The Rose & Daffodil 

APPLICATION

Our Rose and Daffodil grants are Priority Programs from which the majority of our philanthropy is directed each year. While these programs share a preliminary application (LOI) process, they vary in competitiveness and scope of inquiry. Click below to review other applications and grant programs.

Before applying:

We encourage applicants to consider these recommendations before submitting a preliminary application.

  • We don’t want ineligible organizations to unnecessarily pursue a grant. Review our eligibility criteria here.

    Note, too, that organizations pursuing a Rose or Daffodil Grant must have an operating budget of at least $250,000. Learn more about program criteria here.

  • In a competitive process, it can be tempting to exaggerate data or reframe narratives to be more agreeable to our interests. We will not issue funding to (and will likely bar from future funding) applicants that knowingly or intentionally misrepresent data, narratives, or financial information.

  • We aren’t always looking for the “obvious” response. In fact, for a single prompt, many responses carry little value on their own, but are instead given value in the context of other responses. Selecting the prompt that you think we want, instead of that which is most accurate or applicable, may position us to misunderstand or wrongly interpret your work.

  • With hundreds of applications received each cycle, it is challenging for us to permit applicants to edit or change applications once submitted. Please review your submission for accuracy, including financial statements and other attachments, before you submit.

  • We use your organizational profile (in our grant portal) to learn about your Mission and collect other data points. Updating that profile — including address and contact information — ensures that you don’t have to repeat information later in the application itself, leaving more room for new information or a more abbreviated response.

  • While we work to clarify confusing or incomplete responses, we are sometimes unable to do so depending on the scope of clarification needed. We especially encourage organizations to review financial statements for accuracy and clarity. Organizations should also keep character limits in mind (listed below).

  • As artificial intelligence resources expand, we recognize the value of these tools in reviewing narratives, revising content to meet character counts, or proof-reading material. While we do not oppose use of these resources, we remind applicants that you are singularly responsible for the content of your submission. Mistakes or errors made on AI platforms are the responsibility of the applicant.

Process Overview

  • Visit our grant portal here to create or update your organization’s account. If your organization is applying to the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation for the first time, you’ll need to create a new account. If your organization has previous applied for funding, but you do not have your own unique user account, please contact us at grants@marielamfrom.org and we will be happy to assist you.

    We use your profile in our evaluation, so ensure that key details, contact information, and links are accurate. Plus, if you include information in your profile, you don’t need to include it in your application, giving you more room and space to share other important details.

  • Review the preliminary application prompts and questions below. If you don’t have financial statements or budget data easily accessible, review the required information and connect with your finance team to get the information you need before you dive into the application. It may also be helpful to review our FAQs page here.

  • It doesn’t matter when you submit during the open application period, but given the volume of preliminary applications we receive, we can rarely accept late submissions. Ensure you have plenty of time to address each prompt and coordinate with colleagues as needed.

    While we are glad to answer questions as quickly as possible, our capacity to meet with all applicants is limited. The sooner you ask questions, the more likely you will be to receive support and submit with ease.

  • Be mindful of the submission deadline. We have extended our open preliminary application (LOI) period as long as possible to ensure all applicants have sufficient time to apply. Consequently, our evaluation period is brief, and we are unlikely to accept late submissions, as all submissions are typically closed and exported shortly after the due date.

    If you feel unable to complete an application for a given deadline, you are welcome to apply in the next cycle. When the time comes, let us know if we can help you to move information from your draft preliminary application into your new one!

  • We hope to update organizations on the status of their preliminary application within a month of the application closing date.

    Finalists will be notified and provided with instructions for the next steps in completing the final application. Those who are not further considered for funding will be notified via email.

    Please ensure that your contact information is up to date!

PRELIMINARY APPLICATION (or LOI)

Our Preliminary Application (LOI) for the Rose & Daffodil Grants is being updated and abbreviated. Please check back later this spring for an updated version or email us at grants@marielamfrom.org with any questions.

FINAL APPLICATION

In general, our final application is unique in that the prompts and questions assigned to applicants are personalized to each organization.

We use your Preliminary Application (LOI) responses and other resources (e.g. website, Form 990) to curate specific questions relevant to our own learning. This eliminates time spent on irrelevant questions and expedites the application process. Final application questions will be assigned to applicants when the application is made available to them. Additional questions or prompts may be assigned by Program Officers during the evaluative process.

While much of the final application is unique, all of our applicants will be asked to address the following prompt, which helps us to understand where your organization is headed or what it aims to achieve in the year(s) ahead:

What is one strategic goal or objective that your organization expects to address during the term of this grant?

Note to Applicants

We include our application questions on our website as a courtesy and in an effort to award applicants additional time to prepare. The questions and prompts included here are subject to change and may not be precisely identical to those in our application. Additionally, the questions themselves are not comprehensive, with drop down options and some administrative prompts (e.g. secondary instruction) excluded. If a prompt is unclear to you on our website, please kindly first review it in the application (once open) before contacting us for clarifications.