Grantmaking

Each fall, our Discovery, Inquiry and Guidelines (DIG) Committee begins researching topics for the next grant cycle. They generally narrow the list to 4-5 topics where our grant funds could have significant impact, always with an eye towards underserved communities, racial equity and gender justice.

The first stage of our grant selection process is Letters of Inquiry (LOI) which are short, written applications that are less burdensome than full proposals. LOIs are due in November from interested organizations. After training, our members evaluate each LOI and determine which applicant organizations will be invited to submit a full proposal.

Organizations selected for site visits welcome small teams of SDWF members to their organization for a short visit in April. That team decides whether or not to recommend each nonprofit move forward to the final stage in our grants process – the ballot.

Each Community Partner is assigned two impact liaisons: SDWF members who touch base with the organization a few times over the grant term to highlight the impact of our collaboration. Liaisons collect images and stories from our community partners to amplify their work across our communication channels and social media platforms.