EFA welcomes Inquiries at any time. There are no deadlines.
           Due to the volume of requests, staff is not available to determine your qualification in advance of your inquiry submission.

Please read the following instructions BEFORE submitting an Inquiry to the Foundation

The Educational Foundation of America (EFA) makes grants to qualifying non-profit organizations that have tax-exempt status and those that are not private foundations as defined in the Internal Revenue Code.  EFA provides grants for specific projects.  It does not provide funds for endowment or endowed faculty chairs, building/capital programs, religious purposes, grants to individuals, annual fund-raising campaigns, indirect costs, overhead or general support.  The Foundation prefers not to fund projects located outside the United States.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the environment, reproductive freedom, theatre, education, medicine, drug policy reform, democracy, peace & national security issues and human services.  Important characteristics considered by EFA are an organization's record of achievement, intended broad impact, sound financial practices, increasing independence, and correspondence with EFA objectives.  Unfortunately, many worthy requests are denied because needs exceed the Foundation's resources or a given project does not fall within a current area of focus.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

Applicants are required to send the EFA Inquiry Form via email as the first step.  EFA staff reviews all letters, and further information is requested on those that best fit EFA's interests—namely, the interests of its board members.  These specific interests enable EFA to determine whether or not it will request a full proposal.  Please do NOT submit a full proposal as your initial inquiry.

THE PROCESS

EFA’s decision-making process regarding Inquiries can take several months from the date of receipt.  Consequently, EFA does not consider emergency or urgent requests.  If a project is found not of interest to the EFA Board of Directors, you will be notified by email.  If an Inquiry is determined to be of possible interest to the Board,

EFA will contact you for more information and a copy of your non-profit status 501 (c)3.

EFA is a Board-driven foundation, meaning that each proposal invited has a Board member as a sponsor.  If an EFA Board member has not specifically requested that you submit an inquiry, EFA staff will seek a Board sponsor for you.  Once an inquiry has a sponsor, a letter of invitation is issued, along with a set of EFA's narrative guidelines explaining how to submit a full proposal.  Program staff are assigned to each proposal, and serve to assist the organization throughout the proposal process.

Inquiries should ONLY be sent to:
E-mail: loi@efaw.org

Please click here for the EFA Letter of Inquiry Form

   Board of Directors & Staff

Board & Adjunct Committee Only

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