It’s not just about grants, but that’s part of it. We want to know why you want to partner with us.

How We Work with Grantseekers, Grantees, and other Partners

WRF collaborates with grantseekers, grantees, and other partners to relentlessly pursue equity by engaging in open communication and transparency with a spirit of trust. Working with us might mean getting a grant, managing a mission or program-related investment, or getting technical assistance from a consultant. It might also mean connecting with other like-minded organizations to pool your resources.

We want to learn what brought you to us, and why you would like to work with us to relentlessly pursue economic, educational, and social, ethnic and racial equity for all Arkansans.

Our strategic direction guides our partnership process. To determine if WRF fits your organizational or personal strategy, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Get into the System

To submit an idea, you don’t have to be a tax-exempt 501(c)(3), but it certainly won’t hurt. If you’re an individual with a good idea, we’ll still look it over and see if there are ways we can relentlessly pursue equity together (or connect you with people or organizations that support progress toward your goals). One thing we do require is that the idea you are proposing has a direct impact within the state of Arkansas and aligns with AR Equity 2025. To make sure of this, we’ll ask you for a brief summary at this stage. We’ll get your full idea at the next step.

Get connected in our partner portal here.

Step 2: Submit an Idea

WRF program staff continually reviews ideas to determine how they support the Foundation’s vision, mission, and strategy to achieve equity. People and organizations whose ideas receive favorable initial review may be invited to discuss the idea and possible next steps in more detail. We may also point you in a different direction if the idea doesn’t align with our goals.

Before submitting an idea, we recommend you learn more about Grantmaking Guidelines. In particular, we suggest checking out our Eligibility Guidelines. We ask that you address how your idea connects with WRF’s priorities in the idea you submit during step 2.

Step 3: Develop a Proposal

After a lot of discussion with us about your idea, we may ask you to submit a more comprehensive proposal of how to turn your idea into reality. We ask you to spend time learning about Grantmaking Guidelines and What We Fund. Our application will ask you to tell us more about how your proposal advances the priorities described in our Eligibility Guidelines.

This step can take a while. Plan for 6 to 12 months.

Funding recommendations are presented to the WRF Board of Directors at quarterly meetings in March, June, September, and December. All funding decisions are made by the WRF Board, which may decide to award all, none, or some portion of the requested funds. In some cases, before a proposal can move forward, you or your organization may need extra support (nonprofit professional advice, finance and back office training, movement building, etc.). If the idea makes sense, we’ll make it happen.

Questions? Email us at programstaff@wrfoundation.org.