The Mary E. Ober Foundation is a grantmaker that values and provides Strategic Philanthropy.  Our goal is to build relationships with and fund organizations that focus on leadership, sustainability and strong community impact.

Numbers are important, but people are more important.  The Mary E. Ober Foundation seeks organizations that have a vision for serving the community at a level that is beyond service numbers.  We desire to see long-term impact, and work with those that are a catalyst for change in the areas we identify as core to our mission.

Because of our value on relationships and community change, we do not have a grant cycle, and do not accept unsolicited grant requests.  Instead, we employ a process that may result in a Request For Proposal:

RFP Approach Steps:

Step 1. Contact the Mary E. Ober Foundation by e-mail, phone or letter, to discuss your organization, program or project.Those organizations receive invitation to submit a letter of inquiry to the Foundation.  Be prepared to discuss:

• Mission, vision, leadership, sustainability, measured outcomes and community impact for your organization.

Step 2. After the initial discussion, you MAY be invited to submitt a 2 page letter of inquiry including:

• Brief project description, numbers served, and outcomes
• Why you are applying
• Why your project fits with our mission
• Rationale and the purpose of the project
• Project cost estimates

Step 3. After review of the Letter of inquiry and your organization, you MAY be invited to submit a full proposal.

Step 4. Interview by foundation or board member, full proposal submitted.

Step 5. Full proposal reviewed and summarized for full board decision.

Grant Cycle: Grants are awarded in June and November.

Proposal Deadline: Spring - April 1 ~ April 30.
                                    Fall - September 1 ~ September 30.

Range: $500 to $20,000 in most cases

Multi-Year:  Will entertain multi-year based on project review.

Interest Areas:
Faith Based or Faith Friendly organizations serving the areas of:

• Marginalized & disenfranchised support
• Social justice
• Homeless and near-homeless
• Youth in crisis situations
• Character development
• Education
• Health/emergency services
• Leadership & sustainability
• Organizational development
• Families – educating strong core values

Age of Organization: Open

Geographic Focus: National perspective with strong focus on Indiana.

Faith: Secular and Christian Organizations.