Thank you for your interest in the May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust.
Please review the following information about the Trust’s grantmaking criteria and whether and how to contact us.
Introduction
As of May 23, 2022, the Trust has changed its process for new grantseekers and has suspended acceptance of unsolicited Letter of Inquiry (LOI) applications. In recent years, fewer than 3% of unsolicited LOIs resulted in a grant. Eight years into the current strategic plan there are several reasons for this:
- Each program area has a full portfolio of high-impact grantees with a significant proportion of those receiving multi-year grants and repeat funding, meaning that there is little room each year for new organizations at this time
- Finite grantmaking budgets make it difficult to add even strongly aligned applicants at this time
- A large applicant pool due to the breadth of the Trust’s geographic service area
In an effort to be transparent about the likelihood of an LOI being successful, and out of respect for the time and energy many organizations put into developing an LOI under our previous process, we have streamlined the way organizations can share their work with us.
The Trust remains interested in hearing from organizations that may be eligible for future consideration. We have developed a simple email inquiry process to enable aligned, competitive organizations to inform the Trust of their work. While all inquiries will be read, only those that have potential to move forward will be contacted.
Funding Priorities
Please review the Trust’s Funding Priorities for detailed information about the populations and geographic areas the Trust’s grantmaking serves.
For More Information
To learn more about eligibility and alignment
Common Grantseeker Questions
Answers to the most common grantseeker questions