Grantmaking Guidelines

The Irene W. and C. B. Pennington Foundation will review unsolicited proposals once a year in a single step proposal process. All proposals should be submitted online.ﾠ Grant recipients from the previous year will have to submit the mid-term report electronically by downloading the form from the "reporting guidelines" page and emailing it as directed on the form. ﾠProposals are evaluated for alignment with the Foundation's strategic goals and objectives.

Before contacting the foundation, please review the Areas of Interestﾠbelow and the FAQ sectionﾠof the website to obtain more information about the Foundation and its funding. ﾠIf your request is for a capital initiative or capital campaign, please contact the office at (225) 928-8346 or email vonnie@penningtonfamilyfoundation.org prior to submitting your proposal.

Eligibility
In order to be eligible for a grant from the Pennington Family Foundation, an organization must be recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Please note that a majority of the foundation's grants is awarded to organizations and agencies in the Greater Baton Rouge area and surrounding parishes. Grants are not awarded to individuals, nor does the foundation sponsor unsolicited fundraising events.

Areas of Interest
The foundation funds organizations and programs in the following areas:

• Human Services - meet the various physical and emotional needs of people - from food, shelter, and clothing to positive recreational activities
• Education - encourage learning and development from early childhood to postgraduate education
• Medical and Health - provide healthcare education and that give people the medical care they need
• Arts and Humanities - give people the chance to create and enjoy the arts and humanities through different expressive forms
• Community Development - improve the quality of urban or rural life, increase how quickly nonprofit agencies can respond to community needs, and promote private philanthropy
• Environment - maintain the balance, beauty, and health of the natural world
• Religion - religious institutions that help people who suffer with spiritual, emotional and physical needs

Types of Funding
The foundation provides the following types of funding: bridge, capital, disaster, operating, program, scholarship, seed, and in rare cases, unrestricted. ﾠThe foundation no longer funds unsolicited events.

Communities Served
Most of the foundation's giving focuses on organizations and agencies in the Greater Baton Rouge area and surrounding parishes. This includes the parishes of Ascension, East and West Baton Rouge, East and West Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, and Pointe Coupee.

Online Grant Application
All grant proposals should be submitted via the online grant application process.

The foundation is not inclined to accept paper proposals.ﾠ Please do not attempt to submit your proposal on outdated paper forms or concept paper forms, as these will not be accepted by the foundation in person or by mail.ﾠ If you are unable to submit an online grant proposal due to technological limitations or other reasons, please contact Vonnie Hawkins, program officer, at vonnie@penningtonfamilyfoundation.org or (225) 928-8346 to devise a solution. Our program office is prepared to work with you to help you find a way to utilize our online grant application process. Hand-delivered or mailed paper proposals will not be accepted unless specific arrangements have been made with the program officer, Vonnie Hawkins.

Electronic Documents
In addition to the online proposal narrative, applicants should have the following documents in electronic format (PDF, Word, Wordperfect, Excel, etc.) and available for upload within the grant proposal form.

• Detailed program budget that includes specific line items; a budget narrative may be included.
• Audited financial statement for the most current fiscal year. If an audited statement is not available, then upload whatever financial documentation the organization uses. If we need more information, we will contact you.
• Roster of Board of Directors including their occupations and length of term in office. You may cut and paste the information from a word processing document into the response box for this question, or upload the document as an attachment in the upload slot, and type "uploading" in the response box.
• Additional Information - Optionally, applicants may also upload one of the following documents. Please limit this to one document, and choose this document carefully, as there is only one slot to upload additional information.
  • a strategic plan OR
  • a fundraising or development plan OR
  • a brochure OR
  • annual report OR
  • one page of news clippings.

Deadline: All grant applications must be submitted online by midnight of August 15.

Notification: Organizations will receive notificationﾠin December.

Online Application