The period for acceptance of letters of inquiry (LOIs) is now closed. When Firelight is again accepting LOIs, we will revise our LOI guidelines and post them on our website. For your reference, the most recent LOI guidelines are below.

Firelight Foundation Letter of Inquiry Guidelines for 2008

Deadline: March 1, 2008

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FUNDING CRITERIA

The mission of the Firelight Foundation is to support and advocate for the needs and rights of children who are orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. Firelight strives to increase the resources available to grassroots organizations that are strengthening the capacity of families and communities to care for children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Every child, regardless of race, creed, or country, deserves the promise of a future. We give one-year grants of $1,000 to $10,000 to community-based initiatives that work directly and effectively to support the fundamental needs and rights of children (birth to 21 years) orphaned or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. We believe that grassroots programs arising in direct response to needs within the local community are often the most effective. Firelight supports this vital work with initial one-year grants and regrants based on funding needs and opportunities for shared learning.

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ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES FOR THE CURRENT GRANT ROUND:
Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Tanzania

The primary geographic focus of our grantmaking is Sub-Saharan Africa. In order for us to focus our efforts in an effective and sustained manner, we accept letters of inquiry only from a specified group of countries.  For the current grant round, we invite letters of inquiry from three countries: Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. We will refuse inquiries from other countries except from organizations that have already received a Firelight grant or that have been asked to send a proposal. Firelight is going through a time of transition and strategic planning. We are committed to an open application process, and we hope in the future to reinstate open applications from the three countries of focus in the current round as well as the other active countries of Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia.

Firelight normally receives many more requests for funding from our focus countries each year than the number of grants we are able to award. We are not able to offer funding to all groups meeting the below criteria.

In selecting the programs to support, the Firelight Foundation looks for:

• Programs that directly serve the needs of vulnerable children
• Grassroots responses to needs that raise resources within the community
• Programs that demonstrate strong leadership and community ownership
• Organizations with a history of effective community action
• Programs where children take part in decision-making, advocacy, and leadership
• Innovative responses to the situations of children affected by HIV/AIDS

Areas of interest include the following programs supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS:

• Programs to enhance or create a supportive environment for children’s growth and development
• Primary and secondary education with an holistic approach to children’s needs
• Vocational education and skills development
• Income-generating activities for caregivers and independent orphans
• Programs that contribute to social and behavioral change
• Recreational activities/counseling/programs focusing on psychosocial support
• Sexual abuse prevention and treatment
• Programs that provide leadership opportunities for children and youth
• Respite or residential care/medical treatment for HIV-infected children, including palliative and hospice care/home-based programs
• Programs that are shifting away from the institutionalization of children
• Reintegration of children into the community
• Permanency planning and related legal aid advocacy
• Programs that reach marginalized populations and especially vulnerable children, including street children, child-headed households, disabled children, adolescent girls, or HIV+ babies and children.

Firelight does NOT fund: individuals; scholarships for individual use; government entities; organizations or programs designed to influence legislation or elect public officials; organizations or programs solely intended to generate income or provide charity to individuals; academic or medical research; fundraising drives; or endowments. Firelight believes strongly in non-discrimination and does not fund programs that limit participation based on race, religion, gender, or nationality. We very rarely fund US-based organizations or branches of international non-governmental organizations.

The Firelight Foundation believes that children develop best when raised within families and communities; therefore, we rarely fund orphanages. In exceptional cases, there may be compelling reasons why institutional care is in the best interest of a child. If you believe this, please explain why. We are often asked for food aid, medical care, and housing. We understand the urgency of these needs, but we are not a relief agency. If you request such assistance, please explain how the planned activities will be undertaken in a sustainable and holistic way. Similarly, we receive many requests for school fees. Firelight rarely funds requests for school fees alone. If your organization seeks such assistance, please describe how your group plans to address children’s other needs, and what will happen when this one year of funding for basic schooling is completed.

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LETTER OF INQUIRY QUESTIONS

If your organization is a charitable organization working with orphans and vulnerable children in Rwanda, Tanzania, or Zimbabwe we invite you to send a letter of inquiry and provide us with basic information about your organization. In your letter, please explain why your work meets Firelight’s criteria by briefly answering the following questions:

1. Please tell us when and why your group was started, and by whom.
2. Briefly describe the main activities of your group. Be specific.
3. Please describe two to three major accomplishments of your group since it began.
4. Describe how your organization is operated (including its management, number of paid staff, number of volunteers, location of activities, and ways that the community participates in your work).
5. What are the activities and goals for which you seek Firelight Foundation funding?
6. How many children and/or caregivers will you reach?
7. How much money are you requesting in US Dollars? (Remember, Firelight only awards grants of $1,000 to $10,000. Greater requests will be declined.) Please summarize your proposed budget in broad categories.
8. What was your organization’s budget for the most recent financial year and what were your sources of funding? Please spell out the names of the donor organizations or funding sources and indicate the currency and exchange rate used.

Please also include full contact information for your organization, including:

• Contact person’s name and title;
• Name of organization;
• Mailing address (PO Box and street address, if available);
• Telephone and facsimile numbers; and
• E-mail address, and/or website address.

We accept any kind of written submission. Please limit your letter to three pages or less.

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THE DECISION PROCESS

The deadline for receiving letters of inquiry is March 1, 2008. We will notify you by April 1, 2008 if we are interested in receiving a full proposal from your organization. Because we are a small foundation with limited resources, we cannot support all of the qualified organizations that submit inquiries. If we decline your request, we will try our best to explain why. Funding awards will be made in August 2008.

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Please forward all letters of inquiry via mail, fax, or e-mail to:

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