More than a decade ago, the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and Philanthropy New York spearheaded a project to develop common application and report forms to help streamline the grant application process and ease the often time-consuming grant preparation process.
This application is a four-page form, which includes directions for use, a sample cover sheet, and the common grant proposal guidelines.
The separate Common Report Form follows closely the format of the New York/New Jersey Area Common Application Form.
Information for Grantmakers:
One of the core values at the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project (with whom CNJG partnered on a trust-based grantmaking learning series in the summer of 2021 – read about Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) encourages funders to streamline their requirements for paperwork from nonprofits. Accepting the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Report Form is one way. Another is to accept reports from nonprofits that they submitted to a different funder.
Recent articles from Vu Le at NonprofitAF.com (We need to have a serious talk about character limits on grant applications and Trust-based grantmaking: What it is and why it’s critical to our sector), Joan Garry in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (A Plea from Community Nonprofits for Investment Equity and less Bureaucracy), and the research project by the Technology Association of Grantmakers (Grant Applications Share 39% Similarity According to New Research by TAG) in the summer of 2021 have re-focused attention on the concept of a common grant application.
CNJG encourages our members to review the application and report form, and consider accepting these forms (or using these questions on your online application / report form) from your current or potential grantees.
CNJG surveyed our members in August 2021 asking if they accepted the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application and report form. CNJG members can download that report (link forthcoming).
Information for Grantseekers:
Before sending this (or any) application to any funder, be sure to check their specific funding guidelines and application requirements. Some funders require preliminary, additional, or supplementary information. Some funders only accept their own application form. CNJG members are under no obligation to accept either the common grant application or common grant report form.
Additional notes when using the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application Form:
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
NY and NJ Area Common Application Form.pdf | 56.48 KB |
NY and NJ Area Common Report Form.pdf | 14.18 KB |