Fundraising Glossary
(Acronyms Glossary)
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Annual report: A voluntary report issued by a foundation or corporation that provides financial data and descriptions of its grant making activities. Annual reports vary in format from simple typewritten documents listing the year's grants to detailed publications that provide substantial information about the grantmaker's grantmaking programs.
Assets: The amount of capital or principal - money, stocks, bonds, real estate or other resources - controlled by a foundation or corporate giving program. Generally, assets are invested and the resulting income is used to make grants.
Beneficiary: In philanthropic terms, the donee or grantee receiving funds from a foundation or corporate giving program is the beneficiary, although society benefits as well.
Capital support: Funds provided for endowment purposes, buildings, construction or equipment.
Challenge grant: A grant that is paid only if the donee organization is able to raise additional funds from other sources. Challenge grants are often used to stimulate giving from other donors. See also matching grant.
Common grant applications: Common grant application formats have been adopted by groups of grantmakers to allow grant applicants to produce a single, standardized proposal for those in a specific community of funders (usually broken down along geographic lines), thereby contributing to efficiency.
Community foundation: A 501(c)(3) organization that makes grants for charitable purposes in a specific community or region. The funds available to a community foundation are usually derived from many donors and held in an endowment that is independently administered; income earned by the endowment is then used to make grants. Although a community foundation may be classified by the IRS as a private foundation, most are classified as public charities and are thus eligible for maximum tax-deductible contributions from the general public. See also 501(c)(3); public charity.
Community fund: An organized community program which makes annual appeals to the general public for funds that are usually not retained in an endowment but are instead used for the ongoing operational support of local agencies. See also federated giving program.
Company-sponsored foundation (also referred to as a corporate foundation): A private foundation whose assets are derived primarily from the contributions of a for-profit business. While a company-sponsored foundation may maintain close ties with its parent company, it is an independent organization with its own endowment and as such is subject to the same rules and regulations as other private foundations. See also private foundation.
Cooperating Collection: A member of the
Corporate foundation: See company-sponsored foundation.
Cooperative venture: A joint effort between or among two or more grantmakers. Cooperative venture partners may share in funding responsibilities or contribute information and technical resources.
Corporate giving program: A grantmaking program established and administered within a for-profit corporation. Because corporate giving programs do not have separate endowments, their annual grant totals generally are directly related to company profits. Corporate giving programs are not subject to the same reporting requirements as corporate foundations.
Distribution committee: The committee responsible for making grant decisions. For community foundations, the distribution committee is intended to be broadly representative of the community served by the foundation.
Donee: The recipient of a grant. (Also known as the grantee or the beneficiary.)
Donor: An individual or organization that makes a grant or contribution to a donee. (Also known as the grantor.)
EIN: Acronym for Employer Identification Number. The IRS requires that every organization, whether nonprofit or for-profit, have an EIN number. The IRS assigns the number. It is obtained by filing Form SS-4. The EIN is also referred to as the Tax-exempt number or the Taxpayer identification number.
Employee matching grant: A contribution to a charitable organization by an employee that is matched by a similar contribution from his or her employer. Many corporations have employee matching-gift programs in higher education that encourage their employees to give to the college or university of their choice.
Endowment: Funds intended to be invested in perpetuity to provide income for continued support of a not-for-profit organization.
Expenditure responsibility: In general, when a private foundation makes a grant to an organization that is not classified by the IRS as a "public charity," the foundation is required by law to provide some assurance that the funds will be used for the intended charitable purposes. Special reports on such grants must be filed with the IRS. Most grantee organizations are public charities and many foundations do not make "expenditure responsibility" grants.
Family foundation: An independent private foundation whose funds are derived from members of a single family. Family members often serve as officers or board members of family foundations and have a significant role in their grantmaking decisions. See also operating foundation; private foundation; public charity.
Federated giving program: A joint fundraising effort usually administered by a nonprofit "umbrella" organization that in turn distributes the contributed funds to several nonprofit agencies. United Way and community chests or funds, the United Jewish Appeal and other religious appeals, the United Negro College Fund, and joint arts councils are examples of federated giving programs. See also community fund.
501(c)(3): The section of the tax code that defines nonprofit, charitable (as broadly defined) tax-exempt organizations; 501(c)(3) organizations are further defined as public charities, private operating foundations, and private non-operating foundations. See also operating foundation; private foundation; public charity.
Form 990-PF: The public record information return that all private foundations are required by law to submit annually to the Internal Revenue Service.
General/operating support: A grant made to further the general purpose or work of an organization, rather than for a specific purpose or project; also called an unrestricted grant.
General purpose foundation: An independent private foundation that awards grants in many different fields of interest. See also special purpose foundation.
Grantee financial report: A report detailing how grant funds were used by an organization. Many corporate grantmakers require this kind of report from grantees. A financial report generally includes a listing of all expenditures from grant funds as well as an overall organizational financial report covering revenue and expenses, assets and liabilities.
Grassroots fundraising: Efforts to raise money from individuals or groups from the local community on a broad basis. Usually an organization's own constituents - people who live in the neighborhood served or clients of the agency's services - are the sources of these funds. Grassroots fundraising activities include membership drives, raffles, auctions, benefits and a range of other activities.
Guidelines: Procedures set forth by a funder that grantseekers should follow when approaching a grantmaker.
Independent foundation: A grantmaking organization usually
classified by the IRS as a private foundation. Independent foundations
may also be known as family foundations, general purpose foundations, special
purpose foundations or private non-operating foundations. The
In-kind contribution: A contribution of equipment, supplies, or other tangible resource, as distinguished from a monetary grant. Some organizations may also donate the use of space or staff time as an in-kind contribution.
Matching grant: A grant that is made to match funds provided by another donor. See also challenge grant; employee matching gift.
Operating foundation: A 501(c)(3) organization classified by the IRS as a private foundation whose primary purpose is to conduct research, social welfare or other programs determined by its governing body or establishment charter. An operating foundation may make grants, but the sum generally is small relative to the funds used for the foundation's own programs. See also 501(c)(3).
Operating support grant: A grant to cover the regular personnel, administrative and miscellaneous expenses of an existing program or project. See also general/operating support.
Payout requirement: The minimum amount that private foundations are required to expend for charitable purposes (including grants and, within certain limits, the administrative cost of making grants). In general, a private foundation must meet or exceed an annual payout requirement of five percent of the average market value of its total assets.
Planned giving: This is a broad term that refers to contributions made to charitable organizations that usually involve financial planning related to the contributor's estate.
Private foundation: A nongovernmental, nonprofit organization with funds (usually from a single source, such as an individual, family, or corporation) and program managed by its own trustees or directors. Private foundations are established to maintain or aid social, educational, religious, or other charitable activities serving the common welfare, primarily through the making of grants. See also 501(c)(3); public charity.
Program amount: Funds that are expended to support a particular program administered internally by a foundation or corporate giving program.
Program officer: A staff member of a foundation who reviews grant proposals and processes applications for the board of trustees. Only a small percentage of foundations have program officers.
Program-related investment (PRI): A loan or other investment (as distinguished from a grant) made by a foundation to another organization for a project related to the foundation's philanthropic purposes and interests.
Proposal: A written application, often accompanied by supporting documents, submitted to a foundation or corporate giving program in requesting a grant. Most foundations and corporations do not use printed application forms but instead require written proposals; others prefer preliminary letters of inquiry prior to a formal proposal. Consult published guidelines.
Public charity: A nonprofit organization that qualifies for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. Public charities are the recipients of most foundation and corporate grants. Some public charities also make grants. See also 501(c)(3); private foundation.
Qualifying distributions: Expenditures of a private foundation made to satisfy its annual payout requirement. These can include grants, reasonable administrative expenses, set-asides, loans and program-related investments, and amounts paid to acquire assets used directly in carrying out tax-exempt purposes.
Query letter: A brief letter outlining an organization's activities and its request for funding that is sent to a potential grantmaker in order to determine whether it would be appropriate to submit a full grant proposal. Many grantmakers prefer to be contacted in this way before receiving a full proposal.
RAG: An acronym for Regional Association of Grantmakers. RAGs are associations of donors, trustees and staff of foundations and corporate funders. They cover different size regions, some a single city, others are state-wide or multi-state.
RFP: An acronym for Request for Proposal. When the government issues a new contract or grant program, it sends out RFPs to agencies that might be qualified to participate. The RFP lists project specifications and application procedures. While a few foundations occasionally use RFP's in specific fields, most prefer to consider proposals that are initiated by applicants.
Seed money: A grant or contribution used to start a new project or organization. Seed grants may cover salaries and other operating expenses of a new project.
Set-asides: Funds set aside by a foundation for a specific purpose or project that are counted as qualifying distributions toward the foundation's annual payout requirement. Amounts for the project must be paid within five years of the first set-aside.
Special purpose foundation: A private foundation that focuses its grantmaking activities in one or a few areas of interest. See also general purpose foundation.
Sponsorship: Affiliation with an existing nonprofit organization for the purpose of receiving grants. Grantseekers may either apply for federal tax-exempt status or affiliate with a nonprofit sponsor.
Tax-exempt: Refers to organizations that do not have to pay taxes such as federal or state corporate tax or state sales tax. Individuals who make donations to such organizations may be able to deduct these contributions from their income tax.
Technical assistance: Operational or management assistance given to nonprofit organizations. It can include fundraising assistance, budgeting and financial planning, program planning, legal advice, marketing, and other aids to management. Assistance may be offered directly by the staff of a foundation or corporation, or it may be provided in the form of a grant to pay for the services of an outside consultant. See also in-kind contributions.
Trustee: A foundation board member or officer who helps make decisions about how grant monies are spent. Depending on whether the foundation has paid staff, trustees may take a more or less active role in running its affairs.