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Grant Resources2023-09-15T23:21:10+00:00

Resources for Applicants & Grant Partners

Reach Out. We Want to Hear From You.

The Roundhouse Foundation is committed to supporting our grant applicants and existing partners. Review the information below to learn more about our process and reach out to us with any questions.

Still have questions? Get in touch!

Roundhouse Foundation’s Grant Opportunities

There are multiple opportunities to apply for funding with Roundhouse Foundation:

  • Small Grants Under $2500
  • Open Call for Proposals – Spring and Fall Cycles
  • Special Opportunities designated by Foundation Trustees

Learn more about each of our current Grant Programs.

Learn more about what drives our grantmaking:

Learn more about what we seek in proposals, partners, opportunities:

Our Grants Portal

Roundhouse Foundation no longer accepts paper grant applications. Watch a 4-minute tutorial video on how to use our new grants portal.

Technical Issues with Grants Portal / Foundant

If you are experiencing technical issues upon submitting your application, please review the common problems below:

If, upon pressing submit, you are receiving an error code that Documents/Uploads are missing, but you have uploaded all of your documents: Please save, log out, log back in, and try submitting again. This normally resolves the issue.

If, upon pressing submit, you are receiving an error code that you are over the character count, but no fields show you are over the character count: This is an HTML issue. Sometimes when you copy text from a website or a word document into the application, the HTML code in the background also gets submitted into the text boxes and causes the word count to go over the limit. You will need to copy and paste your narrative answers without formatting. We suggest that the question answers get copy/pasted from a notepad as notepad does not have HTML in the background. Click here to learn how to paste without formatting

If you are experiencing a different error: Please save, log out, log back in, and try submitting again. This normally resolves the issue.

If you have tried all of the above and are still experiencing issues submitting your application, don’t frustrate yourself. Please contact us. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

We recognize technical errors occur — even on the day of a deadline! If you are experiencing a technical issue after hours and need support, please ensure your application is complete and send an email to the Roundhouse representative you have been working with or our grants manager, Chaney Coman, and we will work with you to solve the problem during our next business day.

Budgets and Financial Resources

We are happy to provide a sample project budget template to inform the level of detail we are hoping for in the project budget. Applicants do not need to use the template provided, but the budget should include itemized income and expenses. Download the sample budget template.

All of our grant applications, budgets, and other attachments are submitted through our online application system. Once organizations create an organizational profile and begin a particular application, they will provide budget information to Roundhouse either directly into the application (fill-in boxes) or via submission of attachments. For each application, we will request the relevant project budget and your organization’s annual budget be submitted as attachments.

The following pages may be helpful when preparing your budget and financial documents.

Reporting

Reports provide an opportunity for organizations to reflect on grant projects and share insights and lessons learned. Annual reports help Roundhouse analyze our funding strategies, assess our overall impact and inform our future planning. We encourage grantees to be open and honest in sharing their challenges, frustrations and feedback as well as their successes. The lessons you learn in facing obstacles are as valuable to us as your successful outcomes.

Grant partners must complete a final report in order to be eligible for future grants. Partners are assigned digital grant reports through our online Grants Portal. Roundhouse Foundation no longer accepts paper reports. 

Written Reports

Follow these steps to submit a report:

  1. Log into Roundhouse’s Grants Portal. If you can’t recall your organization’s login information, click the “forgot your password” link on the login page, enter your email and instructions to create a new password will be sent to you.
  2. Once logged in, you will find report deadlines, along with other action items that need attention, listed on your Dashboard. To complete these action items, click the blue “Edit” button next to the report you’d like to complete. 

Reports generally take two to four weeks for review and processing. We may contact grant partners during that time if we have questions. If you don’t hear from us, assume the report is approved.

Verbal Reports

As an opportunity to expand accessibility and potentially ease burdensome reporting requirements on our grant partners, we offer the option for grant partners to self-select a verbal grant report meeting rather than submit a written grant report. The option for a verbal report is available for our applicants awarded a grant through our spring or fall Open Call process. The selection is indicated in the grant agreement.

Scheduling the Meeting

For those partners who select a verbal report, a Foundation representative will reach out at the end of the grant period (typically 12 months after the grant was awarded) to schedule a meeting via Zoom, phone call or in-person. The meetings are typically 30-minutes to 1-hour in length. Should you like to schedule the meeting earlier or request an extension, please let us know.

During the meeting, we hope to discuss topics like the questions below. We hope you will be prepared to reflect on the success and challenges of the project during the grant period, but you do not need to prepare anything in particular.

  • What went well with your work during the grant period? What didn’t?
  • How did you respond to unanticipated challenges?
  • Were all of the funds used?
  • Program future?
  • What would you recommend to others who are trying to do the same work?
  • Any other questions at the discretion of the Foundation representative and grant partner.

Following the meeting, the Foundation representative will complete a verbal report form in our grants portal with notes from the conversation. The grant partner will have an opportunity to review the report, add any additional notes/documents and submit. The reporting form can be accessed in the Foundation’s online grants portal at any time.

While the Final Grant Report meeting is the only reporting requirement, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us prior. Our team values opportunities to receive project updates, to help think through challenges, or to learn of ways we can support your work.

Requesting an Extension / Change to Project Budget

Things change and unforeseen issues arise! If this is the case and you need extra time to submit a grant report or the project requires additional time for completion, please notify Roundhouse staff and we will work together to determine the best next steps.

More Frequently Asked Questions2023-08-03T15:40:08+00:00

What’s the application process?  

We know grant applications can be gruesome, especially if you don’t have a “grant-writing person” on your team. We’ve tried to make our process as streamlined as possible, but always welcome feedback for improvement. Learn more about our open grant opportunities here.

How does Roundhouse define “rural”?

We know the term “rural” can encompass diverse ideas and definitions. While we don’t have a strict definition of rural, we generally consider communities outside of the Portland, Salem, and Eugene metropolitan areas in our grantmaking. We recognize that rural and urban communities come in many shapes and sizes, and we seek to serve communities that are traditionally overlooked by philanthropy.

We also recognize that organizations based in these Oregon metropolitan areas can have great impact within rural and frontier communities. For applicants whose headquarters are based in more populated areas but wish to do work in rural communities, a strong proposal will clearly address established connection(s) to the rural community they intend to serve, such as through partnerships with place-based organizations. We encourage you to include letters of support from such partners in your application.

What do you fund?

Lots of things! We welcome proposals for most types of funding that align with our focus areas. You can learn more about what we do and don’t fund in our eligibility guidelines.

My organization doesn’t have 501(c)3 status, but is represented by a fiscal sponsor. Can we apply?

Yes, we support projects represented by a fiscal sponsor. Please review our eligibility page and our fiscal sponsorship guidelines for more information.

What if my proposal wasn’t funded?

We don’t enjoy saying no, but sometimes proposals aren’t a good fit or other proposals take priority. Still, we value the work you do and would be glad to talk through our decision and offer feedback for future proposals. Contact us and we’ll find a time to connect. 

Do you award multi-year grants?  

Yes, but only for organizations with whom we have an established partnership. For our multi-year partners, we hope to stay in touch throughout the grant period (typically a report is required each year of the grant period) and there are limitations for eligibility for receiving additional grants. Please reach out to a Roundhouse representative should you be interested in a multi-year grant.

Can I nominate a nonprofit? 

Absolutely! We always want to get connected with great nonprofits and organizations. If you contact us with your recommendation, we will reach out to the organization you nominated to see if they are a good fit. 

Any tips or tricks?   

Unfortunately, we can’t say ‘yes’ to everyone. Our best tips? Paint a picture — a world with and without your efforts. Demonstrate the impact. Be authentic: leave the script at the door. Have vision. Be honest about what you need, want, and/or have learned. Follow through. Ask questions! We are here to help. Contact us any time.

Still have questions? Get in touch!