Application

How to Apply to COSF

We suggest that you start by reviewing Our Focus and Getting Started Criteria to determine if your organization’s activities match our focus areas and funding criteria.

Step 2: Determine if you should complete a Pre-application or Application

You should complete a Pre-application if:

• Your are a new grant applicant,
• Your most recent COSF grant terms ended more than 12 months ago, or
• Your most recent COSF grant terms ended less than 12 months ago and you plan to apply for a different program than was funded in the last grant.

You should complete a Application if:

• Your last COSF grant terms ended less than 12 months ago and you plan to apply for the same program.

Step 3: Begin Pre-application or Application

Whether you need to complete the Pre-application or the Application, please click to Start a New Application to begin. When you click on Start a New Pre-application or Application you will be asked a few basic questions.  Your answers to the questions will determine whether you will be routed to the Pre-application or the Application.

Before starting, we encourage you to review our Pre-application questions and our Application questions by clicking here.  We encourage you to use these questions as a worksheet to gather the information you will need to complete the online Pre-application or the online Application.

Step 4: Complete Pre-application or Application

Please click here to Continue an Incomplete Pre-application or Application. As you work, do not use your browser’s Back button – you will lose all unsaved data. We strongly recommend that you save regularly while filling out the Pre-application or the Application. The save button is at the bottom of each page.

Once a Pre-application or Application has been submitted, you cannot add, modify or delete it or any part of it through the online system. If you find that you need to make an important change to a Pre-application or Application after you have submitted it, please contact us directly.

Unless you have been given a deadline, there is no submission deadline. We accept both Pre-applications and Applications on a rolling basis. Most organizations will hear from us within 45 days of the submission date of a Pre-application and within 120 days of the submission date of an Application. Further, given our challenge-grant orientation, we strongly encourage you to consider your fundraising calendar when determining when to apply for a grant. If you have questions, please review our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If you still have questions after reviewing our FAQs, please contact us.