Our Grantmaking Process

What we fund

We support eligible organizations that are working to improve health and are aligned with our mission and priority areas. Our goal is to effect systemic change, and we are specifically seeking to invest in programs, projects, and organizations that emphasize wellness and prevention, increase access to care or reduce barriers to care, or are innovative or have potential for large-scale transformative change. We assist grantees to help them measure impact and achieve demonstrable outcomes.

Application process

Clarkson Institute has an invitation-only application process. The process may be initiated by:

1. Letter of Inquiry (LOI): Our LOI process asks you to briefly describe your funding request. While it’s not a formal proposal, the LOI provides Clarkson Institute with a high-level understanding of your work and its alignment with our mission and priorities. LOIs may be submitted at any time. If your organization appears to be a good match, we will invite you to submit a full grant application in our next grant cycle. Learn more about the LOI process and current timeline »

2. Direct Invitation: Clarkson Institute staff investigates and learns about organizations that work in our priority areas. We will then invite those organizations to submit a letter of inquiry (LOI) and/or complete an application for funding.
3. Requests for Proposals/Open Call: Occasionally, we may issue a request for proposal (RFP) or open call with a specific focus or to advance specific program goals. In such instances, we will make the information available on our web site and through our community partners.

Eligibility criteria

The Board will evaluate each LOI on the basis of the applicant’s ability to help Clarkson Institute fulfill its vision. In addition, LOIs will be reviewed by the Board for the following:

• Organizations must be tax-exempt under IRS Section 501(c)(3) and in good standing in the state in which they are incorporated. Units of government or public institutions may receive funding for charitable or public benefit purposes; however, we do not fund activities that fall solely within the government’s standard obligations.
• Funded projects should be relevant to improving healthcare in Nebraska and Southwest Iowa.
• We will not support organizations whose programs or services are not open to all without discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, pregnancy, veteran status, military obligation, marital status, or any other personal characteristics protected by law. We recognize that organizations may identify special needs in the community and target programs or services to a specific population based on those needs; however, the programs/services must be open to all people in those targeted populations.
• We will consider religious and faith-based organizations provided that the funds are used to support the non-religious social services and activities; we will not provide funding for religious services or other activities that are inherently religious.
• We do not fund political activities or attempts to influence action on specific legislation.
• Except in the case of established scholarship programs, we do not give grants to individuals.

Types of grants

Clarkson Institute may make grants in the following forms as appropriate for the project proposed and the project timeline. Applicants must be specific about the form of grant requested.

• One-time grants, which are single-year grants for a specific purpose

• Multi-year grants, which are commitments for funding to be paid in increments over a period generally no longer than three years

• Start-up program grants

• Challenge or matching grants

Award and monitoring

All grant applications undergo a thorough review process. If selected for funding, we will issue a grant award letter and agreement. Clarkson Institute is committed to monitoring, understanding, and sharing the impact of the work we fund. Grant proposals should have well-defined and measurable outcomes or objectives that demonstrate the project’s specific impact. We collaborate with grantees to collect and analyze data and develop new knowledge and insights from their work.