Capacity Building
Capacity Building
In order to be considered for a grant, you must complete a Letter of Inquiry Application online by the January 19, 2012 or July 19, 2012 deadline.
Your Letter of Inquiry Application consists of the following:
1) Your answers to an Online Questionnaire.
2) Your completed 
Capacity Building LOI Project Description Form, which requests more detailed information on your proposed project than the questionnaire.
3) The following additional attachments:
- A copy of your organization's IRS determination letter.
- A copy of your organization's most recent Illinois Charitable Organization Annual Report.
- A copy of your organization's current year summary budget.
- A map highlighting important natural resources and existing natural areas in your organization's service area.
Your Letter of Inquiry Application is the first step in our grant application process. The process is competitive. Some applicants may be invited to submit a Full Proposal at a lesser amount than originally requested, while other applicants may be declined at this stage altogether. The Full Proposal Application involves filling out another online questionnaire and uploading additional attachments. You will be notified by e-mail in two-months of whether your project was selected to move forward in the Foundation's grant application process.
The entire process last approximately four months from the time a Letter of Inquiry Application is received until awards are announced in early November.
Step 1: Review the Guidelines and Criteria prior to beginning your application.
Step 2: Gather the information that you will need to complete your Capacity Building LOI Project Description Form and Online Questionnaire. It may be helpful to review the list of items below.
Items to Address in Capacity Building LOI Application
- Cick once to review the list. Click a second time to make the list collapse.
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- The oragnizational history of your group, including the size of its operating budget, its mission, the make-up of your Board and the amount of organizational and strategic planning your group has accomplished to date.
- Your organization's history in land protection planning. You will be asked to provide a map showing the focus area for your organization's future land acquisition and protection work.
- Your organization's history in acquiring land and conservation easements in Illinois.
- Plans for ownership of the land your organization seeks to protect (i.e. will you seek donated easements, plan to purchase easements or plan to own and manage the land).
-Plans for public access to the sites your organization will help to protect.
- The total project expenses.
The proposed sources of funding and status of other applications.
Step 3: Download and complete the Capacity Building LOI Project Description Form. Save it to your computer as you will need to attach it to your online application.
Step 4: Assemble digital versions of the following documents as you will need to attach them to your online application:
- A copy of your organization's IRS determination letter.
- A copy of your organization's most recent Illinois Charitable Organization Annual Report.
- A copy of your organization's current year summary budget.
- A map highlighting important natural resources and existing natural areas in your organization's service area.
Step 5:
START A NEW APPLICATIONStep 6: Review and submit your Online Letter of Inquiry Application. You will have an opportunity to review your materials before submitting your application. After you hit "Submit," you will receive an e-mail confirmation. If you do not receive an e-mail confirmation, please check your spam or junk folders for the message. If it is not there, please call the Natural Areas Program Area Officer at 312-372-5191 to ensure that we have received it.
Step 7: You may receive a follow-up e-mail or telephone call from the Foundation with additional questions regarding your funding request.
Step 8: You will be notified in approximately two months from the receipt of your application of the Foundation's decision on your LOI Application. After two months, some applicants will be asked to submit Full Proposals (also online), others will be asked to submit Full Proposals at lesser amounts than originally requested and some may be declined altogether.
Frequently Asked Questions related to the Foundation's Land Acquisition Grant Program.
Online Application Tutorial