Grant Guidelines & Cycle Deadlines

Dairy’s Foundation^® awards grants to projects that will build producer professionalism and maintain public trust through programs that educate and engage both the dairy community and the public.

Our core objectives are to engage and equip people in lifelong learning, leadership skills and developing the next generation of professional dairy producers.

Our grant cycles are as follows:

Grant Cycle	Open Cycle	Deadline	Notification of a Decision
Spring	January - May	June 1	July 1
Fall	July - November	December 1	January 1

See Past Grant Winners

What We Support

Gifts to Dairy’s Foundation are used wisely in support of producer-driven education initiatives, both locally and nationally. Our strategic direction is set by dairy producers, for dairy producers, and our competitive granting program ensures that any dairy community can apply for funds that will bring great educational ideas to light.

Organizations may apply for a grant of up to $10,000. The maximum amount for each grant will be $10,000. The maximum amount given to any one organization will be $10,000.

We focus our support in three key areas:

1. Raising up the next generation of professional dairy producers
2. Growing and maintaining public trust in our people and products
3. Building the skills of our dairy producers

Because our program does not encompass brick-and-mortar establishments or projects that already exist, we’re able to fund one-of-a-kind initiatives and programs that fill gaps in the dairy industry.

What we do not fund:

• Requests from individuals or scholarships for individuals
• Political or social organizations
• Endowments
• Artistic or religious programs
• Loans, start-up expenses or seed capital funding for private businesses
• Building projects
• Dairy promotion or nutrition programs that are directly the responsibility of our state and national check-off organizations. We are pleased to work collaboratively with our check-off organizations, but not in competition.

See Past Grantees

Grant Criteria & Eligibility

Dairy’s Foundation was founded by producers and agribusiness friends who believe education is the key to a healthy dairy community and want to ensure that this strongly held value remains part of our rural infrastructure.

All grant seekers must be an active non-profit organization with an IRS status of 501(c)(3) or (c)(5) within the United States to be eligible to apply.

The Dairy’s Foundation Selection Committee will weigh the quality of proposals against any or all of the following considerations:

1. Industry Leadership—Will this grant be a catalyst for change or further education opportunities? Like a tugboat, our funds can be used to lead the industry into uncharted waters, trying new ideas.

2. Shareability—Does this grant align with the mission of Dairy’s Foundation? Our mission is “To share ideas, resources and experiences about important issues surrounding the dairy industry through educational opportunities for dairy producers and the public.” Therefore, we want to work in partnership with organizations that align with our mission. We look for ways to advance promising programs and share “what works” with others in the industry.

3. Leverage—Will this grant make use of already proven solutions? We encourage organizations to leverage our grant with other resources to achieve educational goals.

4. Impact—Is the applying organization capable of demonstrating measurable impact? When we ask donors to give to the Dairy's Foundation, we ask them to invest in the future of the dairying in our communities. Therefore, we look for a demonstrable return on the grants we make. Applications should include ways that you intend to communicate and publicize your program’s results and findings.

5. Commitment to Partnership—Is the applying organization capable of helping the Dairy's Foundation grow its influence and capacity in the future? Our vision is “a professional, proactive and prepared dairy community, united through education initiatives.” We ask our grant recipients to help us build awareness and support for the Dairy's Foundation among key audiences, so we can build our fundraising capacity and continue to fund education programs.

How to Apply

If you have reviewed our criteria and believe there is a strong match with your program, please complete the following and email one combined document in an email with subject line “Grant Application” to info@dairyfoundation.org by the grant cycle deadline noted above.

Application Components for Submission:

1. Cover Page
2. Copy of IRS Determination Letter
3. Grant Proposal Application - Preferably less than 10 pages when complete; use 12-point Arial font type, and include outlined information detailed in “Grant Writing Instruction” below.

Grant Writing Instruction

Identify the following:

1. Who: A description of your organization and a brief summary of your organization’s past achievements in relation to the problem or need you are addressing in your proposal
2. Capacity to successfully facilitate the proposed activities.
3. What and How: A statement of the problem or need you plan to address and an explanation of how your organization will respond to it. Include a summary of what you expect to achieve through your efforts.
4. When: Explain the timeframe for the proposed activities.
5. Budget: Estimate the cost of the entire project or activity and include the specific amount requested from the Dairy's Foundation in a complete project budget. If you are leveraging funds from your or another organization to help support your proposal, include that information as well.

For a printable version of the Grant Guide, download the full grant proposal and application guide.

Download Grant Guide

Grant Recipient Evaluation & Results Report

According to the timeline provided at the time the grant was awarded, use the following Evaluation and Results Report to outline your program/project results.

Progress Reports and Income Statements

Please note that all programs funded will be subject to periodic progress updates.

After the proposed activities are complete, grant recipients must submit an evaluation, impact statement and other requested information that fits the spirit of our mission, “To share ideas, resources, experiences and solutions through education about important issues surrounding the dairy industry.”

Indirect Costs

Dairy’s Foundation does not allow for proposals to be submitted with any associated indirect costs. Grant submitted with indirect costs will not be considered.

Our Application Review Process

We will honor all requests with a response.

Since grant-writing is a time-consuming process, we encourage you to review our criteria carefully and be sure your request falls within our guidelines. We cannot fund every request and may need to decline worthwhile projects for various reasons—availability of funds at a given time may be the reason, as opposed to the validity of the request.

Finally, we urge you to help us spread the word about the Dairy's Foundation, so that we can improve our industry awareness, build our fundraising support and increase our capacity to fund worthy educational efforts.