Hardware Grants Eligibility

This is a page for brainstorming ideas about improving the grants approval process.

Verifying the contact's association with an organization

1. Do they have an organizational e-mail?

2. Is their name on the website?

3. If the answer to both of the above questions is "no", call another contact from the website if possible. Can they vouch for the person who contacted Free Geek?

Red Flags

These signs should make us look more closely at a grant. They do *not* mean that a grant is in ineligible.

• Anything that seems a little "off", including:
  • Non-organizational e-mail
  • No extra contacts provided
  • Not in the business registry or not listed as "Public Benefit"
  • Shipping materials overseas
  • Vague purpose for equipment
  • Vague purpose of organization

Options For Verifying Grants

Unless we've granted to an organization before, we should always be checking the business registry.

If there are any red flags, you can use some of the following to determine whether or not an organization is legitimate:

• Check website.
• Check contacts from website: like board members, other people in positions of leadership.
• Ask for paperwork like brochures, etc.
• Ask to see organizational plan.
• Interview them about projects, past, present, and future.
• Ask them about what they intend to use the equipment for
• Check in Guidestar or Charity Navigator
• Ask them to produce their Certificate showing that they are a 501(c)3 organization (only works if you are a 501(c)3 organization)
• Use whois command in commandline to figure out who owns the website.