities: healthy eating / active living and promoting oral health. Review the details for each funding priority on the What We Fund page of the website.

  Applicants may submit a Letter of Inquiry for single year or multi-year funding. Letters of Inquiry for multi-year funding that do not result in an invitation to submit a full application will not be considered for one year funding.

  Single Year and Multi-Year Awards 

  Single year awards range from $10,000 – $30,000/year. Multi-year awards, up to three years, are available for $30,000/year or a maximum of $90,000. Multi-year funding is limited to pilot or pilot expansion projects that result in a policy, system, or environment change (PSE).

  Examples of PSE change include (changeabsolutions.org) –

  POLICY: Written statement of organizational position, decision or course of action. (Such as ordinances, resolutions, mandates, guidelines, or rules)

  SYSTEMS: Changes in organizational procedures (such as personnel, resource allocation, programs)

  ENVIRONMENT: Physical, observable changes in the built, economic, and/or social environment.

• Grant Application Calendar

  Fall Application Cycle

  • Responsive Grant Application Period Open / Online LOI posted: August 1
  • Letter of Inquiry Due: August 15 *
    If you are seeking funding for more than one strategy within a grant cycle, you must submit a separate Letter of Inquiry for each strategy.
  • Invitation to Submit Full Application: Notification by September 1
  • Application Due: September 30
  • Responsive Grant Awards Announced: by December 1
  • Grant Award Payments Will Be Processed: by December 31

  Spring Application Cycle
  

  • Responsive Grant Application Period Open / Online LOI posted: February 1
    
  • Letter of Inquiry Due: February 15 *
    If you are seeking funding for more than one strategy within a grant cycle, you must submit a separate Letter of Inquiry for each strategy.
  • Invitation to Submit Full Application: Notification by March 1
    
  • Application Due: March 30
  • Responsive Grant Awards Announced: by June 1
    
  • Grant Award Payments Will Be Processed: by June 30

  *Not all Letters of Inquiry result in an invitation to submit a full application

  If you would like to be added to our email list and notified about New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation funding opportunities, subscribe to our Enewsletter at the bottom of this page.

  Budget Form and Logic Model for grant applications (not part of the LOI phase)

• Budget and Logic Model Templates

  If you have been invited to submit a full application following your Letter of Inquiry submission, complete the budget form and logic model template and upload with your online application. If you are submitting an application for multi year funding, please provide a budget for each year using the corresponding budget form tab.

  Budget Form

  Logic Model

  These are not required for the Letter of Inquiry phase.

• Grantmaking Philosophy and Responsive Grant Application Review

  Grantmaking Philosophy

  1. New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation relies on grantees to help achieve our goals and outcomes.   Foundation funding awards are made to entities that appear most likely to meet this objective.
  2. We believe that, with New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation funding, grantees use their knowledge and experience to strengthen the systems that support young children and their families, while building capacity within their own organization.
  3. We’re interested in learning the applicant’s long term outcome and then we consider if New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation funding is the right vehicle to assist the organization take the next step.
  4. More isn’t always more. Piling on multiple activities and outcomes in a grant application can make it difficult to see the intended outcome. Our review seeks to understand if the applicant has proposed a clear and realistic path to achieve a realistic outcome, and can measure their progress.
  5. The New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation has long supported pilot projects in order to learn, along with the grantee, about new approaches to current issues. In other words, prior to launching a large scale effort, a phased approach enables incremental learning and modification as an integral part of the process.
  6. Doing what you do better versus starting something new. From time to time, organization’s may experience a plateau. Instead of implementing a new intervention, a review of the current infrastructure and model may present opportunities for a method modification. Revising one piece of an existing model or integrating a new process into an existing model may be what’s needed. Then again, sometimes testing a new, innovative model is the right thing to do.
     If it’s time for a big shift in how your organization does business, we’re interested in learning why, about the proposed intervention you’ve selected, and what you expect to change as a result of the shift.
  7. Limited funding requires discipline. New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation has a limited annual grantmaking budget which means our grant awards range from $10,000 – 20,000/year. In turn, we consider if the application proposal is realistic and can be achieved with New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation funding.
  8. We seek to fund what can move the applicant to the next step, versus funding something that will need to be funded again and again, after the New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation grant period ends.
  9. Data counts. Sound and effective data collection that informs the field, drives action, and uncovers key issues is a good value. New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation grant awards used to collect, analyze and disseminate data have proven to be an important resource for multiple stakeholders across the state.
  10. To what end? We use our best judgement to determine if New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation funding will make a meaningful impact to the systems that support young children and families.

  Responsive Grant Application Review

  Through responsive grantmaking, New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation awards funding to:

  Build and disseminate knowledge – (Increase and improve knowledge)

  1. Support pilot projects to test first-time implementation of evidence- based strategies
  2. Gather community input to identify need and inform planning, or policy and system change

  Share experience and sustain new capacity – (Develop and strengthen capacity)

  1. Use knowledge and experience gained through pilot implementation to build and strengthen the field
  2. Conduct training paired with technical assistance, to enhance skill and assure effective uptake and implementation

  Use data to inform need – (Data collection)

  1. Collect, analyze and disseminate data to inform planning and policies
  2. Produce reports or plans that inform and advance the field

  Drive impact for change – (Policy change)

  1. Conduct advocacy strategies to advance public policy
  2. Convene partners at the state or community level for planning or in response to identified need

  Sources: Rockwell Fund, Caring for CO Foundation

• Healthy Meeting Food Guidelines

  The mission of NH Children’s Health Foundation is to improve the health and wellness of New Hampshire’s population, with a focus on its most vulnerable children. We strive to align the outcomes we seek with the investments we are making.  We ask our grantees to compliment our efforts by creating a culture of health and wellness in meetings and conferences –  an important way to help people eat well, foster healthier work environments, and cultivate social norms around healthier choices and behaviors.

  The list is not all-inclusive but provides alternatives for healthier food and beverage choices.