31 Step 1: Determine Eligibility. To be eligible for a grant, your organization must (1) Be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and not a pri- vate foundation; (2) Have a current financial audit conducted by an independent certified public accountant; (3) Have total revenues of at least $100,000 for the preceding year; (4) In policy and practice not discriminate based on age, race, creed, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Step 2: Determine Program Fit. Please review our grant guidelines to determine whether there is a potential match between your organization’s work and our Founda- tion’s interests. Our geographic area includes Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties and the watersheds impacting these areas and Bayfield, Ontario. We will consider requests for the development or significant expansion of programs that meet our desired outcomes or general operating support for organizations whose core work fits our mission. Matching funds or other conditions may be required. We generally do not provide support directly to individuals or units of government, nor for loans, grants to support religious activities, capi- tal projects, research (unless solicited by The Foundation), fundraising events, or conferences. The amount requested should be based on the size and scope of the organizational and program budget and the anticipated impact of the program. We generally do not fund 100 percent of a program’s cost. We will consider multi-year grants where appropriate. Step 3: Submit a Letter of Inquiry through our Website. A Letter of Inquiry (LOI) may be submitted at any time. Grants gen- erally are approved at our board meetings in March, June, Septem- ber, and December. LOIs must be submitted through our website; e-mail and paper inquiries will not be accepted. Please note that our requirement for an online application is not intended to minimize communication, but is simply one way for us to exercise environmental stewardship by reducing the amount of paper we generate. Please feel free to call us if you have questions about how to complete the online application form, if you need assistance with Internet access, or if you would like to discuss your program ideas before you submit your application. You should be notified within two to four weeks whether we are able to invite a Proposal. Foundation staff may contact you for additional information or a site visit at any point in the review process. Detailed instructions on the LOI and Proposal are included in the Grant Application Instructions on our website. Step 4: The Proposal. A Proposal may be invited based upon your LOI. The information you will be asked to include in the Proposal is specified in Section II of our Grant Application Instructions, which can be found on our website. A grant request typically should take three to five months to process from the time that the Letter of Inquiry is submitted, though certain requests may take longer. Again, Foundation staff may contact you for additional information or a site visit at any point in the review process. Application Instructions