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Ben & Jerry's Foundation
30 Community Drive
S. Burlington, VT 05403
Phone: 802-846-1500

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This Is Not The Cover Letter Page

Please read this page before moving on to the cover page.
Dear Friends,

As you can imagine, we receive a huge volume of interest in our grantmaking program. Obviously, we are not able to fund the great majority of those that apply. We'd like to help you make appropriate and meaningful fundraising decisions. To that end, we have put together the following questionnaire to help you determine the appropriateness of your program for a Ben & Jerry's Foundation grant. Please take the time to answer the following questions before applying to our foundation.

The Ben & Jerry's Foundation funds grassroots organizing projects that are working for progressive social change.

Please answer these three questions before continuing.

1. Does your program focus on creating broad-scale social (community, institutional, systemic) change, as opposed to change in an individual's life?   Yes    No

2. Is your organization made up of people "doing for themselves"? In other words, are the constituents that are affected by the issue you are confronting on the staff, on the board, and in decision-making positions within your organization?   Yes    No

3. Is your style of organizing "doing with others", rather than "doing for others"? Is this program an example of grassroots, bottom-up organizing?   Yes    No

If you answered "yes" to all of the above questions, your organization may be considered for a Ben & Jerry's Foundation grant. We strongly recommend that you take the time to carefully read through our guidelines to further clarify our funding priorities. We also recommend that you review our Grant Recipients Lists to gain a better idea of the types of organizations and projects we fund. If, after having read through all of our material, you feel your organization meets our guidelines, feel free to apply for a grant. Keep in mind that the grant selection process is highly competitive. Ben & Jerry's Foundation receives, on average, 1,300 requests for funding annually and are only able to fund about 60 organizations each year. Therefore, even though you may feel your program fits within our funding guidelines, we can make no guarantee that your organization will be funded by us.

Download the Letter of Interest Cover Page.

If you've answered "no" to even one of the above questions, your organization most likely would not be considered for a Ben & Jerry's Foundation grant, and we would not want you to waste your valuable time barking up the wrong tree! Please see our Other Funding Sources for ideas on where to go to find appropriate funding sources for your project.


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