The BNI Foundation is a non-profit program that supports charitable causes relating to children and education in countries where BNI is operating. The primary focus of the foundation is to provide small mini-grants ($500.00 or less) for educational projects. These grants are given out once a year, generally in September.
Because of the growth of BNI, the organization felt that it would be a good opportunity to give back to some of the communities in which BNI operates.
Foundation Structure
The complete name for this foundation is the BNI-Misner Charitable Foundation. This is a charitable fund that is part of a foundation that has been around for eighty years, and has recently been ranked among the top ten foundations in the world. The name of the parent foundation is the California Community Foundation. BNI has connected with this existing foundation to reduce the time and cost of creating a stand-alone foundation. For more information on the California Community Foundation, you may view their website at www.calfund.org.
Mini-Grant Criteria and Guidelines
The International Board of Advisors for BNI (made up of members throughout the world) has selected education and children to be themes for this foundation. The BNI Foundation will make contributions to legitimate charitable causes only. In the United States, that includes organizations with the IRS designation of 501 (C) (3). The only other type of organization that the Foundation will support includes public schools. These are the only organizations which mini-grants will be given to.
Eligibility
Mini-grants must meet the following criteria:
1. The request must be made by teachers, educators and/or program coordinators.
2. The project must meet the Foundation theme (children and/or education).
3. The request must be for a specific project with a clear purpose and well stated objective(s).
4. The grantee must send photos or a brief summary of the results of the project when completed.
5. The entire project cannot exceed $500.00 (U.S.).
6. The teacher, educator, or coordinator overseeing or managing the project must submit the grant request on behalf of the organization for the grant.
7. Without exception, grant checks may be cut only to a charitable, non-profit 501 (C) (3) organization or a public school.
All Mini-Grants are subject to approval
The BNI Foundation is looking for projects with demonstrated results in one of the following areas : Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Arts, Health, Language, Self-Esteem, and/or Technology.
Submitting a Grant Application
Complete a grant application (found at www.bni.org/grants.html and email it to [email protected] Emailed submissions are required.
The BNI Foundation reserves the rights to select recipients of mini-grants at its sole discretion.
BNI Foundation Grant Application
Please review the “Mini-Grant Criteria and Guidelines” before completing these questions.
Then email your completed application with responses for all 19 items to [email protected] as a Microsoft Word file or RTF ext file.
1. Applicant’s Name :
2. Organization’s Name:
Is this a Public School or a Charitable Non-Profit Organization ? _____________________________________
Please provide 501 (c) (3) Identification : _________________________
3. Address, City, Zip/Postal Code and Country _______________________
Please note, in order to be eligible, it is necessary to be in a country in which BNI is operating.
4. Home Phone:
5. School Phone:
6. Position & Subject Area
7. Grade:
8. Number of students in class :
9. Amount requested:
10. Name of project:
11. Description of project:
12. Potential benefits of project:
13. How will benefits be determined ?
14. How will funds be allocated ?
15. List any other funding source:
16. Are you willing to provide photos, or some type of documentation of how this grant was used If yes please describe :
17. Principal’s name:
18. Do you have his/her approval for this project ?
19. Your e-mail address:
Contact at
website: www.bm.org
email: [email protected]