FAQs

Our Vision

Improving access to and quality of opportunities so children reach their full potential.      

Our Mission

The Zeist Foundation embraces a holistic approach to address the needs of underserved children in the areas of Human Services, Education and Arts & Culture.  The Foundation seeks opportunities to partner with reputable organizations that are effective, collaborative and adaptive.

Learn more about our misson

Human Services

• Expand access to high quality healthcare for all children
• Assist families with children with short-term crisis assistance
• Improve access to healthy food

Education

• Expand high quality early learning opportunities
• Improve student success by investing in academically-centered beyond school hours organizations, innovative school turnaround models, and talent development.

Arts & Culture

• Increase access to culturally enriching experiences connected to learning
• Support capital needs for improved quality and increased capacity to serve children

The State of Georgia with an emphasis on Metro Atlanta.

Throughout the year, Foundation staff members generate a prospect list, composed of existing grantees and new organizations, which is presented to the board of directors, at the beginning of the new year.

The Foundation directors determine which nonprofit organizations on the prospect list should be invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry application during the spring or fall grant cycle.

The Letter of Inquiry invitation is a short (3 to 4 pages) application administered electronically by an independent firm – Foundation Source, at the request of the Foundation’s Grants Manager, and organizations have two to three weeks to complete the application.

After reviewing the Letter of Inquiry applications, the board and staff members then conduct site visits of organizations that appear to be aligned with the Foundation’s mission, vision, policies and priorities.

With the information gathered from the Letter of Inquiry applications and the site visits, the board members decide which organizations should be invited to submit a Foundation grant application.  The Foundation’s Grants Manager instructs Foundation Source to send a grant application link to the selected nonprofit organizations.

The board meets in the spring and fall to deliberate and decide on grant awards using this multi-phase process.

Learn more about our process

• The Foundation seeks to build relationships with grantees to understand their impact before investing in organizations long term.
• New organizations may apply for a grant not to exceed $100,000 or 10% of their operating budget and cannot request multi-year funding.
• Grantee organizations that apply for renewal funding can request more than $100,000 as long as it does not exceed 10% of the budget.
• Grantee organizations that have received Foundation support for three years consecutively are subject to the “funding gap” policy, whereby the Foundation directors may not consider inviting the organization to apply for funding for the fourth year.
• A renewal applicant can request a multi-year grant that covers two years.