How to approve/deny grants

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1. Are they located in the US or Canada?

If not, pass this ticket on to the Grants Coordinator. We are generally not approving grants for organizations that are not headquartered in the US or Canada.

The one recent exception is a non-profit in Mexico. The head of this organization visited Free Geek in person, all of the computers are driven from Free Geek to the program sites, and they presented us with a tax-exempt certificate from the Mexican government. They also provide us with photographs and on-going reports of their progress.--Elizabethwt 22:36, 25 August 2011 (UTC)

2. Do they have a local area contact?

If not, the request is rejected. We do not have the resources to ship computers or prepare them for shipping. If a grantee says that they have a local area contact, but are located a significant distance away (i.e. you would usually take a plane to get there), ask them to elaborate on their plan for getting the grant to their location.

3. Make sure the requestor is associated with the organization and that they have the authority to make the grant request.

  • What is their role at the organization? If they are a volunteer, you should probably check with a staff member to make sure that the volunteer is following proper channels.
  • Do they have an organizational e-mail?
  • If you cannot determine if the contact is associated with the organization or whether or not they have the authority to make the grant request, call another contact from the website or Business registrars if possible. Can they vouch for the person who contacted Free Geek?

4. Is the grantee part of an organization that we have a special approval process for?

  • Portland Public Schools: e-mail Jed Gilchrist, head of PPS IT. jgilchri at pps.k12.or.us
  • Oxford Houses: call Curt Rice, Housing Services Representative for the Oxford Houses of Oregon. His number is available in RT.

5. Are they from an eligible organization?

These types of organizations are eligible for grants:

  • Non-profits (non-partisan)
  • Churches
  • Schools
  • Social Change Organizations
  • Community Centers
  • Collectives

These types of organizations are (usually) ineligible:

  • For-profit
  • Individuals
  • Partisan (always ineligible)

From at: RT #59 "Decided 8/26: 'Our 501(c)(3) status prevents us from granting to candidates running for office or organizations supporting candidates running for office.'"

I think we should add a question to our grant application: "Does your organization directly or indirectly support candidates running for office?" Proof of an organization's 501(c)3 status is the only sure way we have of verifying this that I am aware of..--Elizabethwt 00:02, 26 August 2011 (UTC)


Use this flow chart to approve and deny grants.

This is a graph with borders and nodes. Maybe there is an Imagemap used so the nodes may be linking to some Pages. 
*There is a waiting list for Macintoshes, laptops, CRT Monitors, LCD Monitors, and Printers. Other items on that list just need to be gathered.
We do not always have these items.

Verifying the contact's association with an organization

1. Do they have an organizational e-mail?

2. Is their name on the website or on the organizations entry in the Business registrars?

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


Contacting PPS IT

  • Email Jed Gilchrist, head of PPS IT. jgilchri at pps.k12.or.us

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 registrars.

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.
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