Sample Grant Declination Letters
The Family Advisor: Grantmaking Issues
Letter Sample 1
Date
Name
Title
Organization
Address
City/State/Zip
Dear:
On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the _____ Foundation, I regret to inform you that after
thorough consideration, your grant application has been declined support. Selecting grant
recipients from an oustanding and varied group of applicants is always a challenging task, and
the foundation simply does not have enough money to favor all of the fine proposals submitted
for consideration.
In reviewing your request, the foundation felt that the ideas and contributions of the population
being served were not well-represented through decision-making capacities in the program.
Since this is one of the foundation's valued guidelines, we were not able to offer you support at
this time.
We appreciate the careful thought and time that went into the development of your application.
We wish you success in accomplishing your program goals.
Sincerely,
Letter Sample 2
Date
Name
Title
Organization
Address
City/State/Zip
Dear:
We regret to inform you that the __________ Foundation Board of Trustees has declined your
request for funding for __[PROGRAM]__ .
We regret that we were unable to provide support to your program at this time. This action is not
a reflection on the value of your program. We received requests far in excess of our available
funds. This leads to difficult decisions in establishing priorities and means that a number of
important activities cannot be supported by the Foundation at this time. We appreciate the
information forwarded to us and the time and effort expended in preparing the application.
We wish you success with your program and thank you for your work with __________ . Please
feel free to contact us if we may be of any assistance in the future.
Sincerely,
Letter Sample 3
Date
Name
Title
Organization
Address
City/State/Zip
Dear:
Thank you for submitting your proposal to the __________ Foundation. We enjoyed learning
about your organization and the work that you do. Your proposal has been reviewed carefully,
but I regret to inform you that your request for funding support has been declined.
Although we would like to respond affirmatively to all requests coming to the __________
Foundation, we receive far more proposals than can possibly be funded. We regret that we are
unable to provide support at this time however, we do wish you every success in your
fundraising endeavors.
Should you have any questions, or whish to discuss further, please contact __________.
Sincerely,
