Promoting and Supporting General Aviation and the Public's Understanding of it

Introduction   

Welcome to the Wolf Aviation Fund Year 2015 Grant Program Page!  The purpose of this page is to describe any grant program we may establish for the current year and to provide specific guidelines for those who wish to consider sending an application.

If you are interested in scholarships or flight training grants please stop now and go visit our scholarships page.

The 2014 program is over. The closing date for applications was December 15, 2014. 

We have not announced any possible grant program for 2015.  That decision is made from year to year.   We will announce any such program about September 15, 2015.

Note that we may change our dates for deadlines and our requirements periodically.  You can use the following information as your general guidelines as used for prior years' programs, but  please check back here before preparing or sending us anything.  

However the following guidelines may be useful to you in two ways: 

1)  In considering the kinds of things we would be looking for if we announce a grant program for 2015 in September.  Check back here prior to submitting any proposal. 

2)  In putting together a nice concise grant proposal to take around to other potential funding sources, such as local airport businesses, area merchants and corporations, foundations operating in your state or region, etc.

Thus consider the following as informal guidance for those purposes until you learn of our plans in September, and do work hard in seeking funding for your program or project from other sources.

GENERAL GUIDANCE FOR TYPICAL WOLF AVIATION FUND GRANT PROPOSALS

First, please do not be hesitant about applying for a grant! 

You may worry that unless you know the "secrets" of grant writing you will not obtain a grant.  Nothing can be farther from the truth! Even a short, simple proposal has just as great a chance of funding as the most elaborate "professional" application. We have awarded a number of grants based on clear and  straightforward four-part email messages. If you have a good project that fits our objectives please take a few minutes and write it up for consideration.

However - please don't be frivolous or careless. Periodically we get "save the wolf" proposals as well as proposals for airline operations - neither of which are General Aviation!  Read and follow our guidelines.

Do not send a grant proposal or a request for funds unless you have read all this information carefully.

Prior grant programs and awards have been discussed on the Wolf Aviation Fund website GRANTS page (UP) and in our press releases. You will derive some useful guidance by studying the prior grant projects which have received support in the past. 

However, we do not give out copies of previously submitted proposals.  We want to see YOUR proposal.

We also tend to prefer unique and innovative projects. We are trying to help people with new ideas and programs.  While we do fund some follow-on projects, don't simply copy a prior project and expect that it will automatically be funded. 

We do ask that you understand the importance of following our simple instructions for applying for grants. Failure to do so will almost guarantee proposal rejection. 

Also, because we have a small staff please avoid contacting us unless you have a question that can't be answered here or elsewhere on the web site.   And should you have such a question an email inquiry is preferred because it is far easier for us to circulate it to the correct person for a response. 

If after study you do not find your answer here then please do send us a message with your question.  We may well be able to provide an answer, and your question may also let us know we need to add information to our site.

Your proposal will be circulated to a number of people for review and we expect many proposals. We can't accept material longer than the requested four pages, in one document. 

Please do NOT send extra pages or supplements.  Also please do not send additional material after you send a proposal, unless it is a change in the proposal itself.  Any extra material will NOT be distributed for review.  If we decide we need more we will request it.

In addition, our grants are generally quite small and because the Fund has limited resources many if not most proposals might not be funded in this cycle. We often can only make partial grants. Thus we do not think it is fair to ask applicants to waste a lot of their time preparing us lengthy proposals for small grants, nor do we think it is useful for our grant reviewers, who for the most part volunteer their time, to have to wade through lots of material.

In summary, shorter is better, longer is worse, and anything in excess of the four pages described below will count heavily against applicants. 

Useful hint: like other funding groups, we believe that if an applicant can't follow our simple instructions for applying then the likelihood of them fulfilling the requirements of a grant will be small!   Read and follow all instructions.

General Requirements

The Wolf Aviation Fund will consider for grants any proposal that meets the objectives stated in our web site. Proposals that do not relate to our stated goals and program areas very likely be rejected outright. Thus please read the materials carefully and avoid wasting your time putting together a proposal for a project that does not relate to what we have written about the purposes of the Fund.

If at this moment you are viewing a printed document rather than a web page, note that the web site can be found at http://www.wolf-aviation.org

If you do not have web access please ask someone who does to print the web site pages for you and you can then read them at your leisure.

Amount:  Grants range in size from a few hundred dollars to a maximum of five thousand dollars.  However, most grants tend to be lower than the maximum.  We rarely award more than one or two thousand dollars.

Please recognize that priority will be given to proposals that may have a large impact and benefit general aviation and the public perception of it the most. 

We will review a request for a grant to help someone with a narrow individual project, but it should be obvious that it is far more likely for a grant to be awarded for a project that will benefit all or many general aviation pilots, all or many aircraft designers, or a large segment of the general public in understanding the special value of personal flying.  

An individual project may serve those ends, but that must be expressed in the proposal.  This web site explains our philosophy about trying to leverage small resources to achieve large results.

Note regarding flight training grants and scholarships: in general we do NOT provide grants or funding for individual flight training or educational scholarships.  However, we DO try to help and advise those who need such scholarships.  There are many organizations that do provide scholarships and we are helping make that information more available.  If that is your need then please do visit our Scholarship and Flight Training Information page where we provide some excellent suggestions and links to websites that can probably help you!

Note regarding grants to colleges and other institutions: we have had several grants awarded that were greatly delayed or even ultimately rejected because a college or other institution needed to review our Conditions of Acceptance document, and in some cases wanted to make unacceptable changes. If you are applying for a grant to or through an institution you should have their grant office review and clear our Conditions of Acceptance prior to applying for the grant. Let us know if your institution wishes to propose changes. Note also that these terms might change by the time a grant is actually offered.

Other general notes and restrictions on funding: although we might make exceptions, we typically don't fund legal fees except possibly some incorporation or startup costs - especially if it will help a nonprofit or public service effort get under way. 

We also shy away from endowments, general operational costs for ongoing programs, and general funding for capital costs for buildings and such.  We prefer to fund specific projects, efforts, or phases. We often provide seed funds for worthwhile projects.

Our focus is personal air transportation and more broadly general aviation.   We generally do not fund airline, space, military, or commercial service aviation projects unless they clearly have a major component benefiting personal air transportation and general aviation, and fit into one or more of our seven program areas.

We can't fund elections and voter campaigns.  We are a federal 501 C 3 nonprofit foundation and are prohibited from engaging in or supporting any election of an official or from using significant resources to affect legislation. Thus we can not fund a Political Action Committee or any campaign or program intended to influence voters regarding an election.   Likewise we will immediately reject applications for any project that involves the campaign of anyone for elective office.

You don't have a project that fits us?  If you don't currently have a project that fits our guidelines please do be aware that our web site contains many ideas for small projects that will be considered for funding. Even if you don't have a specific project in mind now, you or an associate may have the skills and talents to accomplish one of these projects, or to take an existing project to a new level. If you see that you can help with one of our projects or add to our resource areas then please do submit a proposal.  Possible projects include ideas for improving our website and the information on it.

Deadlines:  We usually set a cutoff date for applications. It is shown at the top of this page. In some cases we may decide to consider holding some proposals for later funding in next year's grant cycle. We will announce any change in closure date for accepting applications or other changes in our program on this page on our website. If you don't send a proposal until later in the year, please check this page first to see if proposals are still being accepted for consideration or if the requirements have changed.  

Early decisions: We much prefer to make our award decisions after the end of the year because we wish to see all the proposals together in order to rate them and rank them fairly. In prior years we have accepted requests for an early decision but for this year we in general will not do so.  If your proposal has a quick absolute timeline or needs immediate consideration, please indicate so prominently on the first page. Say when you need an answer and why you can't wait like everyone else.  Please do not ask for early consideration if you can wait for normal review, and understand that it is unlikely we would accept such requests.

Deadlines for Early Decision Proposals: If you request an early decision then make every effort to submit your proposal at least 60 days before you need the decision, preferably even earlier. 

However in almost every case we will choose to evaluate your proposal at the end of the year with all the others. This year we have decided not to accept early funding requests thus proposals will be processed with all other proposals received by the deadline for our regular annual program. It would take extraordinary circumstances for us to make an exception.

When we announce awards: Please do note that we prefer to have plenty of time to collect a good pool of proposals prior to making funding decisions. Thus almost all grants are awarded after the end of the program year and early the following year. Typically we start making awards in March and continue through April until our annual grant fund is exhausted.  Expect a decision by the end of April.

If you absolutely must have a decision prior to that schedule then be sure to observe the deadlines shown above, and make sure that date is shown prominently on the first page of your proposal.  Again, in most cases we will be unable to make exceptions ande award early funding.

Grant Application Details

Maximum Length Four Pages, sent as one document.  Your proposal must be limited to printed or typed pages equivalent to four typed pages of text.  Avoid small print.

Send no separate illustrations or pictures unless they are on the page itself. If we want more detail we will ask for it after we evaluate your initial proposal. PLEASE SEND ONLY YOUR PROPOSAL - do not send supplemental material or other attachments.  However you may include web links in your proposal.

Please do not send four separate documents. Put all four pages in one document.

And please don't try to cheat on our guidelines by reducing your typeface size to something tiny and hard to read!  Please make it easy on our volunteers on the review team and on yourself by keeping your proposal short and easy to understand.  Using many words makes proposals hard to understand and do not impress the reviewing team.  Most proposals that result in grants are submitted in 12 point type and are very easy to read and comprehend.

Electronic Mail is Definitely Highly Preferred: If at all possible please send your proposal via electronic mail, which makes it easier for us to circulate it to our reviewers. If you prepare your proposal on a computer then you must send your proposal in electronic form.   Send your email from the email address where our replies will be sent.  Use an email address that won't change.  Carefully follow the following  formatting instructions: 

Format: You may send your proposal as plain or formatted text within the email message itself or as an attached file in plain text, WordPerfect, or Word format.

Please be sure to indicate in your email message which file format you will use for any attached proposal.  

Do NOT send FAXES or PDF's.  Send the original word processing document.  Do not password protect it.  We must be able to add our assigned grant number and modify the formatting as required to meet our internal needs.

Alternative Methods for Submission:  

We repeat: email is best but if absolutely necessary you may mail us a CDR containing your proposal, in a file format as described above. 

You must send your proposal in an electronic format.  If you write your proposal on a computer then definitely send us the word processing file.

AGAIN: Do NOT send PDF or FAX proposals - we cannot scan and convert faxed material. We need original files, not PDF's.

Do NOT password protect your document.  We must add your assigned grant number and some formatting information.

Send it Only Once:  Choose a method and send it that way only.   Sending it in both mailed and email format will only cause confusion and delay since we might end up assigning two different proposal ID numbers to the same project.  As emphasized, email is best.

Send only one proposal in one email.  We assign a different proposal tracking number to each proposal and its corresponding email.  If you send more than one proposal to us please put each one in its own email message.

Send your proposal from the email address for your primary contact person.  We will send all our replies back to that address.  Use an address that won't change.

Expect a Reply: We will acknowledge submissions in time, with a much faster response for proposals submitted electronically.  

IMPORTANT: if you do not receive an acknowledgement within ten days which includes your newly assigned grant number please ask us if we received your proposal because sometimes they get lost in the mail, in spam filters, during processing, or in passing through the internet.  

If you do not receive a reply message with an assigned grant number then your proposal is not in our system.

Then expect several weeks at an absolute minimum for evaluation, only for projects that have a quick timeline and hard deadline and which meet our deadlines for early review requests.  We generally complete most of the awards in the first four months of the following year, almost all in later March or in April. 

We often must award partial grants because of the large number of requests we receive.

Agreement for us to contact your references, clients, employers, and other contacts: by your sending us a grant proposal please understand that you are giving us your permission to contact any of the individuals or organizations indicated in your proposal or otherwise relevant to your project such as references, employers, clients, colleagues, people experienced with the subject matter, or others.

FINALLY: Do not depend on us as your sole means for accomplishing your objectives.  Once you have prepared a proposal you can and should modify it as necessary and send it to others.  Read the other sections of our website such as in our Organizational Development sections and follow the many links we suggest to learn more about seeking support for your project.  If you do receive other support please let us know about it promptly.

In one page, equivalent to no more than one typed page of text, clearly describe your proposal in the simplest terms possible.

> Start with a SHORT DESCRIPTIVE TITLE - 40 characters maximum. For our purposes a title that describes the project is much better than an abstract name that doesn't tell what the project is about.   A title like "Aviation Inspiration" means nothing.

> add the concise name of the APPLICANT (name of person or group), (and the CONTACT PERSON if different from applicant),

> provide a short one line SUMMARY, (one sentence that describes and captures the essence of the proposal and/or product to be produced)

> indicate your DEADLINE DATE FOR A DECISION if any, and deadline for funding if different.  Observe our own deadlines before asking for early funding.  Note that we are not accepting requests for early funding in our current program.

> then expand your description in the remaining paragraphs on the page.

It is best in this section to indicate in your own words what your project is and what you expect will be its benefits.  You may indicate how the Wolf Aviation Fund support will be important to your project or organization.  Use the 4th page to describe how the project fits the wolf Aviation Fund objectives.

Be sure to indicate prominently and briefly on this page any deadlines or time requirements for an answer about your proposal. Take into consideration that we very rarely make awards before early the following year.  Read the sections above about deadlines and awards schedule.

Put this page in the same document as the other pages.  As said before, send only one document, four pages maximum.

> At the top of this page indicate your and/or your group's name, primary contact person if different, mailing address, phone number(s), email address, and other pertinent contact information.  List key members of your group, if any.  Use the same email address used to send us the proposal.

> Provide a short summary of your and/or your team members' education, aviation background, and experience which would indicate you would likely be successful with your proposal.  Include related work, professional, and volunteer experiences.

> List a few of the most significant of your and/or your group's relevant past accomplishments, especially those that might relate to your project or Wolf Aviation Fund objectives.

> Also provide the name, title, organization, and contact information including phone numbers for each of two references willing to be contacted by us regarding you, your project, and your qualifications.  Do not list people directly involved in your project or related to you - we are looking for outside opinions of you and your team.

Do NOT ask them to send us letters of reference or to contact us in any way.  We will contact them with our specific questions if we need further information.

> On one page within the document as above please provide a brief description of your spending plan for your grant and how your budget relates to your overall program or project's objectives.  List significant items/categories of equipment or supplies to be purchased, services to be contracted, amounts of time or work involved, and any financial support that will be provided for yourself or others in attaining your objectives.

We do not need details - just a good idea of your project's general budget.

Please don't simply say you need five thousand dollars.  We want a realistic budget and an idea of how the funds will be spent.

In theory we can provide grants up to five thousand dollars but the hard economic realities of our times and the large number of proposals we receive have resulted in almost all of our grants to be in the range of $500 to perhaps $2000 in almost all cases.

In most cases where more has been requested we still have been only able to award partial grants, if any at all.  Our budget is fixed each year and so after we rate and rank proposals we spend our funds until they are gone.  We find that many very worthwhile projects do not receive funding each year from us because of our limited funds.  Be sure to continue seeking funds from others while you wait to hear from us. 

And please do let us know if you attained funding and no longer need it from us.

> Please be clear in indicating the general timeline for your project.  Indicate when the grant will be needed and when different parts of the project will be complete, including the final report described below.  No tiny details - just a line or a few lines providing a good general idea of your schedule.

> Provide the total dollar amount of your grant request, as well as the dollar amount of your entire project if different.  If other funding is involved please indicate where it is coming from.  Don't get into scheduling detail - just the primary information please.

Proposals for matching grants will be considered and are quite welcome, but we may require proof of the matching amount before actually sending any supporting funds.

The Wolf Aviation Fund specifically supports individuals in their work benefiting general aviation, so don't be shy in indicating that the funds will be used to support you or others in accomplishing your objectives.  For instance, a grant might support your or others' time spent on researching a subject and making the information widely available.

1)  Relevance to Wolf Aviation Fund.  Your final page in the document should briefly discuss how your project meets the objectives of the Wolf Aviation Fund. 

Please be quite specific about how your proposal fits into our programs and objectives as stated on the web site.

2)  Procedures for Project Evaluation

Specify how the success of your project can eventually be measured and evaluated so the Fund's Trustees and Advisors can assess the success of our grant. 

Indicate exactly how you will report back to the Fund the results of the grant. Understand you will be expected, as a condition for receiving a grant, to adhere to this plan or to a mutually agreed variation of it. 

Please only provide for a summary report, and possibly one update.  Do not try to be overly ambitious in providing lots of detail.  We prefer applicants to spend their time accomplishing the objectives of their proposal, not in writing long reports.

We do appreciate receiving copies or examples of project products, such as website links, white papers, guidebooks, manuals, videos, slide shows, and any general reports that would be produced as part of the project.  In general this would be a requirement so indicate that you will provide such products in stating how you will report to the Fund.

Note that your reports may well be made available to the public, possibly in a summary, so that others can learn about your project and benefit from what you learned in accomplishing it.   Program or project materials may be used by the Wolf Aviation Fund to promote the programs or projects and the Fund's support for them.

If you need anything kept confidential please say what it would be and why you wish it not publicized.

Please understand that this final page including both the discussion of relevance and the reporting plan will be critical for Wolf Aviation Fund acceptance of a grant request.

Our Conditions for Acceptance (COA) for Awards:

If we do decide to award a grant we will send the applicant an acceptance form that indicates all conditions to be fulfilled by the applicant, and the applicant must agree at that time to comply with all such requirements by signing and returning our Conditions of Acceptance form. 

The conditions simply provide for such reporting and feedback as needed by the Fund to assure that the project is completed as promised, that unused funds will be returned so we can award them to others, that the applicant will be responsible for reporting and paying any taxes that might be due, plus other conditions as appropriate for each grant.  We may modify our COA template when preparing one for your award.  If you have any questions about our Conditions of Acceptance please contact us at the following email address.

Submit a Proposal via electronic mail to:

Send your proposal from the email address for your primary contact person.  We will send all our replies back to that email address.  Please make this an email address that will not change.

AGAIN: Do NOT send PDF or FAX proposals - we cannot scan and convert faxed material. We need original word processing files, not PDF's.

or if unable to use electronic mail then send a CDR to:

The Wolf Aviation Fund
Grant Administration
2060 State Highway 595
Lindrith, New Mexico 87029

Our best wishes to you in your worthy endeavors benefiting the community and general aviation!

REMINDER:  We are not accepting grant proposals at this time.  Use these guidelines to prepare proposals for other funding sources.  Check back with us after September 15 to learn about our possible grant program for 2015.

Read the Grants Page or our News Release 0107A for descriptions of some prior grants, or continue reading through our site here:

 
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Copyright © 1998 through 2018    Alfred L. and Constance C. Wolf Aviation Fund   
Last modified: April 17, 2019