Does my organization qualify for funding?
All programs must fall within the Foundation’s geographic focus. Unfortunately, programs in countries outside of the current focus cannot be considered at this time; however, the Foundation periodically reviews its geographic focus, which may result in country changes.
All programs must also fall within one of the Foundation’s five health program areas:
Maternal & Neonatal Health
Nutrition
Neglected Tropical Diseases
Infectious Disease
Healthcare System Infrastructure
All organizations must be legally registered for at least one year in order to be eligible for funding;
Organizations within the United States must have IRS designated tax-exempt status to be eligible to apply to the Foundation; Organizations and agencies outside of the United States must have legally recognized non-profit status to be eligible to apply to the Foundation; All organizations must be able to provide their most recent audited or reviewed financial statements as well as the amount of their overall operating budget.
Does the Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
IZUMI Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.
IZUMI Foundation occasionally solicits organizational information through an online form. At this time, the Foundation is not accepting online submission inquiries.
How often are applications reviewed?
The Foundation’s Board of Directors meets three times a year − April, June, and November − to make grant decisions. If your organization is invited to submit a full proposal, you will be assigned a review date for one of these three meetings. Proposals are generally due approximately 3 months prior to the scheduled Board meeting, and all submission details will be outlined in the invitation letter. Organizations that submit proposals will be notified of the status of their proposal within 2 weeks following the Board’s decision. The Foundation may conduct a site visit prior to awarding a grant, or the applicant organization may be asked to meet with the Board of Directors regarding their proposal.
How long does the funding process generally take?
The Foundation usually accepts letters of inquiry (LOI) on a rolling basis throughout the year. However, only a small handful of organizations will be invited to submit a full proposal after a LOI submission. The time between LOI submission and a possible invitation to submit a full proposal varies (6 to 12+ months) depending on the geography, type of program, Foundation funding capacity, and overall organizational/program fit with the Foundation’s current goals. Because of the possible long wait time between a LOI submission and proposal invitation, if the Foundation is considering a full proposal invitation, the Foundation will have a conversation with the applicant organization to learn more about any updates or changes in proposed activities since the LOI submission.
If an organization is invited to submit a proposal, they will be assigned to submit a full proposal to one of the three Board review cycles (April, June, or November). Once a proposal has been accepted for funding, the wait time to receive funding is short. The recipient organization must first sign and return the “Terms and Conditions of the Grant Award,” at which time funding can commence.
Are there any funding restrictions?
The Foundation does not consider programs outside of its current geographic focus or five health areas (Maternal & Neonatal Health, Nutrition, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Infectious Disease, and Healthcare System Infrastructure.)
The Foundation does not support medical research; endowments; existing deficits; direct support to individuals, scholarships, school fees, or clothing; religious activities; media campaigns; or lobbying of any kind. Priority will be given to projects that do not seek support for expensive international air tickets or high expatriate salaries. In addition, the Foundation will only pay for one international round-trip economy class ticket per project year.
The Foundation usually awards grants between $50,000 - $100,000 over a two-year period, with new grantee partner organizations often starting with a $50,000 grant over two-years.
Grants rarely exceed 50% of the organization’s overall operating budget.
The Foundation awards two-year grants and occasionally awards one- and three-year grants. We are unable to consider grants beyond this time period. The Foundation practices flexible funding, which means we support simple and straightforward budget proposals that allow for the grantee organization to adapt during the grant period, if needed.
If my organization is selected for funding, what responsibilities will we have to the Foundation?
All grant recipient organizations will be required to sign a “Terms and Conditions of the Grant Award” agreement.
Recipient organizations will be asked to submit interim and final financial and evaluation reports. Multi-year grants will be asked to share interim reports after the end of each year of the grant. The Foundation will provide a short list of questions to answer for the interim and final reports.
Please note that the Foundation does not pay 100% of grants up-front. Usually, in the final year of the grant, the organization must be able to cover 25% of the final year funding, as the final 25% of allocated funding will be given after the submission of a final report.
One-year grant: 75% paid up-front, remaining 25% paid after submission of final report
Two-year grant: 100% of Year 1 funding paid up-front (50% of total grant); 75% of Year 2 funding paid after submission of interim report, remaining 25% of Year 2 funding paid after submission of final report
Three-year grant: 100% of Year 1 funding paid up-front (33% of total grant); 100% Year 2 funding of paid after submission of first interim report; 75% Year 3 funding of paid after submission of second interim report, remaining 25% of Year 2 funding paid after submission of final report