Application Criteria

All applications to the Norwin S. and Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation will be accepted electronically through Dropbox.com, a free site that will store each application for review by the Bean Foundation.

All applicants should:

1.) Fill out and submit the Request a Grant form below, being sure to fill in the email address that will be used for all communications pertaining to the application. The Foundation Director will respond by setting up a Dropbox folder, and the applicant will receive an email invitation through Dropbox to share the folder.

2.) After receiving the Dropbox invitation from the Bean Foundation to share a Dropbox folder, go to www.dropbox.com and join the free site;

3.) Accept the invitation from Dropbox to share a folder in order to continue the application process. Information in the folder will guide the applicant through submitting the grant request.

A new Dropbox folder is required for each grant deadline. Do not use a prior Dropbox folder even if that application was not completed. All Dropbox folder names include the date of the application deadline for which they will be considered.

When the applicant has finished saving all information that is requested to his or her Dropbox folder, the application will be complete. The entire application must be saved to the Dropbox folder by 5 p.m. on the deadline date for that grant round. Please note: There is no submit button. Grantees will not be permitted to make any changes to their applications after that time. Shortly after the deadline, applicants will lose access to their Bean Foundation folders. If any changes are made after the deadline and before a grant application is unshared, the time of the changes will appear in the Bean Foundation's Dropbox record, and the application will be rejected.

BE SURE TO KEEP A COPY OF YOUR APPLICATION when you submit a grant proposal to the Bean Foundation through Dropbox.com.

Applications should include all the information needed for a reader to understand an organization's plans and the importance and feasibility of its project. List your expected outcomes and how they will be measured. Include the number of people impacted and in what way.

In all cases applications should include:

1. A completed Bean Foundation Application Cover Sheet (located in an organization's assigned Dropbox file; sample below).
2. A narrative which explains the purpose of the project and describes how that purpose will be accomplished.
3. If the program proposed is an ongoing project, please provide a written analysis of its financial sustainability once the grant funds have been expended. Has the Board analyzed the project's long-term financial sustainability?
4. A list of expected outcomes and how those outcomes will be measured.

Example:

Expected Outcome

30 homeless women will complete job skills training by December 2019

28 women will obtain full or part-time jobs and retain them for at least four months

The average starting wage for the women will be at least $12 per hour

Mental health and/or substance use counseling will be required for most of the homeless women receiving job training and at least 85 percent will complete the counseling

25 women and their children will move into community housing units with an ongoing mentor relationship with a Life Navigator

How It Will Be Measured

Report on how many women start the job skills training program and how many complete it during the anticipated time frame

Report on how many women are hired for full-time jobs and how many are hired for part-time jobs after completing job skills training and how longe each retains her job

Report on the range of starting wages and calculate the average starting wage

Report on how many women are referred to counseling and how many complete the number of counseling sessions that are recommended for them

The Life Navigator will report on how many of the women establish connections in their new community for employment, school and child care, health/mental health care, and other community-based relationships

5. Itemized income and expense budget for the project and for the agency.
6. Listing of the board of directors with their professional affiliations.
7. Last available financial statement (preferably audited).
8. The organization's Internal Revenue Service exemption letter. Be sure the Federal Identification Number (EIN) is included.
9. Other pertinent information.
10. Numbered pages as a courtesy.

Filling out all of the sub-folders in the assigned Dropbox folder will guarantee that an application is complete.

Note: In completing the assessment and research necessary to properly present a proposal to the Foundation Trustees, staff will consult knowledgeable individuals and agencies active in the same field and will feel free to discuss, in general terms, any proposal under consideration.