GRANT GUIDELINES AND INFORMATION

BACKGROUND

The H. C. Gemmer Family Christian Foundation was created in 1956 by the philanthropy and vision of Hiram C. and Edith Gemmer, and their son, H. Robert Gemmer.  The founders’ convictions and charitable interests focuses on peace, justice, sobriety, and racial harmony.  They were also strong supporters of ecumenical and inter-faith organizations. By the generosity and estate planning of H. Robert Gemmer, the value of the Foundation’s assets grew fourfold following his death in 1992. 

Our Foundation has semi-annual board meetings, ordinarily on the Saturday after Memorial Day and the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The Foundation makes approximately 24 grants per year, with an average amount of approximately $1,750.00. Although our maximum grants are $3,000.00, we are rarely able to grant that much because of our limited resources and the number of grants we normally make. Approved grants are mailed to the organizations at their address indicated in the grant proposals, within one week following our spring or fall meeting. Organizations whose proposals are declined are notified via email.

Effective July 15, 2025, our Foundation will no longer accept or review unsolicited grant proposals. The increasing number of grant requests we were receiving became unmanageable, and a high percentage of the grant requests were being declined. Therefore, our Foundation adopted a new requirement that a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) first be submitted via email to gemmerfoundation@gmail.com by organizations seeking grants and then be reviewed by our Foundation to determine if the Foundation would like the organization to submit an online grant proposal. Requirements of the LOI are described below. The LOI process will allow our Foundation to focus on evaluating a smaller pool of relevant applicants and will save organizations from spending unnecessary time on preparing detailed proposals that may not be a good fit. If, after reviewing the LOI, our Foundation determines that the organization’s project or program merits further consideration for a grant, the organization’s contact person will be notified via email and asked to submit a grant application online. LOIs may be submitted anytime but must be submitted on or before April 1 for our spring meeting grant cycle, and on or before September 1 for our fall meeting grant cycle. That will allow our Foundation time to review the LOIs and notify the organizations whether we would like them to make an online grant application. Online grant application deadlines are May 1 for our spring cycle and October 1 for our fall cycle. See the Grant Application Process and Deadlines sections below for more information about the LOI requirements, process and deadlines.

Primary Areas of Funding

PEACE WITH JUSTICE

·        Alternative to Violence, militarism and War

·        Conflict Resolution

·        Reconciliation and Healing

·        Peace Education

·        Criminal Justice

HUMAN RIGHTS

·        Anti-Discrimination and Protection

·        Immigrants’ rights

·        Diversity and Intergroup Relations

·        Social Justice

·        Economic Justice

Prohibited Funding

·        Grants in Excess of $3,000.00

·        Grants to an Individual, or to an Organization for the Benefit of an Individual

·        Grants for Scholarships or Tuition Assistance for Undergraduate, Graduate, or Postgraduate Studies

·        Grants for Political Purposes or for Lobbying Activities

·        Grants for Organizations Without a Determination Letter from the IRS, Stating they are Exempt from Federal Income Tax Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

·        Grants to Private Foundations, Service Clubs, or Fraternal/Social/Civic Organizations

·        Grants for Endowments, Building Funds, Annual Fund Drives, or Capital Campaigns

·        Grants to Cover Operating Deficits, or for Financial Emergencies, or Debt Retirement

·        Grants for Sponsorships Including Auctions, Dinners, Tickets, Advertising, or Fundraising Events

·        Grants for More than One Year

·        Grants Made More than Once in a Twelve-Month Period. However, Grant Requests Submitted by a Sponsoring Organization on Behalf of Their Partner Organization, or on Behalf of an Organization for Which They are Acting as a Fiscal Agent, Shall Not be Counted as a Request of the Sponsoring Organization

·        Grants to Organizations that Discriminate on Basis of Religion, Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Political Beliefs, Disabilities, or Sexual Orientation

·        Grants to Sectarian or Religious Organizations for Religious Purposes where the Principle Activity is for the Benefit of their own Members or Adherents.

Preferred Funding

·        Grants for Projects or Programs of a One-Time Nature

·        Grants to Provide Seed Money for Start-Up of a New Program

·        Grants to Organizations with Financial Stability, Thoughtful Strategy, Sound Operations, and Diversity Among Board Members, Staff and Leadership

·        Grants to Organizations with Relatively Low Administrative and Fundraising Costs

·        Grants to Organization with Broad-based Financial Support and Grassroots Participation

·        Grants to Organizations that Evaluate their Practices, Programs and Grants to Prove and Improve their Effectiveness

·        Grants that Have a High Degree of Potential Benefit to the Community

·        Grants to Organizations with the Capability and Personnel to Achieve Expected Results

·        Grants to Organizations that Skillfully Use Communications and Media to Widely Disseminate Information about the Organizations

·        Grants to Organizations that Collaborate, Share Information, and Develop Strategies to Extend their Impact and Reach

·        Grants to Organizations Promoting Ecumenical or Interfaith Cooperation

·        Grants that Expand the Organization’s Mission or Constituency Served

·        Grants to Organizations that Address Root Causes of the Problems they are Working to Resolve, and that Emphasize Systemic Change

·        Grants to Organizations with a Focus on Advocacy, Community Organizing, Activism, and Training for Change

·        Grants that Match more Than One of our Primary Areas of Funding

·        Grants to Organizations for Programs that Serve Vulnerable Populations

·        Grants to Organizations for which a $3,000 Maximum Grant Would Make a Significant Impact or Difference

 GRANT APPLICATION PROCESS AND DEADLINES (Effective 07/15/2025)

The first step for potential grant applicants is to carefully review our Funding Priorities and Prohibited Funding sections of our Grant Guidelines and Information to ensure you are eligible for a grant from our Foundation and closely match our priorities.

LETTER OF INQUIRY

The second step for potential grant applicants is to email a Letter of Inquiry (LOI), addressed to Mr. Elden Hartman, Executive Vice-President, H.C. Gemmer Family Christian Foundation, 4803 Blackstone Dr., Indianapolis, IN 46237, to our Foundation at gemmerfoundation@gmail.com. Our Foundation is no longer accepting unsolicited grant applications. The LOI process will allow our Foundation to focus on evaluating a smaller pool of relevant applicants and will save organizations from spending unnecessary time on preparing detailed proposals that may not be a good fit. If, after reviewing the LOI, our Foundation determines that the organization’s project or program merits further consideration for a grant, the organization’s contact person will be notified via email and asked to submit a grant application online. Be sure to follow the LOI requirements and instructions strictly, or your organization may be disqualified from consideration for a grant.

The LOI shall be a maximum of 2-3 pages in length and be signed by your executive director or person responsible for the project. The LOI shall contain the following information:

1. Organizational Information:

·    Name of Organization

·    Website Link

·   Physical Address and Email Address

·    Phone Number

·    Contact Name and Information

2. Overview of Organization:

·    Briefly describe the organization and its mission, its history, major programs and activities, size of staff and composition of board, total annual budget, and IRS tax exempt determination status.

3. Overview of Project:

·    Briefly describe the project or program for which you are seeking funding, including project title, estimated total project cost and timeline, problem to be addressed, goals, activities and expected outcomes of the project, amount sought from the Gemmer Foundation ($3,000.00 is our maximum grant), and other sources and amounts of support sought or committed for the project.

·    Describe how the objectives of the proposed project align with the funding priorities of the Gemmer Foundation.

DEADLINES

LOIs may be submitted anytime but must be submitted on or before April 1 for our spring meeting grant cycle, and on or before September 1 for our fall meeting grant cycle. That will allow our Foundation time to review the LOIs and notify the organizations whether we would like them to make an online grant application. Online grant application deadlines are May 1 for our spring cycle and October 1 for our fall cycle. The organization’s contact person will be notified via email within two weeks of the LOI submission date, if our Foundation would like the organization to submit an online grant proposal. Grant applications must be made online through the link at www.gemmerfoundation.org. Solicited online grant applications will be considered at our semi-annual board meetings. Applicants will be notified by email of our decision regarding the organization’s grant application, within one week of our board meeting. Checks to organizations receiving grants will be mailed within one week of our board meeting to the organization’s contact person name and address listed on the grant application.

Revised July 2025