Frequently Asked Questions
General FAQ
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Within the Cherished Communities priority, the Couch Family Foundation focuses its grant making on supporting organizations and programs that serve communities in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont and Martha’s Vineyard.
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We define Upper Valley as the area including Grafton County and Sullivan County in New Hampshire and Orange County and Windsor County in Vermont. Please see the map on our website for specific towns that fall within the geographic parameters.
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No. Despite the similarity of our names, there has never been a family or business connection between our Foundation and the Couch Family Foundation based in Hillsborough County, Florida or with the J.W. Couch Foundation in Houston, Texas.
Grant FAQ
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The Foundation makes both project and unrestricted grants.
We encourage project grants applications that support the following priorities:
- New initiatives or pilot programs;
- Special projects or enhancements of current projects and programs;
- Impact studies or evaluations of current programs; or
- Organizational capacity building.
The Couch Family Foundation recognizes the critical role general operating funds play for healthy nonprofit organizations. While we prefer new grant seekers to propose a project-based grant, we would encourage new grant seekers interested in unrestricted funding to contact us prior to submitting an application.
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The Foundation generally awards grants of $10,000 or less to first-time grantees. However, if you would like to propose a project with a larger grant budget, please contact Foundation staff to discuss.
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We encourage first-time applicants to propose a project grant when possible, though the Foundation will also consider requests for unrestricted funding from first-time applicants.
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The Foundation considers multi-year funding for projects.
Application & Process FAQ
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No. You must be tax-exempt public charity or be fiscally sponsored by one to be eligible for support.
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A fiscal sponsor is a nonprofit organization that provides fiduciary oversight, financial management, and other administrative services to help build the capacity of charitable projects. More information about fiscal sponsorship can be found on the website of the National Council of Nonprofits. If you are using a fiscal sponsor, the Foundation does require a written agreement from you and your fiscal sponsor as part of the application submission process.
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No letter of intent is required before submitting an application. Please ensure your organization fits the criteria outlined on our Grants page before submitting a proposal.
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The Foundation has three grant application cycles each year, deadlines for each cycle are published on our grant seeker page.
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Please contact us to discuss an extension.
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Goals express the project’s purpose, while the outcomes are the anticipated changes in the community or for the target population as a result of the project.
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No, you do not need an Access Code to complete an application.
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Yes, please use the link to our grant portal to set up an account to view the grant application. Thereafter, you may also download the application to review. Please note that the application does cover all grant type requests so all questions may not be applicable to your specific request. Please email grantadmin@couchfoundation.org with access questions.
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Please send an inquiry to grantadmin@couchfoundation.org and staff will assist with your specific question(s).
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While not required, it is strongly recommended to use the Foundation’s budget template for project-based grants.
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Please send an inquiry to grantadmin@couchfoundation.org and one of our staff will work with you to include the additional information.
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An automatic email notification is generated when you submit your application via our online grant application system.