Small Grant Rules & Requirements
A limited number of small grants of up to $2,500 are available through the Rotary Club of Marquette Harbor, primarily to benefit projects and causes that support Marquette County youth. The club evaluates grant requests at a meeting of its Contributions Committee in April of each year. Successful applicants are contacted to attend an event with other recipients to accept the funds and briefly speak about their project. The Contributions Committee will only consider requests that are fully complete and submitted via this website by the deadline. Requests must use this “Small Grant” application form and include all supporting documentation by the deadline. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. the second Friday of March.
Past projects and causes supported by Rotary Club of Marquette Harbor include after-school programs, youth recreation, art and science programs, youth scholarships, and programs assisting troubled youth or youth with special needs. Projects that focus on non-youth-oriented programs (e.g., elderly or environmentally oriented projects) will be considered for funding once all youth-oriented applications have been screened by the Contributions Committee and only to the extent sufficient funding remains to support projects of merit. Small grants typically range in size from $200 to $2,500. Local organizations may only apply for a single small or large grant each year.
In addition to submitting a completed application form, organizations must demonstrate they have tax-exempt status at the time of application. Documentation supporting such tax-exempt status (e.g., an official Letter of Determination from the IRS) must be provided at the time of application. In addition, applicants for small grants must submit a reasonably detailed budget indicating how the funds for a specific project will be spent including estimates for (a) equipment and supplies, (b) rentals or non-organizational services, (c) staffing and applicable fringe for that particular project, and (d) other expenses such as printing, phone usage, mailings, or advertising required by the project. The Rotary Club of Marquette Harbor does not provide funding for organizations’ ongoing operational expenses nor projects that promote a particular political or religious intent.
As a condition for being considered for funding in subsequent years, recipients must file a report by March 1 of the following year. That report will include narrative or tables (a) describing the project, (b) reporting how the funds from the previous grant were spent indexed to the initial budget as submitted, (c) the benefits following those expenditures, and (d) photographs of applicable activity for publicity purposes. If the project cannot be completed within one year due to unforeseen circumstances, the organization must explain the reason and guarantee when the project will be completed; in such circumstances, the organization is ineligible to apply for another grant in the next funding cycle. Organizations receiving grant funding are expected to provide assistance to the Marquette Harbor Rotary Club during HarborFest and Fishboil.
Grants are made possible by the club’s annual fundraisers, the Fishboil (The Lake Superior Theatre), held in June at Frazier’s Lake Superior Yacht Yardand HarborFest in August. The Rotary Club of Marquette Harbor is a 501(c)(3) organization.