Tau Grant Program

Tau Grant Program is sponsored by Allegany Franciscan Ministries. Tau Grants provide unrestricted funding to small nonprofit organizations with budgets under $1 million that are working to expand access to healthcare and strengthen the health and well-being of communities across their six-county region in Florida. The grants also support economic mobility, including financial literacy.

Apply for Grant | Trinity Health System Grant Application Process Before seeking funding support from Allegany Franciscan Ministries, become familiar with our Mission and Values, as well as the general eligibility and FAQs for funding found on this page, and more specific criteria and FAQs on each grant program page.

If your organization’s work aligns with the goals and mission of Allegany and your request is a good fit with our priority areas, you may consider submitting an application for one of our competitive grant opportunities during an open cycle. For invitation-only grant programs, you may reach out to the staff lead listed on that grant program page to ask questions and further discuss what the specific grant opportunity entails.

Invited organizations will receive a unique code to access the correct grant application. General Eligibility Criteria Grants whether open competitive grants or those that are invitation only are available at various times throughout the year. In addition to the general eligibility criteria listed here, each grant program has specific criteria and deadlines.

Please review the individual grant program pages for more details Below is general eligibility for Allegany’s grant programs. Serve historically marginalized groups including BIPOC (Black Indigenous, People of Color), LGTBQ+, Individuals with disabilities, and/or Immigrants). Have received a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service confirming its exemption from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

* Be willing and able to comply with all requirements of the Allegany Franciscan Ministries Grant Agreement ( see sample grant agreement ). Not available for individuals, public agencies, capital projects (Buildings, van/automobiles, etc.) or endowments unless otherwise indicated for the specific grant program or opportunity.

*Public agencies and non 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to apply for Connecting with Community for our Common Home grants. Program guidelines, limitations, applications, and review process vary by grant program. Connecting with Community for our Common Home Initiative This initiative addresses environmental injustices experienced throughout Florida.

Specifically, the focus is on extreme heat impacts on outdoor workers and climate gentrification. Nonprofit Capacity & Leadership Initiative This initiative supports the organizational health and resilience of nonprofits serving our communities. Cohort-based training and general operating support to local leadership development programs are included.

ACOR Grants provide program and general operating support to community projects of nonprofit organizations directly affiliated with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, Allegany Franciscan Associates or Trinity Health. Tau Grants support unrestricted general operating and organizational capacity building needs for smaller nonprofits that serve marginalized groups and have leadership that represents communities served.

St Clare grants support activities and projects that support our mission and vision. These may include national, statewide, regional or local advocacy efforts, philanthropic partnerships, educational, research and planning activities or disaster response. Frequently Asked Questions How do I decide which grant type would be best aligned with my organization and/or project?

Review the descriptions of our grant programs to learn more about the unique characteristics, priorities, and eligibility requirements for each type of grant we offer. We encourage you to speak to someone on our team before applying. If we discourage you from applying, please understand we are trying to save you the effort of submitting a request that is very unlikely to be funded.

Ultimately, though, you need to make the decision; our staff cannot decide for you which of your ideas to submit, or which grant program is the best fit. If we are not a 501(c)(3) but are working with a fiscal sponsor, can we apply for funding? Yes, generally a fiscal sponsor may be utilized to apply for a grant.

A fiscal sponsor is not the same thing as a registered sponsor or a treasurer. It is always an organization, not an individual. In some cases, an organization desiring to apply for a grant from Allegany Franciscan Ministries does not meet all the eligibility criteria (for example, does not yet have its 501(c)(3) designation).

In other cases, the organization may be eligible, but does not have the capacity to complete all the requirements for a successful grant. We encourage these organizations to seek out a community partner that does have capacity and meets all eligibility requirements, to serve as a fiscal sponsor for the grant. The fiscal sponsor will then be the official applicant.

Have a conversation with the appropriate Allegany Franciscan Ministries staff person regarding this arrangement prior to completing an application. If a grant is awarded, Allegany Franciscan Ministries will enter into an agreement with the fiscal sponsor and will hold the fiscal sponsor legally responsible for the grant, including financial management, all reporting, and all other requirements.

Allegany Franciscan Ministries recommends that the fiscal sponsor and organization enter into a formalized agreement with one another. The fiscal sponsor may or may not have any additional involvement with the grant other than managing the funds and ensuring that the conditions of the grant agreement are met.

The fiscal sponsor may charge a reasonable administrative fee for their services; this fee is an acceptable cost to include within the grant budget. Are indirect costs allowable? Although we do not require specific levels or percentages for different expenses, we ask that you develop a budget, and request support, for expenses that are realistic and reasonable for the initiative.

We believe that indirect costs are necessary for a project’s success, and we will support those expenses within reason (indirect costs are general or administrative expenses that are necessary to effectively deliver a project or program, but that are not readily identified with and attributable to a specific project.)

We do allow organizations to identify costs that may be considered indirect; typically, we will honor that if it is outlined in the budget narrative. In addition, when a grant is for general operating support, the organization does not need to differentiate specific budget line items or indirect costs. Will it help to submit letters of support, video links or other supplemental information with the application?

Please do not submit letters of support with your application; we do not believe in requiring the extra time and effort it takes to obtain these. We also strongly advise against submitting or attaching video links or other supplemental information with the application or emailing these materials to staff leads. May I see a copy of a successful application?

We do not share copies of submitted applications, whether successful or not. This is not because we wish to keep the application secret in any way; rather, we believe that the written application is just one component of a request. Trying to mimic another organization’s request would be a disservice to telling the story of your project.

Be aware that just because we have funded a specific project in the past does not mean that a similar project would be funded in the future. May I contact a member of the Allegany Franciscan Ministries board of directors or grants committee directly to discuss my grant application? No, please contact the appropriate staff person at Allegany Franciscan Ministries.

Our directors and committee members will refer all calls regarding applications back to the staff. Your relationship with a director or grants committee member will not impact our decision regarding your application; our conflict of interest policy requires that directors, staff, or volunteer committee members that are related parties to an organization not participate in the funding recommendation or decision for that organization.

What is the review process like? Ours is a collaborative, consensus-based review process. Members of our staff team initially screen requests for basic eligibility and fit with our focus and priorities.

For some grant programs, applications for eligible projects are shared with a grants committee, which then meets and reviews each request, developing recommendations through open dialogue. Our board of directors or CEO make the final decision to award each grant based on recommendations from staff or grants committee members. My grant request was turned down.

Can I find out why? Yes, we will share feedback about your application and we encourage you to contact the appropriate staff person. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to fund every request, competition can be very strong, and often we must choose one perfectly good project over another perfectly good project.

We will make every effort to give you specific feedback. This feedback may help you to submit more successful proposals to other funders in the future, so we hope that you will engage in the discussion from a place of learning. We can also tell you whether we think a future application to Allegany Franciscan Ministries for the same or a different project might be more successful.

Is there an appeal process? We do not have an appeal process. If we have declined your grant request, we encourage you to contact the appropriate staff member, who will be able to give you feedback and help you understand why the grant was not approved.

Often projects that are eligible and a good “fit” are still not funded, simply because we have limited funds and had to make difficult choices, and we felt that other requests were better positioned to help us achieve our mission and vision. What is the general reporting frequency and structure for awarded grants? The Organization will be required to submit a final report at the end of the grant period.

Reports will either be a verbal report to be completed with the Allegany staff person overseeing the grant or a written report submitted through Allegany’s online grant portal. Reporting will include organizational updates, challenges encountered/lessons learned, and an accounting of grant funds. Reporting schedule information for your organization’s awarded grant can be found in Allegany’s online grant portal in your grant agreement.

For larger grant sizes or multi-year grants, the Organization may be required to complete one or more additional reports. If, at the time of each scheduled report, the Organization has spent at least 80% of the grant funds received to date, Allegany will release the next payment.

If the Organization has not spent 80% of prior funds received for the grant, Allegany staff and the Organization will decide mutually whether an updated report must be submitted and when the next payment will be released. *Navigate to grant program pages under WHAT WE DO tabs to see more specifics on reporting for a particular grant program.

We welcome feedback at any time; please address your feedback to the appropriate staff member as listed on the Staff Team page of our web site. Although we do not at this time have an anonymous comment/suggestion box, you may always direct your comment to our CEO (Eileen Coogan) at ecoogan@afmfl. org .

Additionally, we encourage applicants to visit www. GrantAdvisor. org and complete an anonymous review of Allegany Franciscan Ministries.

We use this information to improve our grantmaking processes and communication. New & Improved Apply Page and Applicant Dashboard starting July 1, 2025! Reference resources to help navigate: Information Webinar Recording & Slide Deck and Written Tutorials on Apply Page & Applicant Dashboard .

Applications must be accessed and completed through our online grant portal. Returning and new applicants and active grant partners can access the grant portal here. Contact Carla Batts at cbatts@afmfl.

org for questions about Grant Portal. View Portal Instructions & FAQs