Grant Process Steps

Focus Areas

The Fairbanks Foundation is currently only accepting inquiries in our Education focus area. To assess alignment, please review our Education goals and strategies, as well as past grants.

At this time we are not accepting inquiries in the Health or Vitality of Indianapolis focus areas. We expect to begin accepting Health inquiries in late 2026.

Organization Type

The Fairbanks Foundation funds eligible tax-exempt organizations serving greater Indianapolis, including:

• 501(c)(3) public charities under sections 509(a)(1), (2), or (3)
• Public entities designated under section 170(c)

We do not support certain Type III 509(a)(3) supporting organizations, as prohibited by the Internal Revenue Service. We also do not award grants to individuals.

Types of Grants

All potential grants must demonstrate a clear impact on Greater Indianapolis and align with the Foundation’s current Education strategies. We prioritize efforts that address unmet needs, demonstrate strong outcomes, and create transformative change.

The Foundation has historically awarded multiple types of grants, including:

• General operating support
• Capital projects and endowments
• Capacity building
• Start-up or seed funding
• Matching or challenge funds
• One-year and multi-year grants

What We Do Not Support

The Foundation does not award grants for:

• Initiatives that do not impact Indianapolis
• Grants, loans, or scholarships for individuals
• Most for-profit organizations
• Supporting organizations controlled by disqualified persons to the Fairbanks Foundation, or non-functionally integrated Type III supporting organizations (as defined by the IRS). For more information, visit The Council on Foundations website and search for "supporting organization" or the "2006 Pension Protection Act."

Submit an Inquiry

Does your work fit within the guidelines listed in step 1? If so, we invite you to submit an inquiry at any time during the year. Inquiries are reviewed on a continuous basis. Your submission should be no more than two to three pages and include the following:

• The issues you seek to address and how your organization is involved
• Brief description of your organization
• Brief summary of the activities the grant would fund, including the objectives and anticipated outcomes
• Total amount of funding needed and other sources of confirmed and/or prospective support
• Total cost of program/project
• Contact information, including your name, email, telephone number, and the organization’s address

We often prefer to wait until after receiving an inquiry to determine whether a meeting would be useful for both you and our team. We value your time and our own, and we aim to minimize the time required to submit an inquiry as much as possible.

How to Submit

You can submit your inquiry by email, phone, or a brief letter using the contact information below. Address all inquiries to Hale Crumley, program officer.

• Grants@RMFF.org
• 317-846-7111
• Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation
  820 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 1365
  Indianapolis, IN 46204

If you have additional questions about our process, please fill out the contact form. You are also welcome to call or email Hale with questions.

Print our inquiry guidelines (PDF, 1 page)

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. Please do not submit a proposal until you have received an invitation to do so from a member of our team. We recognize the considerable effort required to write a proposal and would like to determine alignment between a potential grantee and our current funding priorities before requesting a proposal.

Inquiry Review

After the Fairbanks Foundation carefully reviews your inquiry to determine potential fit, you will receive a response.

Should we decide not to move forward, Foundation staff will inform you why the decision was made.

Inquiry Next Steps

If we determine potential alignment during our initial review of your inquiry, we may conduct due diligence, including but not limited to a site visit, follow-up meetings, and program or financial assessment.

If we decide to invite a proposal, our team will work with you to provide guidance about the proposal submission process, which is outlined in the next step.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do not submit a proposal until you have received an invitation to do so from the Fairbanks Foundation.

Submit a Proposal

If we have invited you to submit a proposal, we will share specific guidelines and assign a due date. We ask that you include the following:

General information

• Organization name, address, telephone number, and website
• Contact person name, title, telephone number, and email address
• Date of application

Funding request information

• Organizational or program/project-specific goals, strategies, expected outcomes, and method of measuring outcomes
• Partners or collaborating organizations (if any)
• Grant amount requested
• Total funding needed for the project/program (if applicable)
• Summary of sources and dollar amounts of other funding, both committed and prospective

Required attachments (all proposals)

• Cover letter signed by the executive director or president and board chair of the requesting organization
• Organizational overview with board roster, staff management, and program/project leader (if applicable)
• Current fiscal year organizational or departmental budget
• Pro forma project or program budget that aligns with the duration of the grant request (if applicable)
• Internal Revenue Service letter of determination of public charity status under Sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1)(2) or (3) of the Internal Revenue Code
• Most recent audited financial statements

Required attachments (new applicants only)

If you have never received a grant from the Fairbanks Foundation, please attach the following:

• For 509(a)(3) supporting organizations, please submit a certification prepared by legal counsel indicating whether your organization is a Type I, Type II, or Functionally Integrated Type III supporting organization.

Required attachments (prior and current grantees only)

If you have previously received a grant from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation and/or are a current grantee, please attach the following:

• Signed copy of the Tax-Exempt Status Confirmation form. We will provide this form to you when we invite a proposal. If we already have a recent copy of the form, we will not require you to submit a duplicate.

Print our proposal submission guidelines (PDF, 2 pages)

Download a submission checklist (PDF, 1 page)

Formatting

You may submit your proposal in whatever format you choose. Please limit proposal narratives to the page length specified by Foundation staff. As a general rule, larger program or project proposals should be limited to 10 pages of narrative, and smaller proposals should be limited to five pages. You may also include attachments, although we encourage applicants to minimize the number and length.

How to Submit Your Proposal

Please submit your proposal via email to the Foundation staff member who invited it.

Proposal Review and Decision Notification

Fairbanks Foundation staff will let you know when your proposal will be submitted to our board of directors. Proposals are reviewed at quarterly board meetings, and we will likely notify you of a final funding decision within one business day of the meeting. Should the board choose to fund your proposal, we will inform you of next steps.