Click here for a quick print PDF of 2024 Grant Guidelines.

GRANT GUIDELINES

Sherwood Trust’s Core competitive grants are guided by our Eligibility Requirements, Giving Principles and Core Values, included in the following pages. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review grant guidelines and discuss their grant proposal with Sherwood Trust in advance of submitting a request to ensure the grant request meets Sherwood Trust’s guidelines. For past grant award information visit the 2023 Grant Partner and Recent Grant History pages. Grant applications materials are all submitted online.

Grant Eligibility Requirements

• Benefit registered tax-exempt organizations or initiatives fiscally sponsored by tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a public agency.

• Be submitted by or with an organization serving the Walla Walla Valley, defined as extending from Dayton, Washington to Milton-Freewater, Oregon.
  Charitable activities should be consistent with Sherwood Trust’s vision and values.

• Organizations or collaborative projects by more than one organization that receive grant funding should allow two intervening years from receipt of funds before applying for another Core Grant. If an organization or collaborative project received funding in 2023, for example, that organization or collaborative project would again be eligible to apply in 2026.

Our Giving Principles

• Private philanthropy is a strategic activity, not a charity. It demands the seriousness of a long-term investment and requires stringent underwriting to ensure grants support achievable, measurable results.

• An organization’s operational model and its execution is critical to achieving its mission. Sherwood Trust grants favor effective organizations that demonstrate strong leadership, competent management, strategic innovation and a record of achieving tangible results.

• Sherwood Trust grant programs are for organizations whose work directly supports our vision that everyone here has a sense of belonging and can contribute to our thriving region. We seek transformative investments that support local people working together toward stronger, more equitable communities.

• Sherwood Trust favors applicants with evidence of multiple donor commitments so that Sherwood Trust is not funding the majority of the request. Sherwood Trust prefers to fund final grant dollars.

  Core Values

• Collaboration – support for collaboration between organizations on a common project, particularly those with broad regional benefits that address a community need  

• Empathy – support for initiatives that promote mutual understanding, learning and respectful community engagement

• Equity – support for initiatives that promote and strengthen inclusive, representative engagement in our region to build a more cohesive community, particularly those that address inequities for underserved population.

• Excellence – support for nonprofits with a track record of sound operational management and development of internal capacities that enhance an organization’s resiliency

• Integrity – support for operations that demonstrate transparency and unity in the fulfillment of their mission

• Sustainability – support for strong, resilient organizations with a track record of good governance and accomplishment
  
  Additional Considerations  
  Competitive grant proposals seeking funds for scholarships, door prizes, raffles or to benefit an individual will not be accepted.