Application Process

The Health Team invites you to submit a letter of inquiry for your proposed project in Healthy Environments or Emerging and Promising Practices.

Grantseekers interested in Caring Communities Safety-net Facility Improvement grants should visit the challenge grant page. The Health Clinic Opportunity Fund and the Safety-net Enhancement Initiative are both closed.

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 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?

Additional attachments:

1. Kresge Foundation grant application cover sheet.
2. A cover letter addressed to the Kresge Health Team signed by the CEO of the organization.
3. 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.)
4. 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.

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