General Mills: Apply for a Twin Cities Grant

Applying for a grant from the General Mills Foundation Twin Cities Grants program is now easier than ever, with a new online application process. Paper applications will no longer be accepted from Twin Cities grant applicants. Organizations that submit a paper proposal for the General Mills Twin Cities Grants program outside of the online application process will be contacted by the Foundation and instructed to apply online.

Before you apply for Twin City funding, please ensure you have thoroughly reviewed the following:

Eligibility Requirements

Before submitting a funding request to the General Mills Foundation please review the below guidelines.

An organization must meet all requirements below to apply for a General Mills Foundation grant:

Organizations must have a current 501(c)(3) Public Charity status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), be a school or a unit of government.
Organizations must serve populations in the Twin Cities Seven-County Metro Area; Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington.
The organization, its program or project, must support a broad and diverse audience.
Organizations must apply for funding via the online grant application. Paper applications are no longer accepted from Twin Cities applicants.

Funding Priorities

General Mills Foundation grants will focus mainly on four areas:

Youth Nutrition and Fitness – supporting innovative programs that help improve youth nutrition and fitness behaviors.
Social Services – supporting programs that strengthen families and promote a safe, nurturing environment for children and youth.
Education – supporting efforts that emphasize student academic achievement, particularly at the pre-K through 12 levels.
Arts and Culture – supporting organizations that are leaders in their field as evidenced by their innovation, program quality and contribution to their community.

Geographic Focus Areas

The Foundation’s grants will geographically focus in our headquarters community which encompasses the Twin Cities Seven-County Metro Area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties) in Minnesota. The Foundation will fund organizations that serve populations in the Twin Cities Seven-County Metro Area.

Organizations Supported by the Foundation

When evaluating requests, the General Mills Foundation will favor nonprofit organizations meeting the following criteria:

Mission is closely related to the Foundation’s priorities.
Programs or activities serve the Twin Cities Seven-County Metro Area.
Services create sustainable community improvement.
Organization’s request falls within the youth nutrition and fitness, social services, education or arts and culture categories.

Types of Grants Available

The General Mills Foundation primarily makes operating and program grants.

If your organization is interested in submitting a capital request to the General Mills Foundation, please send a letter of inquiry to the Community Action e-mailbox briefly describing the capital request; Community.ActionQA@genmills.com

Capital grants will receive a lower priority and will largely be made to organizations in the Twin Cities with which we have a long history of operating support and significant employee involvement. The General Mills Foundation will give priority to operating and project grants.

Organizations Outside of Funding Guidelines

The General Mills Foundation receives many more requests for funding than it can support. A decision to decline a funding request does not imply that the applicant’s program is not needed or valued, but simply that it does not fall within our giving guidelines or priorities, or that funds are not available.

As a standard practice, the General Mills Foundation does not fund:

Organizations without 501(c)(3) status
Organizations with 509(a)(3) Type III status
Organizations that do not comply with the Foundation’s Non-Discrimination Policy
Annual appeals, federated campaigns, fund drives
Recreational, sporting events or athletic associations
Religious organizations for religious purposes
Individuals
Health Care
Research
Social, labor, veterans, alumni or fraternal organizations serving a limited constituency
Organizations seeking underwriting for advertising
Political causes, candidates or legislative lobbying efforts
Travel by groups
Emergency funding
Loans, debt reduction or operating deficits
Conferences, seminars, or workshops
Publications, films or television programs
Campaigns to eliminate or control specific diseases
Underwriting for program sponsorship
Special events
Fundraisers

The General Mills Foundation does not support the above mentioned areas because supporting these would significantly reduce the resources we have available to focus grant-making on operating and programmatic support, which are our priorities as a Foundation.

The Twin Cities Grants program is a two-stage grant application process, started by an online Letter of Inquiry (LOI). Invited applicants will send a full proposal only after the LOI has been submitted and reviewed.

To be considered for funding, all applicants will need to complete two simple steps:

Step 1: Review Online Application Instructions

As stated in below instructions, to start a new proposal, you will first need to create an account by supplying an e-mail address and password.

Important: Add Community.ActionQA@genmills.com to your e-mail safe-senders or safe-recipients list. Email messages are the sole method utilized to communicate important information regarding your grant application.

Once your account is created, you will be connected to the online application. Please note that you do not have to complete the application in one sitting. You have the option to save your work on the application and return to it at any time before it is submitted.

Please review Online Instructions Document below.

Online Instructions Document
[ Microsoft Word 335 K ]

Step 2: Begin Application

Click here to Start Twin City LOI Application

Once you have begun work on your application, you have the option to save it and return to it later. You may do this as many times as you like until it has been submitted. To access your saved application, click on the link below.

Please be sure that you make all revisions to your application before you submit it to us. Once your application has been submitted, you will not be able to retrieve the application to make further revisions.

Return to Saved Application/MyAccount Log In

Instructions for Returning to a Saved Application

If your organization is completing an unfinished application or would like to go to its MyAccount information, follow these directions.

Click on Return to Saved Application/MyAccount Log In link.
Sign in with the organization e-mail and password created earlier
Select the “I am a returning online applicant” option.
Select the continue button.
Choose the unfinished saved application under the "Open" section.

Online Application FAQ's

Most all online application questions can be resolved by viewing the Frequently Asked Questions.

Question: Will you accept any paper or mailed applications for the Twin City Grant Program?

Answer: No. Please do not mail any grant requests. Only online applications will be reviewed. This process will ensure all grant requests can be reviewed and evaluated in a consistent manner.

Question: I filled out my online application and saved it. When I tried to return to it to finish and submit it, the grant application form was blank. Is all my grant application information lost?

Answer: No. In most cases this is the result of clicking on a program link and starting a new application. Instead, close your browser if it is still open. Click on the link Return to Saved Application/MyAccount Log In: Log in with your e-mail address and password. Click the link to open your started and saved grant application.

Question: What should I do if I have an update to my submitted grant application?

Answer: If you have any type of application update or forgot something to include with your online submittal, simply e-mail to Community.ActionQA@genmills.com. In the subject line include your organization name. Indicate in the body of the email that you would like this information to be added to your already submitted online application. We will ensure this information is included with the submitted online application.

Question: When I go to submit my grant application, I receive a red error message telling me that the I have run out of characters. What should I do?

Answer: The field limits are generous but they do include spaces, please simply shorten the information you have attempted to provide in the field.

Question: How do I get a copy of the online application form?

Answer: You will be able to print a copy at any time as you are filling out the online application form. Click on the Printer Friendly Version link located in the top right hand corner of each application page. Also, once your application has been submitted, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address that you used to create your online grant application account. The email will include a copy of your grant application but will not include a copy of attachments in this email.

Question: Do I need to have cookies enabled on my internet browser?

Answer: Yes, the online application will place a cookie on your computer to enable the "Save and Finish Later" functionality. Please check with your own technical support to enable cookies if you receive an error message.

Question: Do I have to complete my application in one online session?

Answer: No, as long as cookies in enabled you can start the application and choose to “Save and Finish” at another time. Just click on the "Save and Finish Later" button located at the bottom of each application page.

Question: Is my application automatically saved once I create an account?

Answer: No, your application is not saved automatically. To ensure no application data is lost, please click on the "Save and Finish Later" button at the bottom of each application page.

Question: How do I return to an incomplete application that I saved, but have not yet submitted?

Answer: Once you create an online grant application account, you will receive an e-mail notification that includes the e-mail address and password required to access your saved application. This e-mail will also include the web address of the Account Login page. Please be sure that you have added Community.ActionQA@genmills.com to your safe-senders or safe-recipients list to receive important emails regarding your grant from us.

Question: Can I upload any additional documents or provide to your grants committee information other than what is specifically requested on the application?

Answer: No, we require all Twin City Grant Program applicants to complete the online application exactly as requested. This process will ensure all grant requests can be reviewed and evaluated in a consistent manner.

Question: How will I know you received my online application?

Answer: Once the application is completed online, you will need to click the "Review & Submit" button at the bottom of the last page of the application to submit your application electronically. Once your application has been submitted, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address that you used to create your online grant application account. The email will include a copy of your grant application, but will not include a copy of attachments in this email.

Question: What happens when I have completed my online LOI application?

After your LOI application is received it will be reviewed, typically within 60 days, by the General Mills Foundation grants committee. After this review, you will receive notification from us indicating whether your LOI grant request has been approved or declined. There is no need to contact us to check that your online application has been received, as your confirmation email is that receipt.

Question: Is my internet browser compatible with the Twin City Grant Program Application?

Answer: The following browser versions are certified to work with the following internet browser versions:

Internet Explorer 6.0 (for PC) SP-2	Safari 2.0 (for Mac)
Internet Explorer 7.0 (for PC)	Mozilla Firefox 2.0

Question: Our organization has worked with the online grant applications and set up a MyAccount (we aren’t registering a new account). What should I do if the email address my nonprofit used to apply for grants has changed or that person has left our organization?

Answer: Please send an e-mail to Community.ActionQA@genmills.com and be sure to include:

Subject Line: Requesting MyAccount Transfer of Email Address
your organization name and your name, title, phone and email
the old email address for the account
the new email address and password to be associated with the account

Question: What should I do to notify you of contact and organization changes?

Answer: Maintaining current grantee contacts for our nonprofit partners is important to us. Please be sure to send an e-mail to Community.ActionQA@genmills.com regarding any of the following changes at your organization, using Subject Line of: Organization Updates from “your organization name”:

Executive Director or Primary Contact Staff Change
Email address or phone number update for Executive Director or Primary Contact
Mailing address or website address change of your organization

Contact Information

If after reviewing our website content, grant guidelines, application instructions and FAQ’s you have additional questions related to the General Mills Foundation or the grant application process please contact us at:

E-mail: Community.ActionQA@genmills.com

Subject Line: Grant Application Questions

Phone: 763-764-2211

Fax: 763-764-4114

Return to Saved Application/MyAccount Log In