Who can apply for a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation grant?
Who should not apply for a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation grant?
Does the Foundation provide sponsorships for events?
How do I apply for funding?
What can dollars be used for?
How do I submit my Letter of Inquiry or grant proposal to the Foundation?
Are program officers willing to discuss my eligibility, LOI, or Proposal before submission?
What is the Foundation’s average grant size?
To whom do I address my support letters?
What amount of indirect is allowed in the budget?
What is the Foundation’s indirect cost policy?
Who can apply for a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation grant?
The Foundation funds Massachusetts 501 (c)3 nonprofit organizations incorporated in Massachusetts that primarily serve people who have been socially, economically, culturally, or racially marginalized. If an organization does not have its own tax-exempt designation following the above specifications, it must provide proof of tax-exempt designation for a fiscal agent. If you have questions about your eligibility, contact us.
Who should not apply for a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation grant?
The Foundation does not accept applications from religious institutions, for-profit institutions, or individuals. Also, the Foundation does not fund proposals to support direct clinical care, specific demographic segments (e.g., only children, only women, etc.), long-term care, hospice, and palliative care, and initiatives focused solely on the care of a particular disease or medical condition.
Does the Foundation provide sponsorships for events?
No, we do not fund events or sponsorships of any kind.
How do I apply for funding?
The Foundation generally has a two-stage process for applying to its grant programs. The first stage requires the submission of a brief Letter of Inquiry (LOI). Those LOIs must be received in accordance with the published deadlines for the program area in which you wish to apply. The Foundation staff reviews the LOIs, and selected applicants are invited to submit a full proposal. We do not accept out-of-cycle LOIs or uninvited proposals. We encourage all interested applicants to view our webpage detailing available grant programs and whether they are currently accepting proposals. The grant guidelines will outline the application process for grant areas accepting submissions.
The Catalyst Fund and Policy and Research grants do not require LOIs.
What can dollars be used for?
Grant dollars can be used for programmatic expenses – including staff support, outreach events, and other program-related requests like materials or translation services.
How do I submit my Letter of Inquiry or grant proposal to the Foundation?
All Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) and proposals must be submitted through our online grantmaking portal. To submit an application, you will be asked to create a profile.
Please register and familiarize yourself with the portal before the application deadline to provide enough time to complete the process.
Please always review the What We Fund section to determine whether a grant area is accepting applications or not. If you have any technical difficulty with the portal, please contact Evelyn Monteiro at [email protected].
Are program officers willing to discuss my eligibility, LOI, or Proposal before submission?
Yes. The Foundation staff is always available to answer questions. Please see each specific grant program for the appropriate contact.
What is the Foundation’s average grant size?
Grant size is different for each grant program. Please see grant guidelines for details.
To whom do I address my support letters?
If a support letter is required for a grant program, it will be stated in the grant guidelines for the particular program; otherwise, no support letters are required.
What amount of indirect is allowed in the budget?
It is the Foundation's policy to pay at most 15% of the overall budget for indirect costs.
What is the Foundation’s indirect cost policy?
In keeping with the Foundation's mission to ensure equitable access to health care through grants and policy initiatives, the Foundation keeps costs it incurs for grant partners, and consultants focused on obtaining the services to support its mission. While the Foundation understands that grant partners and consultants have indirect costs, sometimes called "overhead" that are part of what they need to support their work, the Foundation needs to limit its payment for these costs. Such indirect costs typically include administrative expenses related to overall operations and are shared among projects and/or functions, such as executive oversight, accounting, legal services, utilities, and facility maintenance.