Our Grant Application Process

Organizations working on projects in Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia that align with our grant focus areas are eligible to apply for a grant. Organizations must be public charities with a 501(c)(3) status and must not be engaged in political or lobbying activities.

The Kenan Trust offers an Open Submission period when organizations may submit a Letter of Inquiry to the Trust for consideration without an invitation to apply. Please visit our Open Submission page for more information.

There is no process for an organization to solicit an invitation to apply for a grant. Our grant officers closely monitor the Kenan Trust’s funding priorities and organizations working in those focus areas. A grant officer will be in touch if we are interested in exploring a possible funding partnership.

The Kenan Trust accepts unsolicited Letters of Inquiry through our grants management portal in a process called Open Submission. Outside of this time period, organizations must be invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry to the Trust for consideration. 

Our grant team will only review Letters of Inquiry and Full Proposals submitted through our online grant management system. The Kenan Trust does not reply to pitches sent via mail, email, or otherwise.

Our work in Education provides support across seven focus areas with programming that allows all people, regardless of age or life circumstance, to pursue their educational goals. Please see our Education program page for a list of our focus areas and more details about each.

Our work in human thriving provides support in three areas – access to healthcare, affordable housing, and food insecurity. Please see our Human Thriving program page for more details.

The most successful grant proposals will maximize the number of dollars allocated to program related expenses. In rare cases, the Trust will consider grant support for overhead costs with sufficient justification from the applying organization.

Generally, the Trust prefers to fund project or programmatic grants, but in some circumstances, the Trust will consider capital projects and endowment grants. The Trust will not fund projects related to lobbying or political activity.

We are open to funding early stage or exploratory ideas or projects. Please work with one of our Trust Grant Officers to discuss specifics.

The Kenan Trust funds programmatic work in education and does not focus on original research.

No. We fund organizations based in and operating out of the United States and who are doing work in the four states currently served by the Kenan Trust: Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The Kenan Trust employes a two-stage application process. The first stage involves submitting a Letter of Inquiry outlining the proposed project and the second stage asks for a more detailed project description and budget. All materials must be submitted through the Trust’s online grant management system by the deadline listed on our Grant Calendar. You can also learn more about submitting a Letter of Inquiry HERE. 

The Kenan Trust accepts Letters of Inquiry through our online grant management portal from October – March each year. All Letters of Inquiry are due to the Trust by 5pm (ET) on the deadline date listed on our grant calendar.

Please submit one Letter of Inquiry to the Trust for consideration at a time.  

Please see our Grant Calendar page for details about our grantmaking cycles each year and associated deadlines and response dates.

Organizations with a project invited to the second stage of the application process will receive a budget template to complete with their proposal materials.

Organizations with a project invited to the second stage of the application process will receive a template to complete with their proposal that asks for basic financial information about the organization. We also request a copy of the most recent year’s audited financial statements with final proposal materials.

Grant durations are made in partnership with awarded organizations to ensure the overall success of the funded project, however, our grants typically range from one to three years. Please review our focus areas in Education and Human Thriving for more details about typical grant durations for each focus area. 

Our average grant award is $250,000 – $350,000. 

The Kenan Trust reviews Letters of Inquiry and Proposals for alignment with the strategies outlined in our Trust’s Education and Human Thriving programs. In every program and focus area, we look for projects that seek to maximize impact, empower individuals, and provide opportunities for communities.

In each grantmaking cycle, the Kenan Trust receives many strong Letters of Inquiry and Full Proposals. Most declined Letters of Inquiry are not moved forward to the second stage of the application process because we have received more strong projects than we can fund in that cycle. Declined Letters of Inquiry will be notified but will not receive specific feedback. If a Full Proposal is declined, a Trust grant officer may provide feedback in certain situations.

The Trust is open to issuing a matching challenge to grantees if the opportunity allows an organization to leverage Kenan Trust funds to raise additional support. In certain cases, the Trust may structure a grant with a required match to ensure the grantee has additional support for the proposed project.

Awarded grants are required to submit an annual progress report (for grants lasting more than one year) as well as a final report at the end of the grant period. A Trust grant officer will work with the grantee organization to set appropriate reporting dates for grant funded projects.

We are open to naming opportunities in some instances, but a naming opportunity in a project does not have any bearing on whether a grant is awarded.

Organizations working on projects in Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia that align with our grant focus areas are eligible to apply for a grant. Organizations must be public charities with a 501(c)(3) status and must not be engaged in political or lobbying activities.

The Kenan Trust offers an Open Submission period when organizations may submit a Letter of Inquiry to the Trust for consideration without an invitation to apply. Please visit our Open Submission page for more information.

There is no process for an organization to solicit an invitation to apply for a grant. Our grant officers closely monitor the Kenan Trust’s funding priorities and organizations working in those focus areas. A grant officer will be in touch if we are interested in exploring a possible funding partnership.

The Kenan Trust accepts unsolicited Letters of Inquiry through our grants management portal in a process called Open Submission. Outside of this time period, organizations must be invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry to the Trust for consideration. 

Our grant team will only review Letters of Inquiry and Full Proposals submitted through our online grant management system. The Kenan Trust does not reply to pitches sent via mail, email, or otherwise.

Our work in Education provides support across seven focus areas with programming that allows all people, regardless of age or life circumstance, to pursue their educational goals. Please see our Education program page for a list of our focus areas and more details about each.

Our work in human thriving provides support in three areas – access to healthcare, affordable housing, and food insecurity. Please see our Human Thriving program page for more details.

The most successful grant proposals will maximize the number of dollars allocated to program related expenses. In rare cases, the Trust will consider grant support for overhead costs with sufficient justification from the applying organization.

Generally, the Trust prefers to fund project or programmatic grants, but in some circumstances, the Trust will consider capital projects and endowment grants. The Trust will not fund projects related to lobbying or political activity.

We are open to funding early stage or exploratory ideas or projects. Please work with one of our Trust Grant Officers to discuss specifics.

The Kenan Trust funds programmatic work in education and does not focus on original research.

No. We fund organizations based in and operating out of the United States and who are doing work in the four states currently served by the Kenan Trust: Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The Kenan Trust employes a two-stage application process. The first stage involves submitting a Letter of Inquiry outlining the proposed project and the second stage asks for a more detailed project description and budget. All materials must be submitted through the Trust’s online grant management system by the deadline listed on our Grant Calendar. You can also learn more about submitting a Letter of Inquiry HERE. 

The Kenan Trust accepts Letters of Inquiry through our online grant management portal from October – March each year. All Letters of Inquiry are due to the Trust by 5pm (ET) on the deadline date listed on our grant calendar.

Please submit one Letter of Inquiry to the Trust for consideration at a time.  

The Kenan Trust reviews Letters of Inquiry and Proposals for alignment with the strategies outlined in our Trust’s Education and Human Thriving programs. In every program and focus area, we look for projects that seek to maximize impact, empower individuals, and provide opportunities for communities.

Please see our Grant Calendar page for details about our grantmaking cycles each year and associated deadlines and response dates.

Organizations with a project invited to the second stage of the application process will receive a budget template to complete with their proposal materials.

Organizations with a project invited to the second stage of the application process will receive a template to complete with their proposal that asks for basic financial information about the organization. We also request a copy of the most recent year’s audited financial statements with final proposal materials.

Grant durations are made in partnership with awarded organizations to ensure the overall success of the funded project, however, our grants typically range from one to three years. Please review our focus areas in Education and Human Thriving for more details about typical grant durations for each focus area. 

Our average grant award is $250,000 – $350,000. 

In each grantmaking cycle, the Kenan Trust receives many strong Letters of Inquiry and Full Proposals. Most declined Letters of Inquiry are not moved forward to the second stage of the application process because we have received more strong projects than we can fund in that cycle. Declined Letters of Inquiry will be notified but will not receive specific feedback. If a Full Proposal is declined, a Trust grant officer may provide feedback in certain situations.

Awarded grants are required to submit an annual progress report (for grants lasting more than one year) as well as a final report at the end of the grant period. A Trust grant officer will work with the grantee organization to set appropriate reporting dates for grant funded projects.