Grant Eligibility

Our members are advised to look at the Impact of a request. That includes both depth and breadth of services. Speak from the heart and back it up with data as you describe what the true Impact will be to those you serve.

Impact100 Wichita Falls prioritizes giving in five Focus Areas:

• Arts and Culture
• Education
• Environment, Recreation and Preservation
• Family
• Health and Wellness.

All areas involve women, but our focus in not exclusively women.

Yes.  Applications will be evaluated on the strength of the organization, the strength of the project, the project’s sustainability, and the Impact of the project on the community.  You may want to consider collaborating with another nonprofit to have a greater impact.

Impact100 Wichita Falls encourages all types of applications, and if your program will change lives, we encourage you to submit it for consideration.

Possibly. Although a church is ineligible from applying for a grant, a separate tax-exempt public charity that is not under the umbrella of the church, synagogue or other body of worship can apply if the grant is for a project that is not restricted to a particular faith, denomination or religion.  For example, funding cannot be used to advance faith-based programs, but it can be used by a faith-based organization to address social issues.

Each nonprofit must already have sufficient funds to sustain their ongoing operations. Impact100 Wichita Falls grants are meant to be transformational – enabling you to pursue a dream that you might otherwise be unable to complete.  An appropriate funding request for Impact100 Wichita Falls would be for services performed in a new way (innovation), more services of the same kind provided more often to the current population (deepening), or expanding current services to a new population (expansion). Impact100 Wichita Falls would expect the budget to reflect such, which could include additional staff & their resultant operating costs or other capital requests.  In this instance, a detailed sustainability plan must be provided.

Impact100 Wichita Falls notifies all applicants at each stage of the application process, even if they are not invited to receive a site visit or become a finalist.

Generally speaking, grant applications will be due in early spring.

The Department of Treasury letter your nonprofit received when it obtained its status will verify that your organization was granted the 501(c)(3) designation as an individual or group charity. This is how we check for current certification. This is NOT the same certificate as your tax-exempt letter.  Religious institutions must have a separate tax-exempt entity, not under the umbrella of the body of worship, in order to apply.

Note: We will confirm your organization’s 501(c)(3) status with GuideStar. If confirmation is not available, we will ask you for a copy of your IRS designation letter for our records.

The applying nonprofit must be in operation as a 501(C)(3) for a minimum of 36 months prior to applying for the grant. We will confirm your organization’s 501(c)(3) status with GuideStar. If confirmation is not available, we will ask you for a copy of your IRS designation letter for our records.

The grant funds must be expended within 24 months from the time the award is granted.

No, each organization may submit only one grant application per year.

A recent Wall Street Journal article featured a chart that revealed 52% of nonprofits in the United States have a Health & Welfare concentration and 19% are focused on Education. It is predictable that we would see a clustering of applications in those same categories.  However, we anticipate multiple grant applications in each focus area.

Although a project may meet the criteria for several focus areas at once, the application will ask you to choose one focus area in which your project fits best.

No. Impact100 Wichita Falls strongly believes in maintaining a level playing field amongst all applicants.

Impact100 Wichita Falls will host a Grant Application Workshop to offer an in-depth review of the grant application and process.  Questions can be asked regarding the application and process at this time or through email after the workshop. However, the workshop is not designed to provide recommendations for content on program and/or service design.

No, we do not accept these types of materials with the application.

Submit a copy of the IRS form 990-N (E Post Card) if Form 990 is not required.

Yes. Impact100 Wichita Falls is interested in your project budget and even though it is not officially approved, it must still be a realistic budget. Please note that the process asks you to confirm that the Executive Director and/or Board President are aware of the application, inclusive of the draft budget. Grant recipients are responsible to spend all funds in the manner with which they applied for the grant.

Our grant amount fluctuates every year based on the number of members we have for that year.  For every woman member who gives $1,000, we award $1,000.

Yes. You must identify the additional funding sources for your proposal to be completed successfully on the Project Budget template provided.

If awarded, the entire grant amount must be used within 24 months according to the Grant Agreement.

This is a transformational grant opportunity. An organization must decide if they have a need or a program that meets the criteria for the award or more. Perhaps a collaboration with another organization who has a similar program will work. Try to think outside the box and dream big!

A collaboration exists when two or more qualifying nonprofit organizations have the responsibility of managing and contributing to the proposed project in a significant manner and where all organizations benefit financially from the grant. One nonprofit would be identified as the lead – serving as the Fiscal Agent, financially managing the Impact100 Wichita Falls grant funds and completing the application. The other collaborating organization(s) will provide their organizational and financial information but will not be required to complete the additional sections of the grant application.

Not necessarily.  However, Impact100 Wichita Falls encourages collaborative efforts when the project or program warrants such an approach.  Each grant application will be evaluated based on its own merit as it relates to the overall criteria for the Impact100 Wichita Falls grant program.

Yes. Impact100 Wichita Falls requires financial information from all collaborating partners.  Each partner should submit complete financial data for three years as outlined in the grant application checklist.

No. Each organization can apply for one grant either as part of a collaborative effort or as an individual organization.

• The grant project may not demonstrate the ability to fully expend the grant funds or complete the project within the 24-month time frame.
• The grant project, if designed to be ongoing, does not show how it will be funded after the end of the grant.
• Another organization may be filling a similar need of the grant project.
• The application is unclear and poorly written.
• The project budget is not clear or well defined.
• The grant project does not fall within the scope of one of the focus areas as defined on the application.
• The nonprofit organization lacks a proven record of success or a strong, diverse Board of Directors.

After applications are checked for technical eligibility and completeness (see Eligibility at the top of this website page), grant committees are assigned to review applications.

The Grant Committees are comprised of Impact100 Wichita Falls members who volunteer and have no conflicts of interest in their committee service or reviewing a particular grant application.

All discussions during Committee meetings are kept private, even from Impact100 Wichita Falls members not on that committee. The Committee meets on a regular basis, reviews all grant applications, and chooses a percentage of applications for site visits.  After each site visit has been completed, the groups report back to the remaining committee members, and the entire committee votes on each application, choosing the finalist(s).

The number of finalist nominees will depend upon the number of applications received and could vary from year to year.

This is the time for your organization to shine and for you to be able to share your story, vision, and dream in person. You will have the opportunity to explain what the application cannot always clearly convey: the passion, the difference this grant would make, and the impact on the organization and the community. You should plan to have the following people attend the site visit: your board chair, your treasurer or someone who can answer financial questions, and perhaps one or two key employees.

There will be an average of 2-3 members from the Grant Committee. 

Any amplifying information, such as brochures or reports are appropriate. Refreshments, CDs/DVDs, mementos, promotional items, or gifts are highly discouraged.

Finalists will be notified by at least one method: email, phone or letter. The Grants Chair will confirm they have received their notification and other information will be discussed, such as submitting a short video about the project to be shown to all the Impact100 members before voting at the Big Give event. (We ask that the video is “homemade” in that it’s not done by a paid professional – this is in the spirit of a level playing field for all finalists.) All other applicants will be notified by both email and mail.

All applicants will have the opportunity to submit a wish list of items that could benefit their organization. Wish lists will be posted on the Impact100 Wichita Falls website for one year, giving members an opportunity to grant applicants’ wishes. We may also promote the Wish Lists in other ways, such as having print-outs at member meetings or sending via email. We encourage members to donate directly and volunteer with local nonprofits as philanthropists.  We call this the “Impact of Impact!”

Yes, we encourage your organization to reapply next year.

We do not provide specific feedback to any applicant. The reason is that the committee members change each year. If we were to provide feedback from this year’s site visit team, next year’s site visit team might have a completely different perspective.  Therefore, advice other than general information presented on our website or at our Grants Workshop for nonprofits would be misleading.

Grant recipients must wait three years from the date of awarding before re-applying for another grant.  For example, if awarded in 2024, the organization could not re-apply until Spring 2027 with potential funding that fall.

Impact100 Wichita Falls pays out the grant money as a one-time payment or as a milestone payment (installments). A grant applicant may request either type of payment. However, Impact100 Wichita Falls reserves the right to pay the grant in milestone payments if determined it is more fiscally responsible to do so and suits the nature of the project.

Prior to the release of grant funds, each grantee signs a Grant Agreement to ensure the nonprofit agrees to use the funds in accordance with the grant and outlined procedures.

Grantees must also submit timely reports until all of the funds are spent to implement the project. The Board of Directors may also request any other information needed to monitor the progress of the project.

A project must expend the funding within two years following award of the grant. For example, an organization granted funds in August 2024 must expend the funds by July 2026.

Yes! You can even participate on a Grants Committee, but not one that reviews your organization’s application. Each Grants Committee member reports all nonprofit relationships on a Conflict of Interest Agreement form. These are used to review and assign members to committees where there will be no conflict of interest.