Grants

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Please note: PARSA CF no longer makes grants, the information on this page is only preserved for educational and historical purposes. Please do not submit new letters of inquiry or grant applications to the foundation.

About PARSA CF's grant process:

Semi-Annual

PARSA CF has two grant cycles a year that correspond with Norooz and Mehrgan (Persian vernal equinox and autumnal equinox holidays).

Competitive

PARSA publishes an open request for proposals for each grant cycle, encouraging all eligible organization to apply.

Letter of Inquiry (LOI)

All potential applicants are first asked to submit a Letter of Inquiry, which is used for initial screening to ensure that they meet the minimum requirements of PARSA CF’s grant process.  This includes being an organization with current 501(c)(3) public charity status, and alignment with PARSA CF priorities. If an LOI is approved, the organization will be invited to submit a full application.

Application

After submitting an LOI, and if the LOI is approved, qualifying organizations are invited to submit a full application to PARSA CF. The application includes a budget worksheet and more details about the request.

Independent Grant Advisory Committee (GAC)

All grant applications are reviewed and rated by an independent and voluntary Grant Advisory Committee which is selected from community leaders with experience and expertise in focus areas.  For every grant cycle PARSA CF assembles a new Grant Advisory Committee which reviews and ranks all grant requests, and recommends a subset to our Board of Directors for final approval.

Grant Scorecard

The grant advisory committee uses this metric to rate applications transparently and consistently, in areas such as governance, budget, sustainability, innovation, leverage and inclusiveness. PARSA makes this form available to all applicants so that they understand exactly how their application will be evaluated.

Grant Awards

After PARSA receives the GAC's recommendations, the highest ranking applications go through a final review and consultation process before final grant parameters are determined and sent to PARSA's board of directors for approval. After the board approves the grant docket the grant awards are made.

501(c) (3) and OFAC

PARSA CF only makes grants to nonprofit charitable organizations, not to individuals. These include groups classified as 501(c) (3) public charities by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and/or organizations that have been officially recognized by the appropriate governing entity in their country of organization with a 501(c)(3) equivalent status. If they operate in Iran (even if not based there) they must have an OFAC license. 

PARSA CF encourages grant applicants to register their nonprofit organization with the online NGO directory prior to submiting an inquiry form. Registering with the NGO directory will help increase the organization's visibility to donors, volunteers and other nonprofits.