Guidelines

The Hoover Family Foundation was founded in 1992 to assist non-profit tax-exempt organizations in the social service and education areas to foster self-sufficiency and improve quality of life. The foundation focuses on funding organizations located in and providing services to the residents of the metropolitan areas where the foundation is located: Portland, Oregon, and Indianapolis, Indiana.

Guidelines for Grant Applications

Our guidelines are specific:

INDIANA - Our Indiana location only funds organizations that provide services in and around Indianapolis.

OREGON - Our Oregon location only funds organizations that provide services within the Urban Growth Boundary of the Portland metropolitan area. The Hoover Family Foundation in Oregon will consider grant requests from organizations based in and serving the Portland metropolitan area, which is generally within the guidance in the map below, and includes all the cities noted on the map.

Portland Urban Growth Boundary Map

Our knowledge of organizations in these areas and the issues facing them is important to us, so we must stand by these geographic restrictions.

Priorities of Interest

Programs that foster self-sufficiency
Effective providing of social services
Improvement of educational opportunities at all levels
Programs that aid low-income individuals

We Do Not Make Grants:

To individuals
For sectarian or religious purposes
For capital campaigns
For event funding
For multi-year funding
For college scholarships
For lobbying or political purposes
For medical research
To private foundations or endowment funds
In support of regular operating budgets
To provide long-term funding or post-event funding

Evaluation of Proposals is Based on:

Ability to fulfill a community need for an under-served population in Portland or Indianapolis
Feasibility and soundness of your implementation plan
A well-thought-out evaluation plan that shows us measurable goals, results, and outcomes
Viability of subsequent long-term funding

With limited resources and a large number of applications, the foundation is able to fund only a small portion of the many worthwhile requests submitted. Those constraints also limit the size of particular grants and the ability to fund on an annual basis.

Application Deadlines

Grant applications are reviewed three times each year. Completed proposals must be received by or postmarked by the following dates: July 1, November 1 or March 1.