IMA Foundation Grant Process
Note: Deadlines are April 2 and October 1 of each year.
Step 1: Determine Elegibility to Apply
- Organizations must email the IMA Foundation and include “LOI” in the subject line with a one paragraph explanation of how your organization’s mission matches the foundation’s funding guidelines.
- After an IMA Foundation review, you will receive a response as to your organization’s eligibility.
- If your organization is a good fit for funding, you will be invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry inclusive of the information outlined below in Step 2.
- Letters of Inquiry are due by either April 2 or October 1 each year.
- Letters of Inquiry are reviewed after these deadlines. Organizations will be notified within three to four weeks after these deadlines if they are invited to submit a full grant application.
Legal Nonprofit – The organization must be a 501c3 nonprofit organization to be considered for IMA Foundation funding.
Focus Area – The nonprofit’s mission must clearly address one of the Foundation’s focus areas. If needed, please call the IMA Foundation for clarification. The focus areas are defined as:
ADVANCING YOUTH
Goal: To reduce the drop-out rate and offer a chance for quality futures to our young people. This will be done by supporting organizations whose missions are to provide:
- Mentoring programs
- After school programs
EDUCATION
Goal: To support educational institutions so that our young people graduate with increased skills and knowledge, resulting in a higher-skilled workforce in the future. This will be done by supporting:
- Educational Institutions
- K-12 public education
- Higher education
ARTS AND CULTURE
Goal: To improve the quality of life in our communities through the arts. This is done by supporting:
- Cultural institutions
- Arts in Education programs that offer arts education programming in public schools
Geography – The IMA Foundation only gives to nonprofit organizations located in and serving the communities where IMA has offices. Those are:
- Dallas
- Denver
- Kansas City
- Topeka
- Wichita
Step 2: Letter of Inquiry
Please provide the following information in the Letter of Inquiry. The LOI should not exceed four pages in 11 point font.
- Legal name of the organization requesting funding
- Submission date of LOI
- The Focus Area under which your organization qualifies for funding
- Name, address, phone number and email address for the person who can answer questions about the proposal
- State whether the request is for programmatic, general operating or capital. Any capital requests should be preceded by a phone call.
- Amount requested (average grant sizes are $5k – $10k).
- Purpose and history of organization;
- Goals and objectives of program or project;
- Current status of project, including date the project was established and the anticipated duration;
- Description how the organization will use the funds to further its objectives;
- Organization’s annual budget;
- Copy of the organization’s IRS exemption letter.
All LOIs should be sent via email to: foundation@imacorp.com