Eligibility & Guidelines

Eligibility requirements for a Daniels Fund grant:

• Organizations need to provide programs or services in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, or Wyoming.
  • The Daniels Fund supports select programs with a nationwide focus by invitation only.
• Programs or projects need to align with our donor's intent and fit within the Daniels Fund Grants Program's funding areas: Aging, Amateur Sports, Disabilities, Drug & Alcohol Addiction, Early Childhood Education, Homeless & Disadvantaged, K-12 Education Reform, and Youth Development.
• Organizations need to have a 501(c)(3) status or government equivalent.
• Grant requests need to be for a specific program or project, general operating support, or capital campaign.
• In New Mexico, our grantmaking strategy focuses primarily on increasing the number of quality choice K-12 seats available to students. Due to our focused strategy, we do not accept unsolicited grant applications for New Mexico.

We look for the following in a grant request:

• Alignment — The proposed project or program is strongly aligned with our funding areas and priorities.
• Viability — Sufficient local and other financial support exists to ensure the project or program will be implemented and continue after the grant period. Our goal is to help excellent nonprofits achieve a high level of effectiveness and impact, rather than sustaining any individual nonprofit indefinitely. A grant award should not be perceived as an indication of future or recurring funding.
• Capacity — Effective leadership, strong financial health, and appropriate knowledge and resources exist to effectively implement programs and services.
• Impact — The program or project will have a significant impact in its community. Grant applications should demonstrate strategic, high impact and a clear evaluation plan with specific measurable results that will be reported at the end of the grant period.
• Performance — The program or project is evidence-based, studied, and/or has proven to be effective.

Areas we do not fund:

We do not fund programs unless they are aligned with our eight designated funding areas. We do not fund regional, local, or community-based programs outside of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, or Utah. Please note that grant applications for New Mexico or programs with national impact are by invitation only.

In addition, we typically do not fund:

How to apply in Colorado, Utah, or Wyoming:

• Step 1: If your organization has not previously received a Daniels Fund grant, please review our Eligibility & Guidelines information on this page, and the state-specific information on the Colorado, Utah, or Wyoming pages.
• Step 2: If you believe your request is a solid fit with our eligibility criteria and guidelines, please proceed to the page for Colorado, Utah, or Wyoming and follow the instructions to submit an inquiry form on our Grants Portal.
• Step 3: After you submit your inquiry form, you will receive an email confirmation. Your inquiry will be reviewed by a member of our Grants Program staff, who may reach out for additional information.
• Step 4: Following our review of your inquiry, we will contact you to let you know whether or not you should proceed and submit a grant application.

If you currently have an active Daniels Fund grant, or have received a grant within the past two years, please contact your Grants Program Officer directly.

If you have questions about our Grants Program eligibility and guidelines, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..