Health Program

Application Process

The Health Team invites you to submit a letter of inquiry for your proposed project, or, in the case of the Safety-net Enhancement Initiative, a response to our request for proposals.

Click here for Safety-net Enhancement Initiative request-for-proposal requirements.

Letter of inquiry requirements

A complete letter of inquiry application consists of a grant application cover sheet, a cover letter signed by the CEO of the organization, a five-page letter of inquiry narrative, a sample budget form and a reference list. The grant application cover sheet and sample budget form are located in the Resources box in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

We will consider your submission once all five parts of the application have been received by The Kresge Foundation. When your complete application package has been received, you will be notified by the Kresge Foundation.

The link to the Apply Online page is found in the purple bar at the top of this page. Before you begin your letter of inquiry, it is often helpful to review the information provided on the pages titled Health Program and Our Values Criteria.

All letters of inquiry will be evaluated in terms of our values criteria. Please explain how you are addressing our values as you answer the questions listed below. No one value or subset of values carries disproportionate weight. Rather, it is the collective influence of multiple values exemplified by your organization and your project that interests us most.

Writing your letter of inquiry

The letter of inquiry narratives should not exceed five type-written pages and should contain the following:

Briefly describe your organization, its mission and the role it plays in the community or field it serves.
If applicable, provide a brief description and background information about the community that will be the focus of your efforts.
Describe your overall request and relevance of the proposed project or program for the Kresge Health Program (Healthy Environments, Caring Communities or Emerging and Promising Practices) to improve health outcomes among vulnerable populations.
State your project’s main objective, site and plan to be accomplished.
Provide an explanation, if appropriate, of the fundraising or business plan for the project, including how it will be sustained following Kresge funding.
Who will be the key partners, if any, in the project, and what type of collaboration/specific role is planned?

For those applying for a Health Clinic Opportunity Fund grant, please answer the two additional questions below. Your total page count for the proposal narrative should not exceed six type-written pages.

Tell us about your governance structure, including how clients receiving services participate in decisions involving your operations and any partnerships that assist in the delivery of services.
Describe your operational strengths and accomplishments as well as your organizational challenges and how they relate to your current and/or anticipated client population. Have you addressed these challenges in the past? How? What resources, if any, are you currently using to manage them?

Additional attachments:

Kresge Foundation grant application cover sheet.
A cover letter addressed to the Kresge Health Team signed by the CEO of the organization.
A detailed budget with all expenditures related to this grant request; include any in-kind contributions and their respective sources and give a brief summary and rationale for each line-item expenditure. (Budget may include up to 20 percent indirect costs.)
A list of three to four reference agencies, along with the contact information of a representative of the agency who can offer insights into the services you provide to clients in your community.

Next steps

You will be sent two e-mail acknowledgements when we have received your letter of inquiry application package. Once a full review of these materials is complete – usually within four weeks – you will be notified whether your letter received a favorable or unfavorable response.

If your letter of inquiry receives a favorable response, you will be asked to submit a full proposal. In it, we may ask for additional information and related supporting materials. In the correspondence requesting a full proposal, we also will give you the name and contact information for the Health Team member assigned to your project, as well as a due date for submitting a full proposal and the date the team plans to take your proposal before our Board of Trustees.

Safety-net enhancement initiative request-for-proposal requirements

A complete request-for-proposal application package for the Safety-net Enhancement Initiative planning grant consists of a grant application cover sheet, a cover letter signed by the CEO of the lead agency, a 15-page proposal narrative addressing the discussion questions below, a budget, an audit for the lead agency, and the lead agency’s board of directors’ names and affiliations. The grant application cover sheet is located in the Resources box in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Please submit your response to our request for proposals using our online application process. When your complete proposal package has been received, you will be notified by the Kresge Foundation.

The link to the Apply Online page is found in the purple bar at the top of this page. Please scroll down the Apply Online page to the “Creating an online application account” section. Here you will find directions for submitting your materials online. Before you begin your application package, it is often helpful to review the information provided on the pages titled Health Program and Our Values Criteria.

Writing your proposal narrative

Please address the information requested below in your proposal narrative, in no more than 15 typewritten pages.

Information on the lead or partnership agency

Provide descriptive background information on the lead agency – the community health center, safety-net hospital, local health department, primary-care association, or other agency – that will be responsible for organizing and conducting the planning process.
Provide examples of previous successful planning efforts in your community, including the types of partners, relationships, and outcomes that resulted from the work.
List the partnering agencies that will be involved in the initial planning process, and include a brief description of their roles and expected, non-monetary contributions to the planning effort.
Identify any additional agencies that will be engaged in the planning process.

Information on the planning focus:

Describe the community and/or population that will be the focus of your planning efforts.
What are the potential population-based health issues that may be identified, addressed and/or impacted as a result of your planning activities?
What are your ultimate goals for this planning effort?
How will this planning effort address or take into account the social and environmental factors affecting health in your community?
Describe the processes, products, timelines and deliverables that will be involved during the nine-month planning process. How will you structure the workflow during the planning process?
How will you engage the community and/or population that will be the focus of your proposed project in your planning process? What do you hope to gain from their engagement?

Information on contextual issues:

Describe the contextual issues (assets, challenges and opportunities) that might affect or influence your planning work. What value would this planning effort bring to your local community, your partners and/or others?
What existing population-based activities or initiatives are currently underway in your community that might adversely or favorably affect your efforts?

Information on leverage opportunities:

Explain how the planning activities associated with this initiative have the potential to advance current health-related efforts in your community. How will you engage other funders in supporting your planning and future implementation?
What resources – monetary or in-kind – will be contributed by your current list of partners?

Attachments:

Budget – specify the expenses (not to exceed $75,000) that will be associated with the planning process, and include a brief statement of justification for each line item.
Lead agency audit.
Lead agency’s board of directors’ names and affiliations.

The link to the Apply Online page is found in the purple bar at the top of this page. Please scroll down the Apply Online page to the “Creating an online application account” for complete directions.

Next steps

You will receive two e-mail acknowledgements when we receive your full proposal. Once your proposal has been reviewed, a program officer may contact you for further information. Grant award announcements will be made in January 2010.

Watch the Program Updates section of the Kresge Web site to learn about online, pre-proposal information sessions, which will be scheduled this fall.

If you have questions, e-mail our Grants Inquiry Coordinator or call 248-643-9630.