Grant Application Survey 2008
Summary of letters to and responses from grant applicants after each of the Board Meetings in FYE 2008
Dear Grant Applicant:
As a recent applicant for a grant from the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, your observations would be valuable to us as we try to improve the quality of the grant making process. We would very much appreciate if you would comment on the following questions. Your response will be forwarded directly to the Chairman of the Board of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, and will remain confidential. Only a summary of all responses will be shared with the Foundation’s Board and Staff.
From whom did you first learn that the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation was a possible source of funds for your organization?
Board of Directors
Jim Donovan
WP Chamber of Commerce
David Odahowski
Mr. David Odahowski
Through one of our Board members
Workshop at Philanthropy Center; met Deborah Hessler
David Odahowski
We’re a prior grant recipient
Rollins College Philanthropy Center
David Odahowski
Dr. Rita Bornstein
Another Funder as well as Bush Web Site
GPN
Communications with the Foundation staff during this most recent grant review have been by (please check all that apply):
[9] Letter
[13] Telephone
[11] Visit to the Foundation’s office
[10] Staff visit to your organization
[11] e-mail
[3] Other (please explain):
Meeting
Met in person at Rollins College
Fax
Please indicate on the following scale the extent of information and assistance you received from the Foundation during the review process:
[13] More than Adequate
[1] Adequate
[0] Little
[0] None
Were the Foundation's printed guidelines helpful?
-
[14] Yes
[0] No
-
Do you think the guidelines would be more helpful if they included other information?
-
[1] Yes
[13] No
-
If #5 was yes, what other information do you feel would be helpful?
We are just in first phase of “reporting” – so may be able to provide better info by mid-year
The online “guidelines” are stated as “procedures” which was confusing at first
How long did it take before you received a determination on your grant request?
[6] 1 month or less
[5] 1 – 2 months
[2] more than 2 months
Did you receive a grant from the Foundation?
[14] Yes
[0] No
-
Were you given the opportunity to meet with Foundation staff to discuss the terms of the grant or the reasons your grant application was deferred or denied?
[13] Yes
[0] No
Please rate how helpful the meeting was to you.
[12] Very helpful
[1] Somewhat helpful
[0] Not very helpful
[0] No help at all
[0] Not sure
What could be added to the meeting’s content to make it more beneficial to you?
Nothing.
Nothing, it was very thorough.
The meeting was most helpful. Staff were extremely clear and direct.
Nothing – it met all our needs.
It would be nice to “officially” meet the director in person, since he was on site. We were thrilled to meet him afterwards. Also, it would be nice to have a one page hand-out summarizing “do’s” and “don’ts” that we could distribute to board members and employees, such as PR policies., etc.
More clarity regarding the purpose of the meeting
N/A
What could be removed from the meeting’s content to make it more beneficial you?
Nothing.
Meeting was very beneficial and very well organized.
NA
Nothing
Nothing – it was short and provided valuable information
Nothing
N/A
What did you like best about the meeting?
Deborah Hessler was very patient in explaining the process
Level of Support - and genuine interest in making sure we succeed with match…
The positive and professional attitude
Personal contact with the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation. Very professional and very helpful.
Meeting the Office Staff
We left the meeting feeling very prepared to meet the grant requirements
The clarity and depth of thought. EBCF staff are consummate professionals.
Deborah’s thoroughness when explaining what our responsibilities are as a grantee. Expectations are very clear.
It was a celebration! This was our first big grant and as volunteers we don’t get to see each other often outside board meetings. It was so nice to spend time talking about the future, on a Friday afternoon! We love Deborah’s insight – she always has so many good ideas and we could listen to her talk forever. Also, we were relieved to hear the reporting expectations are less strict than we had anticipated.
The opportunity for Rollins staff to meet with David and Deborah.
All parties represented provided direction regarding the grant
Informational
Personal and individualized, hit on compliance requirements
What did you like least about the meeting?
Parking situation in Winter Park.
NA. There is nothing of which I can think
For most of us (we are all volunteers) it was challenging to get time off from work. Some of us also had a difficult time finding the building but perhaps if we can’t pass that test, you shouldn’t issue the organization the check anyway.
NA
NA
Dealing with traffic to get there
Confusion surrounding direction of the meeting
Meeting went well
N/A
If you ran the Foundation, what would you do to improve the quality of its grant making process?
Parking situation in Winter Park.
Many of the details/questions during the site visit could have been omitted. To some of us, they seemed repetitive. We would encourage more conversation about the people served and the passion needed for the mission rather than cold data.
Tell David he needs to replace the Nemours phone message recording with EMLRC….
Nothing that I can think of
I believe that the leadership of Mr. Odahowski sets the best example of how to focus on the foundation and the needs of the community. The Foundation staff has left little room for improvement. They are great!
Nothing, you are the experts in the field
Shorter time frame from grant approval to distribution of foundation funds.
Did not notice any deficiencies.
Perhaps give potential recipients the chance to network with past recipients when similar projects are proposes (i.e., a NPO seeks funds to create a new development department – having that NPO network the past recipients to gain a realistic perception on scope of such a project)
The process is already organized and efficient. The only improvements I could see are possibly an on-line application to keep request uniform, and specific deadline dates. While I understand requests are taken on an ongoing basis, there appear to be scheduled board meeting dates. As the grant writer I had an idea that the proposal needed to be in as soon as possible to be discussed at the February meeting, but it was difficult to pin board members down for financial reports and other information when I didn’t have a specific deadline date.
We feel that the quality of the grant making process is extremely well planned
Nothing- the application process is very clear (especially compared to other funders), the staff is helpful, and the grant application is not difficult to prepare.
Eligibility Quiz
If your organization is considering submitting a grant proposal to the Foundation, please click here to see if you are eligible. 
Edyth Bush (Mrs. Archibald G. Bush) was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Sarah and Eugene Bassler. She became a successful ballet dancer, actress, musician, composer and playwright.