Children's Legal Services Grants, Domestic Violence Programs, Law-Related Education Grants, Legal Service Corporations, Other Direct Legal Services Providers, and Pro Bono Projects.

A) Applications should be made for the twelve month (fiscal year) budget period. If the applicant has a different fiscal year, please indicate in the application your organization's financial statement year-end date.

B) Grant requests must be consistent with the tax-exempt public purposes prescribed by the Foundation and with applicable Internal Revenue Code regulations and rulings (including those under Section 501(c)(3). Applicant organizations must be recognized as tax-exempt organizations under the laws of the State of Louisiana and the Internal Revenue Code or as other not-for-profit entities. You will be asked to provide your tax identification number in the grant application. Those programs submitting an application with a "pending" IRS status must receive an official ruling prior to the start of the evaluation of grant applications in order for the application to be considered.

C) Applicants must identify a designated Foundation category for funding in order to be considered by the Grants Committee. 

D) All grant recipients are expected to meet the Foundation's criteria by which their projects will be reviewed at least annually and to assist the Foundation in conducting periodic evaluations. 

E) Applicants should demonstrate fiscal responsibility, program stability and an ability to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of quality services.

F) Significant weight will be given to applicants with a history of a clear ability to provide a successful program.

G) Consideration will be given to the proportion of the public proposed to be served within a geographic area and the breadth of services proposed to be offered. Short-term and long-term impact per grant dollar will be given consideration in this context.

H) Funds will not be awarded to provide legal assistance with respect to any fee-generating case. (For Legal Services Corporation grantees and subgrantees, only those fee-generating cases permitted for non- LSC funds to provide representation in cases in which statutory attorney fees are awarded and in which representation is allowed under the provisions of 45 CFR 1609, when: a. the collection of such fees will not diminish the return to the client; and b. such fees are paid directly to the pro bono project or donated to the pro bono project by the attorney will be permitted.)

I) All grant recipients will be expected to execute the Foundation's Grant Agreement within 30 days of notification of an award.

The Foundation will not make grants to:

• political campaigns;
• organizations engaging in lobbying activities on a regular and recurring basis; 
• support travel, either by groups or individuals; 
• endowment campaigns; 
• fund individual scholarships or stipends; or 
• lawyers in the private practice of law.

J) For applicants seeking grants for the provision of civil legal aid to the poor, the following additional guidelines will apply:

• pro bono publico programs will be encouraged;
• the use of grant funds in contracting or subcontracting with private attorneys is discouraged;
• priority will be given to applications requesting funds for the direct representation of clients; and
• programs which actively participate in a local or state Pro Bono Project will receive high priority.

K) Any grant is contingent upon and expressly subject to the availability of funds administered by the Louisiana Bar Foundation. The grant of an award or the payment of any part or portion thereof, is subject to the sole executive discretion of the Louisiana Bar Foundation and may be withheld or withdrawn by the Foundation for any reason whatsoever. In the event that the payment of an award is restrained or otherwise precluded by any court order or delayed, deferred or withdrawn by the Foundation in its sole discretion, the grant agreement contract acknowledges that the Foundation is not responsible or liable for any losses, claims or damages, special or consequential losses or damages, loss of anticipated revenue, recoveries, or collections, or any other financial or economic loss, however caused, arising out of the non-payment of an award, or any portion thereof. No additional or future funding may be implied when a grant is made. Grants are awarded through an annual and competitive process. All decisions of the Louisiana Bar Foundation are final.

L) If, after receiving any applicant's grant proposal, the staff or Grants Committee feels additional information will be helpful or necessary to properly consider the application, they may request that such information be timely supplied.

M) Grants are awarded through an annual and competitive process. All decisions of the Louisiana Bar Foundation are final.

N) Local Advocacy Centers, CASAs, Supervised Visitation Centers and Teen Courts are subject to a sunsetting policy, which states that these programs should receive no more than three years of funding, with the recipient's grant award falling in the second and third year. The sunsetting policy will allow the LBF to support new programs and get them on their feet while they seek other sources of community support. The goal of the policy is to ensure adequate moneys for direct legal services.

The Grants Committee and Board may waive the sunsetting policy for a particular applicant if the applicant can show that the effect on the budget would essentially put them out of business and that alternate sources of funding would be available to them in the near future. In addition, if an applicant that had otherwise reached stability suffered unforeseen financial reversals (such as loss of a large alternate funding source), the applicant may petition the Grants Committee for a hardship waiver. Requests to waive the sunsetting policy should be attached via .pdf at the tail end of the online application.

Please be sure to read the guidelines, policies and instructions for required forms.

Help guides are available to you throughout the grant application process.

Here are a few things to note:

• The Statistical Summary Sheet is required for all Children's Legal Services Grants (CLS), Domestic Violence Programs (DVP), Legal Service Corporations (LSC), Other Direct Legal Services Providers (OLS), and Pro Bono Projects (PBP) applicants. Law-Related Education to the Public programs do not complete a Statistical Summary Sheet.If you wish to be considered for funding in more than category or sub-category, you should prepare separate grant applications. 

The grant application will not be considered unless all required information is submitted in accordance with the application guidelines and checklist. The Grants Committee is scheduled to meet in April and announcements of the grant award decisions will be mailed to applicants in May.