Application & Guidelines
LF grant applications will be accepted January 15 – April 1, 2020.
Priorities
The Lithuanian Foundation is dedicated to supporting projects that contribute to the preservation of the Lithuanian heritage. As such, the Foundation concentrates its resources on those projects that demonstrate the potential for far reaching benefits to the Lithuanian community and the community at large. The Foundation gives priority and invests in new, innovative programs as well as established programs in the émigré community, with an eye to supporting those grant requests that collaborate with other programs to provide a synergistic benefit to the community. In striving to achieve these goals, the Foundation concentrates its giving in the following areas:
Education: The Foundation believes that education will ensure the continuity of the richness of our Lithuanian heritage. Therefore, we favor programs that contribute to the strengthening of our heritage school system as well as research that enriches the knowledge base for future generations.
Culture: The Foundation believes that the Lithuanian culture is the bond that unites us. Therefore, we favor projects that accentuate the vibrancy of the Lithuanian culture and invest in projects that create opportunities for cultural expression and a venue for broad participation.
Community: The Foundation believes that it indeed “takes a village”. Therefore we favor projects that unite and augment the community and invest in projects that create a vital means of partnership for those who value the Lithuanian heritage.
Youth: The Foundation believes that the future of the heritage rests in the hearts of our youngest members. Therefore we favor projects that instill a love of culture and a sense of community in the younger generation and consider it crucial to invest in the support of youth organizations, summer camps, artistic performances geared to younger audiences and the like.
The project funding decisions are made based on LF Grants Commission Guidelines.
Restrictions
The Foundation will not consider the following types of grant requests:
- Private for profit businesses, for profit organizations or for profit individuals.(Specific non-profit projects may be submitted by the for profit sector, only if accompanied by a detailed explanation of how the project meets non-profit requirements as well as detailed description of how non-profit funds will be segregated from the for-profit funds).
- Organizations in the USA that do not have valid “federal tax exempt” or “not-for-profit” status.
- Governmental agencies, institutions or political organizations.
- Lithuanian organizations in the USA requesting funding for capital improvements or repair of buildings and infrastructure if they are not the sole legal owners of the property.
- Requests for personal travel expenses.
- Requests for personal clothing i.e. sport uniforms, traditional Lithuanian folk attire.
- Personal charitable support is not provided.
How to apply
The Foundation uses an electronic application process which requires that all specific supplementary files/documentation be uploaded to the application before the application can be submitted. All supporting documentation must be in Lithuanian or English. A translation must accompany documents in any other language. Completion of the application form in Lithuanian is preferred, though not required. Applicants may submit their completed application with all required attachments at any time after the posting of the 2020 grant application. However, in order to be considered for the current granting period, completed applications must be submitted by April 1, 2020 (11:45 p.m. CST – Central Standard Time (US).
Recommended steps
Register as a grant applicant using this LF Grant Application link below. Only those who are registered on this site will receive any special notices by email.
Request/obtain all other required documentation in time to be uploaded to to the appropriate part of the application and submitted by September 1. You will need to upload:
- Completed “2020 PROJEKTO SĄMATA_PROJECT BUDGET” form (PDF or WORD).
- Completed “2020 ŽINIASKLAIDA_MEDIA” form. (PDFor WORD). ONLY if you are applying as a member of media.
- Organizations 2019 end of the year financial balance sheet.
- Copy of the Articles of Incorporation (USA) or registration document stating purpose of organization (outside USA).
- Copy of the latest IRS 990 form (USA).
- IRS letter showing certification of Federal tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of Internal Revenue Code (USA).
In order to change for the application from “draft” status, applicants should click “submit”. If any of the required documentation is missing, the submission will not go through. Applicants should, therefore, begin collecting required documentation as soon as possible. If technical difficulties interfere with attachment of a document, the Foundation must be contacted by email at admin@lithfund.org by March 26.
Applications received after April 1 will be deemed late and will not be considered by the Grants Commission.
Review Process
All requested documentation submitted by the application deadline will be reviewed by the LF Grants Commission, which might also request supplementary documentation during the review process. The Grants Commission, comprised of 3 members from the Lithuanian Foundation and 3 members from the Lithuanian American Community, Inc., meets to review all grant applications received by the deadline and make recommendations for funding. Scholarship recommendations made by the Scholarship Sub-commission are also reviewed. The decisions are made based on LF Grants Commission Guidelines.
Approval of Grants and Payments
After all requests are evaluated and finalized by the Grants Commission, they are presented to the Lithuanian Foundation Board of Directors for final approval.
Applicants will receive a notification by email or post of whether a grant has been approved. Results of first allocation will be announced June 10-17, 2020, second allocation, if applicable, December 10-17, 2020.
Please note that LF grant funds are not paid in advance, but as a reimbursement of approved project expenditures. If a grant is approved, allocated funds will only be issued after the Lithuanian Foundation has received a written project summary covering both the status of the Project and a full accounting accompanied by receipts for the amounts to be reimbursed. The applicant submits the summary via the electronic “Final project report” form assigned to the grant application on the LF Grant portal. LF must receive all required documentation indicating that the funds were used for the purposes it was granted.
After project documentation is reviewed and pay-out is approved by the Chairman of the Grants Commission, checks are issued only in the name indicated on the application and mailed to the stated address.
The Foundation can only fund a fraction of the requests that are received. In some cases, excellent proposals cannot be funded because they fall outside of the Foundation’s current focus or because of funding limitations. A denial of a funding is not a reflection on the applicant or the value of the project.
Additional information
Applicants who completed online applications in 2019 (or earlier) can log on using the same user name and password and print the packet to see information from previous years. The packet will be in PDF format. If you have not saved uploaded documents in your computer, you can select portions of the PDF and copy/paste into separate documents. If you sent documents you need for the current application process directly to the Foundation office by mail, you will not be able to see them.
Updated: 01/10/2020
