Policy on Awarding Grants to Organizations

 

   It is the policy of RIISA to provide grants to non-profit (or not-for-profit) organizations that provide young individuals the opportunity to participate in the sport of sailing.  These organizations typically will offer sail training but the nature of the activity is not specifically limited to this if a strong position can be put forward for a closely related activity.

   A formal request on the organization’s letterhead must be received by RIISA by March 1 of the year in which the grant is requested to be made.  The request should include a mission statement; a description of the organization as well as the program the grant is to be used in; a list of board members, officers and staff; general sources of current funding; and outline the extent of related commercial involvement(s), if any.

   It is assumed that the primary use of these grants will be to enable the organization to provide an individuals with a “RIISA Sailorship Award”.  The award recipient must be a Rhode Island resident and must be 18 years old or under during the award calendar year.  Also, it is intended that the recipient demonstrate financial need such that participation would be precluded without the award.  Absent a specific dollar amount specified in the request as the cost of the proposed scholarship, all general or blanket grants will be awarded in $250.00 increments and in no case shall the total of all categories of awards and grants given in a calendar year exceed 80% of the prior years net income.

   RIISA, as the grant provider, must be identified in the name of the award (RIISA Sailorship) and all promotional mention of said award.  RIISA would reserve the right to mention the award in its own promotional endeavors.  RIISA would reserve the right to observe the award recipient on site participating in the program to confirm the appropriate use of the grant.

     If the intent of the organization is to use the grant funds for other than a traditional individual sail training scholarship award, the organization must provide to RIISA a detailed and complete description and explanation of its proposed program or plan.

   RIISA, as the grant provider, would require immediately after the conclusion of the organizations program, from the recipient organization as well as the award recipient, a written commentary on the benefits derived from the award.  The terms and conditions of any award or grant must be satisfactorily met in order to ensure future consideration of award proposals and grant requests from the organization.

 

 

 

 

Policy on Awarding Grants to Individuals

 

   It is the policy of RIISA to provide grants to young Rhode Island sailors, who have demonstrated sufficient sailing ability, to compete at regional, national and world level events.  Each request will be handled on a case by case basis.

 

 There are several requirements for individuals to meet or to comply with to be eligible.

 

    These would include but not be limited to:

-    The award recipient must be a legal Rhode Island resident and preference will be given to those 19 years old or under during the award calendar year.

-     Sailors over this age who are still in school or being claimed as a dependent can be considered if the event or participation is outside the realm of any organized team or intramural school sponsored activity.  Special consideration can also apply to Olympic campaigns.

-     It is intended that the individual demonstrate financial need such that participation

      would be precluded without the award.

-     The grant can only be used for transportation (boats, equipment or persons),

       living expenses or other items directly related to participating in a recognized

       sanctioned event.  In most cases the grant will not be intended to fully fund the

       participation.

 

   A written request stating that the compliance factors have been met and a complete description of the event, a timetable and a budget must be submitted as soon as possible after qualifying or deciding to participate in an event.  It must specifically state the level of support that is being asked for.

 

   Approval of a grant of this type will not always follow the RIISA meeting dates and therefore an alternate approval method, either by E-mail or by phone will be required.

 

   RIISA, as the grant provider would require adequate recognition of its contribution be made whenever the opportunity to do so presents itself.  RIISA would also require, at the conclusion of the participation, a timely report on the competition.