(LOI) Letter of Intent or Letter of Inquiry - Nonprofit Grantwriting

Letters of Intent or Letters of Inquiry Etiquette. Otherwise known as LOI's, there can be situations where a Foundation prefers you communicate via email. The question addressed in this video is around using official nonprofit organization letterhead attached to an email or just writing the Letter of Inquiry or Letter of Intent in the body of an email. It's always best to try to call and speak with a Foundation or Program Officer to clarify their preference. While some Foundation make it hard to find a phone number or intentionally push you to email communication, you can also find contact information in the 990 tax documents. Sometimes there is a phone number on the first page and sometimes there is a contact and information on page 10 and/or section 15 of the 990. If there is simply no way to find a Program Officer or Foundation contact to call, Mandy recommends using both an attached LOI on official nonprofit letterhead as well as an LOI in the body of the email just in case the foundation misses the attachment.

0:48 - Question around an LOI - Should it be on official letterhead or should it just be in the body of an email
1:14 - Did you reach out to the Program Officer?
1:29 - Never assume Foundation preferences. Check Foundation website and guidelines if available
1:45 - 990's Tax Documents can help find a Foundation Phone number and Contact
2:05 - Secret to Page 10 and Section 15 of a 990 or 990PF
2:30 - Use both a Letter Head attachment and put it in the body of the email if you can't make contact with a person or get a response from an email

You may like our YouTube series on speaking with Program or Foundation Officers:    • How to Have Clarification Calls with ...  

We also have a Blog Post on how to write an LOI here: https://fundingforgood.org/simple-ste...

If you need help with Grant Writing we can help https://fundingforgood.org/work-with-... and we have other YouTube videos    / fundingforgood   that might help

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