Could anyone share the questions they use in their LOI process?
We've recently started using Letters of Intent (LOIs) as part of our grant process, but we’ve found that the questions we currently ask aren't providing us with enough useful information. If anyone is willing to share the questions they use in their LOI process, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your help!
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I've attached the LOI we currently use. If they are invited to submit a full application, we then approve the LOI and they have access to the full application.
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Lots of times, LOI's contain information needed to determine if the applicant and/or their project is a good fit with the foundation before they get to a full application process.
I've seen lots of LOI's that contain a short description of what the applicant is planning, how much funding they plan to request, the area they are serving, etc. to get to know them and their project. From there applicants are sometimes invited to submit a full application and other times are advised that it's not a good fit. This saves time on the funder side as they aren't reviewing applications that aren't a good fit (and ultimately better applications come through) and applicants save time as they aren't completing full proposals for something that isn't a good fit.
It might be helpful to think of it as a funnel that will narrow down the pool of applicants before the full application stage. What might keep applicants out of the overall pool of applicants? What makes an application a perfect fit? That can help you craft appropriate questions.
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