Frequently ASked QUestions
General Program FAQ:
Q. What is the annual budget for your Competitive Grants Program?
A. We typically allocate approximately half of our overall program budget to the Competitive Grants Program. In our 2018 funding cycle, we had a budget of roughly $220,000.
Q. What size grants do you typically award?
A. Moniker is a relatively small family foundation that accepts applications from organizations throughout the state of Colorado. As a result, our grant sizes generally stay within a range of $5,000 to $15,000, and have never exceeded $20,000. The Board encourages organizations to apply for less than $5,000 if needed, and will consider a request for greater than $15,000 if an extremely strong case is made. As we continue to learn and evolve, we will make every effort to ensure that the required involvement is proportional to our average grant size to be respectful of your time.
Q. I would like to apply for a multi-year grant, what is the maximum number of years that I can apply for?
A. We currently cap multi-year grants at 3 years. If your organization receives a 3-year grant or receives a grant each year for 3 consecutive years, then you will be unable to apply for a grant in year 4. The count resets in year 5, at which point you may reapply. Our Foundation Staff will notify any and all grantees that will be ineligible to apply immediately following the third consecutive funding year.
Q. Have you established a preset budget or quota for each focus area that you fund?
A. Our board does not have a budget or quota for each focus area, currently. Applications are judged on overall merit and on perceived need and impact, among other things. If a trend develops in our funding patterns, please know that although our board may be aware of the trend, they are not actively perpetuating it based on internal budgets or quotas.
Q. I submitted my application prior to the deadline, as required. Several months have passed and I have not heard anything from The Moniker Foundation. What is the status of my application?
A. Immediately after submitting your application in October or April (depending on the funding cycle), you will receive an automated email from our system confirming that we have received it. Unless we need more information from you along the way, you will not receive another email from us until early to mid-February or early to mid-August (depending on the funding cycle). We realize that this is a long period of time to wait, but at this point, we cannot condense the time frame any further. If you have not received any communication from us by the end of February or August, please contact our Foundation Leadership. You may also reference our Program Timeline web page if further clarification is needed.
Q. I applied to your Competitive Grants Program last year and was not awarded a grant. I am hesitant to apply again this year because I feel that our application will be rejected again. What do you recommend?
A. First of all, please make sure that your organization's primary focus area is represented by at least one of the following categories: Education, Health & Human Services, Arts & Culture, or Environment. In the past, organizations that stretched their focus area to fit within our program guidelines were generally unsuccessful. The number of applicants increase each year, so our board is increasingly unlikely to fund organizations that are "on the bubble", so to speak. Fortunately, for a few of the organizations that were guilty of this in the past, the recent expansion of our focus areas will eliminate that barrier. For others, however, the success rate will probably remain the same.
If the focus area is not an issue, we recommend contacting one of our staff to discuss previous rejections and future request possibilities. We will make every effort to be honest and straightforward so that we do not waste your time or that of ours. If we do not feel that your organization is a good fit for our program, we will not hesitate to let you know. Alternatively, we will tell you if your previous applications were narrowly edged out, in which case our recommendation will be to reapply.
Grantee Portal FAQ:
Q. I worked several hours on my application and then logged out of my Portal to finish at a later time. When I logged back in to finish, I could not find my application in my Grantee Portal. Where did all my work go?
A. Unfortunately, if you did not save your application prior to exiting your Grantee Portal or if you did not check that you actually saved your work after pressing the "Save" button (a notification will appear at the top of the page if your work was not saved properly), then your work is likely lost. It is for that reason that we recommend that applicants complete their applications entirely on a separate Word document and transfer the information when ready to submit. This is a good practice in addition to the aforementioned reasoning because of Word's superior functionality, and because you can save an additional record of your work and easily access the document in the future for reference. If you choose not to do this, which is entirely acceptable, please make sure to double-check that you have properly saved your work prior to exiting.
Q. I cannot find the "Save" button on my application in Fluxx to save my progress. Moreover, the website does not seem to be functioning properly. What can I do to fix this problem?
A. First, before you attempt any of the following suggestions, copy and paste all of your work into a separate Word document to make sure that you do not lose what you have done. Next, make sure that you are using Google Chrome as your web browser for working in Fluxx. If you are not, download Google Chrome for free, log in to your portal, and try again. If you are using Chrome, try refreshing the page or logging out and back in. If you are still having trouble, please contact our Foundation Leadership. If you choose not to complete your application in a separate Word document, we recommend that you save your work early in the process to ensure that the function is working properly, and save frequently throughout the process to avoid significant losses.
Q. The "Save" button is visible on my application form, but when I click it, the application does not save. What am I doing wrong?
A. Within the application form, we have required fields. In order to properly save the application, there must be text in those fields. If you are working on the application a little bit at a time, you will have to enter at least one character (e.g. "A") into each field and make drop-down menu selections so that you may save the document. If this does not solve the problem, check to see if there is a notification at the top of your application indicating why the document is not saving, and if so, follow the notification instructions. Again, to avoid problems like this, complete the application in a Word document and then input everything into the application when ready to submit.
Q. I see a "Save" button, but I do not see a "Submit" button. How do I submit the application?
A. The "Submit" button will not appear until the document has been saved. When you are ready to submit, click "Save" and then click "Submit". If that does not work, please make sure that you are using Google Chrome. If not, prior to leaving your portal to switch to Chrome, paste your work into a separate Word document.
Q. I completed the registration process and received an email with my login information, where do I go to access my Grantee Portal?
A. There is a link to the Grantee Portal login page on the How to Apply web page. This is the same link that you used to begin your application process. We recommend that you bookmark the login page so that you can quickly access your Grantee Portal in the future.
Q. The username and password that was provided to me via email is not working. What is the problem?
A. The username and password must be inputted exactly as shown on your email. On occasion, the username and/or password will have random spaces or characters that are difficult to distinguish. Therefore, we recommend copying and pasting the username and password into their respective fields to be exact. If this does not work after a few attempts, please contact our Foundation Leadership.
Q. I accidentally deleted the email that provided my Grantee Portal username and password. How do I access that information?
A. Notify our Foundation Leadership via email and we will supply you with a new username and password. We recommend saving the initial email or saving your login information in a secure location.
Q. I am unclear about a section/field on the application form. Where do I go for answers?
A. If you made it this far, you are on the right track! If you are unclear on specific application terminology, we always recommend a quick Google search first. However, if Google doesn't help, please don't hesitate to contact our Foundation Leadership. We are always trying to improve our application process and grant-making software at The Moniker Foundation, and in order to do so, it is extremely helpful to know about any issues that you are experiencing, so don't be shy!
Q. What is the annual budget for your Competitive Grants Program?
A. We typically allocate approximately half of our overall program budget to the Competitive Grants Program. In our 2018 funding cycle, we had a budget of roughly $220,000.
Q. What size grants do you typically award?
A. Moniker is a relatively small family foundation that accepts applications from organizations throughout the state of Colorado. As a result, our grant sizes generally stay within a range of $5,000 to $15,000, and have never exceeded $20,000. The Board encourages organizations to apply for less than $5,000 if needed, and will consider a request for greater than $15,000 if an extremely strong case is made. As we continue to learn and evolve, we will make every effort to ensure that the required involvement is proportional to our average grant size to be respectful of your time.
Q. I would like to apply for a multi-year grant, what is the maximum number of years that I can apply for?
A. We currently cap multi-year grants at 3 years. If your organization receives a 3-year grant or receives a grant each year for 3 consecutive years, then you will be unable to apply for a grant in year 4. The count resets in year 5, at which point you may reapply. Our Foundation Staff will notify any and all grantees that will be ineligible to apply immediately following the third consecutive funding year.
Q. Have you established a preset budget or quota for each focus area that you fund?
A. Our board does not have a budget or quota for each focus area, currently. Applications are judged on overall merit and on perceived need and impact, among other things. If a trend develops in our funding patterns, please know that although our board may be aware of the trend, they are not actively perpetuating it based on internal budgets or quotas.
Q. I submitted my application prior to the deadline, as required. Several months have passed and I have not heard anything from The Moniker Foundation. What is the status of my application?
A. Immediately after submitting your application in October or April (depending on the funding cycle), you will receive an automated email from our system confirming that we have received it. Unless we need more information from you along the way, you will not receive another email from us until early to mid-February or early to mid-August (depending on the funding cycle). We realize that this is a long period of time to wait, but at this point, we cannot condense the time frame any further. If you have not received any communication from us by the end of February or August, please contact our Foundation Leadership. You may also reference our Program Timeline web page if further clarification is needed.
Q. I applied to your Competitive Grants Program last year and was not awarded a grant. I am hesitant to apply again this year because I feel that our application will be rejected again. What do you recommend?
A. First of all, please make sure that your organization's primary focus area is represented by at least one of the following categories: Education, Health & Human Services, Arts & Culture, or Environment. In the past, organizations that stretched their focus area to fit within our program guidelines were generally unsuccessful. The number of applicants increase each year, so our board is increasingly unlikely to fund organizations that are "on the bubble", so to speak. Fortunately, for a few of the organizations that were guilty of this in the past, the recent expansion of our focus areas will eliminate that barrier. For others, however, the success rate will probably remain the same.
If the focus area is not an issue, we recommend contacting one of our staff to discuss previous rejections and future request possibilities. We will make every effort to be honest and straightforward so that we do not waste your time or that of ours. If we do not feel that your organization is a good fit for our program, we will not hesitate to let you know. Alternatively, we will tell you if your previous applications were narrowly edged out, in which case our recommendation will be to reapply.
Grantee Portal FAQ:
Q. I worked several hours on my application and then logged out of my Portal to finish at a later time. When I logged back in to finish, I could not find my application in my Grantee Portal. Where did all my work go?
A. Unfortunately, if you did not save your application prior to exiting your Grantee Portal or if you did not check that you actually saved your work after pressing the "Save" button (a notification will appear at the top of the page if your work was not saved properly), then your work is likely lost. It is for that reason that we recommend that applicants complete their applications entirely on a separate Word document and transfer the information when ready to submit. This is a good practice in addition to the aforementioned reasoning because of Word's superior functionality, and because you can save an additional record of your work and easily access the document in the future for reference. If you choose not to do this, which is entirely acceptable, please make sure to double-check that you have properly saved your work prior to exiting.
Q. I cannot find the "Save" button on my application in Fluxx to save my progress. Moreover, the website does not seem to be functioning properly. What can I do to fix this problem?
A. First, before you attempt any of the following suggestions, copy and paste all of your work into a separate Word document to make sure that you do not lose what you have done. Next, make sure that you are using Google Chrome as your web browser for working in Fluxx. If you are not, download Google Chrome for free, log in to your portal, and try again. If you are using Chrome, try refreshing the page or logging out and back in. If you are still having trouble, please contact our Foundation Leadership. If you choose not to complete your application in a separate Word document, we recommend that you save your work early in the process to ensure that the function is working properly, and save frequently throughout the process to avoid significant losses.
Q. The "Save" button is visible on my application form, but when I click it, the application does not save. What am I doing wrong?
A. Within the application form, we have required fields. In order to properly save the application, there must be text in those fields. If you are working on the application a little bit at a time, you will have to enter at least one character (e.g. "A") into each field and make drop-down menu selections so that you may save the document. If this does not solve the problem, check to see if there is a notification at the top of your application indicating why the document is not saving, and if so, follow the notification instructions. Again, to avoid problems like this, complete the application in a Word document and then input everything into the application when ready to submit.
Q. I see a "Save" button, but I do not see a "Submit" button. How do I submit the application?
A. The "Submit" button will not appear until the document has been saved. When you are ready to submit, click "Save" and then click "Submit". If that does not work, please make sure that you are using Google Chrome. If not, prior to leaving your portal to switch to Chrome, paste your work into a separate Word document.
Q. I completed the registration process and received an email with my login information, where do I go to access my Grantee Portal?
A. There is a link to the Grantee Portal login page on the How to Apply web page. This is the same link that you used to begin your application process. We recommend that you bookmark the login page so that you can quickly access your Grantee Portal in the future.
Q. The username and password that was provided to me via email is not working. What is the problem?
A. The username and password must be inputted exactly as shown on your email. On occasion, the username and/or password will have random spaces or characters that are difficult to distinguish. Therefore, we recommend copying and pasting the username and password into their respective fields to be exact. If this does not work after a few attempts, please contact our Foundation Leadership.
Q. I accidentally deleted the email that provided my Grantee Portal username and password. How do I access that information?
A. Notify our Foundation Leadership via email and we will supply you with a new username and password. We recommend saving the initial email or saving your login information in a secure location.
Q. I am unclear about a section/field on the application form. Where do I go for answers?
A. If you made it this far, you are on the right track! If you are unclear on specific application terminology, we always recommend a quick Google search first. However, if Google doesn't help, please don't hesitate to contact our Foundation Leadership. We are always trying to improve our application process and grant-making software at The Moniker Foundation, and in order to do so, it is extremely helpful to know about any issues that you are experiencing, so don't be shy!