GCMF grants shall primarily be for health, education, human services, civic or cultural
purposes, with priority given to health-related projects and current initiatives, according
to the following guidelines:
- Gulf Coast Medical Foundation considers applications from and makes grants to 501(c)3
organizations and public charities in Wharton, Matagorda and Fort Bend Counties. In the
past, some projects for organizations lying outside this defined geographic area have
been considered and/or approved when the specific project benefits citizens of the
specified counties.
- Grants shall be for capital and/or operating purposes on a single or installment grant
basis, with or without matching funds.
- Applications will be considered with the Grants Committee having authority to approve
and disburse grants of up to $10,000, not to exceed $40,000 annually. Grants exceeding
these limits shall be reviewed by the Committee for positive or negative recommendation
to the Board of Directors for its consideration.
- The Foundation does not make grants to individuals or loans of any type. Although the
Foundation supports scholarship programs, the Foundation does not select individual
scholarship recipients. The Foundation prefers not to fund galas or gala-like,
testimonial, advertising, promotional or fund-raising events. GCMF grants shall be
primarily for specific, identifiable projects or purposes, rather than in response to
general fund-raising programs by other charitable organizations. Grants to national
charitable organizations or local chapters thereof will generally not be
considered.
- The GCMF Grants Committee will have authority to originate and present for
recommendation to the full Board pro-active grants conceived by individual committee or
board members of the committee or board as a whole.
- Before an application can be considered, proof is required that the applicant has an
exempt classification as described in Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, and
that it is considered "not a private foundation" within the meaning of Section 509(a) of
the Code. An applicant may qualify under Section 170(c)1 if its requested grant is shown
to be for public purposes only as described in the Code.
- A decision to decline funding should not be interpreted as a negative evaluation of a program or organization. It is not feasible for the foundation to discuss with applicants reasons for declining a request, and the foundation does not provide critiques of proposals.