Discretionary Grants

The Pokagon Fund’s Discretionary grants are awarded for projects that directly benefit the following Michigan communities or their residents: the City of New Buffalo; the Townships of New Buffalo, Three Oaks, or Chikaming; or the Villages of Three Oaks, Grand Beach, or Michiana. Projects that do not provide a direct benefit to one or more of these communities will not be considered for a Discretionary grant by the Fund. (Note: if you would like to apply for a grant to benefit the South Bend, IN, Hartford, MI, or Dowagiac, MI communities, then please visit THIS PAGE.)

To be eligible to receive a Discretionary grant from the Fund, an organization must be classified by the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. In rare and very limited circumstances, TPF may make a grant to an organization that is not so categorized if it is seeking funding for a purpose that is listed in Section 170(c)(2)(B) of the IRC (an applicant must contact TPF staff prior to beginning an application if she or he believes the proposed project falls into this category). All funding awarded by TPF must be used for a charitable purpose.

Before beginning an application, applicants should be prepared to demonstrate to the Fund how its proposed project will effectively meet demonstrated need in one or more of the communities listed above. Requests for Discretionary funding are limited to $10,000. After submitting an online application form, the Fund’s staff will undergo a due diligence review of the applicant organization and the project; during this review, more information than what is contained on the application form may be requested as part of the application process.

Grant applications are reviewed three times per year. The deadlines for the Discretionary grant applications are March 1, July 1, and November 1 (if the date falls on a holiday or weekend, then the deadline is extended to the next business day). TPF’s Board of Directors will usually make a decision on each application at its regular meeting in the month following the deadline (for example, a decision will be made in mid-April for applications received by March 1), but it reserves the right to postpone a decision.