Grant Guidelines

Before contacting the foundation regarding funding, please read our How to Apply and Program sections carefully.

Grants and fellowships are made only to qualified non-profit organizations, never to individuals. Grants are made only to organizations within the United States whose endeavors are focused in or on Los Angeles.

The award process for all grants and fellowships begins with the submission of five (5), copies of a complete and timely proposal with a cover letter signed by an authorized official of the organization, accompanied by the submission via email of a single PDF of the complete proposal.

The signed cover letter is understood by the Foundation and by the institution to document the institution’s commitment to exercising the degree of substantive oversight and fiscal responsibility that is fully consistent with the letter and spirit of the institution’s internal governance policies and practices.

Each proposal must include a Proposal Information Form. The completed PIF is to be submitted on-line in advance of the proposal and a printed copy should accompany or immediately follow the submission of the proposal.

Funds are restricted to:

Solutions-oriented social science research applicable to pressing policy issues of the Los Angeles region,
Archival and cataloging projects important to Los Angeles,
Dissertation fellowships at research universities in the five-county Southern California region.
Faculty fellowships at universities and four-year colleges in the five-county Southern California region.
In select cases, research into the history of Southern California

Among the expectations for such projects are that the grantee will include an analysis of the extent to which the completed work reflects the effort proposed in the original proposal and that the grantee will post a copy of the final report to an appropriate publicly available website and provide the Foundation with a hyperlink to that report.

Additionally, upon receipt of a final report, the Foundation will email the Principal Investigator a link to a one-page on-line Notice of Final Report form for completion by the PI.

The grantee and the grantee’s institution are also expected to promptly notify the Foundation if at any time the proposal work, as budgeted and scheduled, cannot be performed as proposed.

Major Research Grant

September 2021: The Haynes Foundation is not accepting proposals for Major Research Grants until further notice.

The Foundation does not utilize application forms for the submission of grant proposals. Rather, it requires applicants to submit, via the U.S. postal service or other mail delivery service, 5 proposal packages. All text should be printed double-sided, on three-hole punched paper; 12-point type on a maximum of 20 pages. Do not bind or staple papers in any way, and please separate each package with a paper clip. In addition, applicants are asked to submit one copy of their proposal electronically, to info@haynesfoundation.org. The Foundation does not accept faxed proposals.

It is requested that, prior to actually submitting a proposal, applicants notify the Foundation of their intent to apply and also submit on-line a Proposal Information Form as discussed above.

Each proposal package should include seven elements, arranged in the following order:

1. A cover letter from the college, university or research institute, signed by an administrative officer or grants administrator.

2. A one-half page summary of the proposed activity, written in third person and understandable to the scientifically literate lay reader. The summary should clearly state the proposed project’ objectives, methods to be used and its potential impact on advancing knowledge.

3. A proposal that clearly states the work to be undertaken, including:

Objectives for the period of the proposed work
Expected significance of the proposed work
Questions to be addressed and a detailed explanation of the research methods to be followed
How the proposed work relates to the present state of knowledge in the field, including complementary or related research projects underway
How the proposed work relates to the principal investigator’s (PI) longer-term professional and research goals
Other relevant work in progress by the PI
Other support being received by the PI for the proposed work, and/or for related projects
Evidence that third parties who are necessary to the project’s success will provide the needed cooperation, participation, consent or support
If appropriate, plans for preservation, documentation, and sharing of data resulting from the project
NOTE: The proposal should be comprehensible and convincing to knowledgeable lay readers and its language should be concise and direct, evidencing a fair and inquiring approach to the topic. The research methods should be well adapted to the subject matter and to the goals of the project.

4. A detailed budget and time-line for the project

5. The names and qualifications of the key personnel involved. 1-2 page personal resumes are sufficient. If desired, a full academic CV can be submitted (emailed as a separate, stand-alone PDF).

Copies of the institution’s exemption letters from the Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Board (emailed as a separate PDF).

7. A single PDF of the complete proposal should be submitted by email to info@haynesfoundation.org.

When a grant is made, the funds are paid to the sponsoring institution and not to the individual or individuals conducting the research.

Grant payments are made in increments, the amounts of which are determined by the length of the project and the size of the award. The Foundation requires that a full report of the research findings, including an executive summary and an accounting of the funds expended, be filed before the final grant payment can be made. An electronic version of the executive summary shall be submitted in PDF format to info@haynesfoundation.org. Additionally, at the close of a project, the Foundation requests that, if appropriate, an article about the findings be submitted by the investigator to the op-ed page of a major newspaper.

Applications for research funding should not include traditional overhead costs. Also, the Foundation does not pay for equipment, nor does it cover fees and tuition for graduate student assistants. However, at the close of each fiscal year (August 31), the Foundation will issue annual grants to sponsoring institutions to assist with institutional costs associated with research. These payments will be equal to 10 percent of the total amount of research funds dispersed by the Foundation to the institution during the course of the fiscal year.

Major Research Grants are made several times throughout the year. Major Research Grant Proposal deadline dates. UPDATE – September 2021: The Haynes Foundation is not accepting proposals for Major Research Grants until further notice.

Archival Grants

A limited number of grants in support of archival and cataloging projects are available for libraries and other institutions that preserve historic Los Angeles materials.

The Foundation does not utilize application forms for the submission of grant proposals. Rather, it requires applicants to submit, via the U.S. postal service or other mail delivery service, 5 proposal “packages.” All text should be printed double-sided, on three-hole punched paper; 12-point type is preferred, but is not required. Do not bind or staple papers in any way, and please separate each package with a paper clip. In addition, applicants are asked to submit one copy of their proposal electronically, info@haynesfoundation.org. The Foundation does not accept faxed proposals.

Proposal packages for archival grants should include six elements assembled in the following order:

A cover letter on the institution’s letterhead, signed by an administrative officer
A statement of purpose for which the funds will be used
A detailed budget and time-line for the project
Names and qualifications of the personnel involved (1-2 page personal resumes are sufficient)
Copies of the institution’s exemption letters from the Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Board (emailed as a separate PDF).
A single PDF of the complete proposal should be submitted by email to info@haynesfoundation.org.

It is requested that, prior to actually submitting a proposal, applicants notify the Foundation of their intent to apply and also submit on-line a Proposal Information Form.

In general, archival projects will receive only partial funding from the Haynes Foundation. Preference will be given to applicants who can secure “matching funds” from other sources. Applications for archival funding should not include traditional overhead costs, nor does the Foundation pay for equipment. At the close of each fiscal year (August 31), the Foundation will issue annual grants to sponsoring institutions to assist with institutional costs associated with archival work. Beginning in FY 2010, these payments will be equal to 10 percent of the total amount of funds dispersed by the Foundation to the institution during the year.

Archival grants are made once a year. Applications for 2022-2023 are due in the Foundation office on January 6, 2023 at 3:00 p.m.