They say the first step is the hardest. In our case, it’s true. While our assets tend to remain finite, applications increase in number - so our filtering process becomes more rigorous. If you meet our eligibility requirements below you can go on to the next step, sending a Letter of Inquiry.

What we DON'T fund

• Individuals
• Organizations with budgets less than $150,000 dollars
• General support for first time applicants
• Most Research (see below)
• Education
• Wild animal rescue and rehab
• Climate Change
• Pet rescue and rehab
• Community leadership development
• Youth development (other than aid for emancipated foster youth)
• Internationally (except for Middle East Peace and an occasional grant in Environmental Conservation. The organization must be based in the U.S.)
• In San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, or San Mateo County (except for Traumatic Brain Injury) 
• Films, videos, documentaries, books, websites, other media
• San Francisco Bay restoration and conservation projects
• Start-up or seed funding for organizations or projects new to Firedoll Foundation 
• Large-scope, long-term initiatives (we prefer discrete projects with concrete end-of-year deliverables)
• Wordy, jargon-laced, over-packed proposals (see below)

What we DO fund

• 501(c)(3) organizations 
• Non-private foundations under Section 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) 
• Fiscally-sponsored organizations are welcome to apply
• Projects in our Focus Areas 
• Projects in our Geographic Areas 
• Capital campaigns (rarely)
• General support (existing grantees)
• Research directly supportive of currently funded projects (see Current Grantees)
• Projects with clear, discrete deliverables at the end of the grant year are the strongest contenders
• Clear, tight, simply written proposals (see "Helpful Hints" on our Proposal Guidelines page)