Areas of Support
The William Hinman Charity has made grants to support projects in the United States, Bhutan, Burma (Myanmar), India, Mongolia, Nepal, and Tibet. In general, the Charity supports work in the following sectors: Monastic Education, Livelihoods, Restoring Monasteries (with a Focus on Community Participation), Income Generation for Monasteries and Nunneries, and Community-led Micro-finance. The Charity is also committed to supporting programs that benefit Buddhist Nuns.
The Charity is sensitive to how it approaches and works with communities and intends to make positive contributions to individuals’ lives through participatory and collaborative programming. It works with potential grantees to identify needs and discuss how the Charity can help meet those needs, through both financial support and through “added value grant making” that helps small organizations and new partners begin engagement with international partners. The Charity works with our grantee partners to design grant programs and create a participatory monitoring and evaluation framework that will help our grants have a maximum impact.
Grant Process
We are no longer accepting applications for funding in 2012. However, for consideration in 2013, if you are interested in seeking support from the Charity and believe your program fits within our Mission, please submit a brief Letter of Inquiry to info@hinmancharity.org including the following information:
- A very brief overview of your organization (the stated objectives and purposes, how it was started, a description of the current services offered and beneficiaries, leadership and decision making processes)
- A short description of the specific project for which you are seeking support and the need that it will address
- An estimated budget
If your program meets our grant guidelines and is consistent with the Mission of the Charity, we will send you a grant application for completion. Grant applications are reviewed bi-annually. We do not generally support travel costs or participation in conferences. Charity funds will not be given to individuals, endowments, scholarships, fellowships, or fundraising activities.
Grant Amounts
Charity grants vary in amount depending on the size and scope of the project. The Charity seeks to build ongoing and sustainable relationships with grantees and is open to supporting in capital investment as well as ongoing programmatic needs that have an element of sustainability. Grants to first time partners generally range between $1,000 – $15,000. While subsequent grants can be larger, they generally do not exceed $40,000. The Charity is also interested in working with other Charities to share our ethos on giving to leverage our resources.