Grant Guidelines for Non-U.S. Organizations

Requirements

The Foundation prefers to make grants to a U.S. “friends of” organization that is a tax exempt public charity under Sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1), (2), and (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For proposals by a U.S. “friends of” organization, please refer to the Grant Guidelines for U.S. Organizations.

For non-U.S. organizations that have no connection to a “friends of”, the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation will only grant to an organization if the Foundation makes a good faith determination that such foreign organization would qualify as a public charity if it was organized in the United States. Under Revenue Procedure 92-94 (Rev. Proc. 92-94) and Treasury Regulations finalized under T.D. 9740 (Sept. 25, 2015), the Internal Revenue Service set forth a simplified procedure where a non-U.S. organization may provide information relevant to the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation’s good faith determination that the non-U.S. organization has an equivalent charitable status.

Proposals by a non-U.S. organization should include the following information:

  • A copy of the nonprofit status exemption letter issued to your organization issued in your organization’s home country, if applicable.
  • If your organization’s status under Sections 501(c)(3) and 4947(a)(1), 509(a)(1), (2), or (3) or Section 4942(j)(3) of the Code depends on its financial support, include a schedule of support for the four most recently completed taxable years pursuant to Rev. Proc. 92-94 section 5.04(11).
  • If any donor has donated more than 2% of the total support for your organization, provide a schedule of Major Donor Support pursuant to Rev. Proc. 92-94 section 5.04(11)(J).
  • A copy of your charter, by-laws, and other governing documents. If it is not in English, please submit an English translation of such documents.
  • A complete copy of your organization’s most recent filed tax return and audited financial report.
  • We have an interest in administrative costs. Please indicate what percentage of your organization’s income goes towards achieving its mission
If an item is not available for submission, please explain why.

Specific Requests

Provide concise (1-2 pages) narrative proposal including your organization's mission, organizational and program descriptions, geographic reach, community needs, and projected use of requested funds.

Your request should include appropriate backup material, i.e., budget, schedules, population reached, projected outcome/solutions, etc.

If your organization has received a grant from the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation in the past, a brief update would be appreciated.

Granting Limitations

The Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation is on a calendar year grant cycle. Applications should be submitted prior to September 30th for the following program year. Decisions are typically made during the fourth quarter of the calendar year. If a grant proposal is approved, the applicant will receive the grant prior to December 31st for the following year. Grant applications may be submitted after September 30th, however, applications submitted prior to the September 30th deadline are given priority. Organizations are not automatically considered for funding in any given year. Applicants including those who may have received a grant in a prior year should submit it grant application with updated attachments. The Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation has made grants ranging from $1,000 to over $50,000. The majority of grants are in the range of $5,000 - $10,000. While a proposal for a multi-year grant are permitted, only a handful of multi-year grants have been made since its inception.

The Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation does not support the following:

  • Grants to individuals
  • Programs with political, fraternal, sectarian or religious purposes
  • Capital campaigns
  • Reductions of debt