THE INDIAN COMMITTEE
OF PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING
OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS)

Concerned Friends have bequeathed money to the Indian Committee during its 200 years of work and this is held in trust by Yearly Meeting for our use. Our yearly budget is the interest from the investment of these contributions.

In considering grant requests, we favor projects that are initiated by Native Americans themselves and that are of a "one-time" nature—pilot projects and seed money to help Indian initiatives get off the ground. We also favor projects that will benefit a community, and we consider requests with national impact as well as a local focus. We are particularly interested in learning about Native American initiatives and new programs in the tri-state area (PA, NJ, DE).

We examine each funding decision as it comes before us, and the fact that we have supported something or some particular tribe or organization in the past does not mean we will find spiritual clearness to support it in the future. This allows us to adapt to changing needs and concerns brought to us by Native Americans. The requests of Indian tribes for assistance from the Indian Committee made in the 19^th century are very different from the needs that come before us today.

In general we favor smaller projects – usually under $2,000 … no request is too small, but many are too big! Please note that the entire process to consider a request can take at least a month. Also keep in mind that we have a limited budget and receive many requests for assistance each year. We cannot fund every request we receive.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. A request should be made in writing to the Clerk (see the Funding Request Form attached) who can mail it in advance to Committee Members for consideration at the next meeting where funding is considered. The following are the deadlines for our receipt of grant requests:

September 30 for consideration at October meeting (usually the 2^nd Saturday)

November 30 for consideration at our December meeting

January 31 for consideration at our February meeting

March 31 for consideration at our April meeting

May 31 for consideration at our June meeting

2. We need a good description of the project to be supported in order to make a decision about helping it with funding. Please use the attached Funding Request Form as a guide to the kind of information we need from you.
3. Once the Committee has the opportunity to review the request, we may request that an individual come to our meeting to answer questions or describe the project in more depth (if the distance allows for this). Because we often have many items of business to address at our business meetings we request that presentations/discussions be limited to 15 to 30 minutes maximum.
4. After we have the opportunity to fully review the request and come to a decision by consensus of the Committee, the Clerk will contact you by letter or telephone call. If a decision to assist the project is made, then a check request must be sent to our Yearly Meeting Finance Office. This can take from two to four weeks. Invoices and receipts may also be required by the Yearly Meeting financial office.
5. Follow-up: Because we are responsible to all the members of Yearly Meeting. it is important for us to have a written report from any funded project as to how the funding was used and how the project progresses or is fulfilled.

For more information or to send a request, contact:

                        Lois Kuter, Clerk                             telephone: 215-886-6361
                        Indian Committee                            Clerk@pym-indiancommittee.com169 Greenwood Ave., Apt. B-4
                        Jenkintown, PA 19046