Applicants who want to apply for a grant from the Boston Foundation are first required to fill out and submit a Pre-Application. The Foundation will then invite full Proposals from applicants whose work best advances our priorities and goals.

Before you begin
Please carefully read the grant guidelines and the funding priorities that match your area of interest. Please review and answer all questions carefully before filling out the Pre-Application. We strongly suggest that you use your own word processor to prepare the long-text responses (e.g., Narrative Project Description), and then copy and paste your responses in the appropriate text boxes. This will save you the task of re-typing answers if there be a problem with your Internet browser. Pre-Application guidelines and tips are provided to assist you. Contact Corey Davis at cld@tbf.org or 617-338-2521 with any technical questions.

Online Pre-Application 

• Pre-Application for a new project. Please use this Pre-Application unless you qualify for the simplified renewal Pre-Application below.
• Pre-Application for a renewal project. Please use the simplified Renewal Pre-Application if you are seeking to renew funding for a project or program that is substantially the same one that received funding from us within the past 18 months. If you have received funding from us for three consecutive years, and are seeking further funding without taking a year off you must apply for an exception to our term limits policy. The renewal form cannot be used to make a request for an exemption to the term limits policy; you must use the regular Pre-Application above for that purpose.
• Return to a saved or submitted Pre-Application. Once you have created a user name and password you can return to any previous form.
• Pre-Application guidelines and tips. Please consult these before you complete any Pre-Application.

Due Dates
The Pre-Application must be received by 5:00 PM on July 1 or January 5. Please note that when due dates fall on a weekend or holiday, the Pre-Application is due at 5:00 PM on the next business day. We accept only one Pre-Application per organization each year.

Pre-Application Guidelines and Tips

Simplified Renewal Pre-Application
For applicants requesting second or third-year support for a project previously funded by the Boston Foundation within the last 18 months, the simplified Pre-Application requests updated organization and contact information and two short narratives: a project update; and a description of goals for the upcoming project year. This short Pre-Application should not be submitted if your project has substantially changed since it was last funded or if you are requesting an exemption from the Foundation's Term Limits policy, which requires grantees to take a year off after receiving three consecutive years of support from the Boston Foundation.

Long-Text Responses
We strongly suggest you use a word processor to prepare your long-text responses (e.g, Narrative Project Description) for the online form. You can fill out or copy and paste your responses in the appropriate text boxes. Do not take the time to format your type (i.e., bold, italic, bullets). Once you paste your response in a text box, it will be converted to "plain text" without any formatting.

Making Your Response Fit the Allowed Number of Characters
If you exceed the number of allowed characters and attempt to submit the Pre-Application, an automated warning will prevent you from continuing. If it looks like your text is under the maximum character limit, and you still receive an error message, remove your paragraph line breaks ("returns") and indent each paragraph instead. The number of spaces in a paragraph line break ("return") may not be included in your word processor's "character count" tool, but may be counted in the Pre-Application text box. Once you reduce your text to the allowed level, click the "update" button at the bottom of the Pre-Application page and the warning will disappear.

Explanation of Fields
This guide to completing items that are not self-explanatory is for reference use only. Please fill out responses in the Pre-Application form. Note that not all of these fields appear on the simplified renewal Pre-Application. 

Three-Year Term Limit
The Foundation has a policy limiting grantees to three consecutive years of funding. After three years of funding, the grantee is not eligible to apply for twelve months following the end of the last grant award. See the Foundation’s Grant Guidelines for a detailed explanation of term limits. Please note that exceptions to the term limit policy are possible but rare.

Alternative Contact E-Mail Address
Include an e-mail address for another member of your organization (e.g., Executive Director)

Organization Description
Briefly describe the mission and purpose of the organization sponsoring this project.

Project Name and Purpose
Briefly describe the purpose of the project for which you are seeking funding. 

Total Organizational Budget
Overall operating budget of your organization. 

Budget for Proposed Project
Total budget for the project for which you are seeking TBF support. 

Number of Full-Time & Part-Time Staff
Number of staff members in your organization. 

12-Month Period The Grant Will Cover
The Boston Foundation does not currently make multi-year funding commitments. Most grants are allocated only for a 12-month time period, with renewal funding requested by applicants on an annual basis. If you are requesting renewal funding, please use the simplified renewal Pre-Application.

Boston Foundation Grantmaking Sectors
Please select the one sector that most accurately reflects this project. For information about our priorities in these sectors, see funding priorities.

Geographic Area Served
Select up to three geographic areas that will be served by the project for which you are requesting funding. Only one selection is required.

Budget Narrative
You may use this space for any explanatory information that would help us understand your project budget, including in-kind donations, number of full-time equivalent staff on the project, explanation of specific budget items, overhead rates, etc. 

Narrative Project Description
Use this space to summarize the need or opportunity your proposed project will address, the goals and objectives of the project, specific activities you will undertake, specific outcomes, and the overall timeline and key benchmarks. If you are making a request to renew a grant previously awarded by the Boston Foundation, please also provide a brief update on work completed to date.