Apply for a grant from the MFVA
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Grants may only be requested by nonprofit organizations. A copy of your 501c(3) status or IRS determination letter is required before your grant will be considered
Submission of the application does in no way mean the funds will be granted. No plans or commitments should be made by the applicant until the request has been evaluated and approved by MFVA.
GRANT TYPES may include, but not be limited to:
Optometric scholarships
Optometric related research
Public education
Distribution of materials
Providing optometric eye care for under-served areas
GRANT RECIPIENTS may include, but not be limited to:
Optometric students or educators
Educational Institutions
Michigan Optometric Association/local optometric societies
Charitable or philanthropic organizations relating to vision and optometric care
GRANT LIMITATIONS:
Projects must be primarily Michigan based.
Grants will be awarded on a project basis and may be renewed only by re-application.
Public education grants shall be for projects which inform the public of the value of regular, professional eye care, but which do not directly benefit individual eye care providers or specific groups of eye care providers.
For additional clarification of this limitation, please see Addendum A
CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS:
All applications must be submitted online using the MFVA website (themfva.org)
Research and Project Grant Applications must be completed and submitted using the MFVA website (themfva.org) online process by March 1st or September 1st each year
Quotes for equipment or services are required. Your grant will not be considered until these are received. If the price changes after your grant request is approved, your organization is responsible for making up the increase in funds.
Addendum A
Grant Limitations
Individuals or groups of people may benefit nominally by way of stipends for things such as travel reimbursements, meals, research participation incentives, etc. when the overall benefit of the service provided by that individual or group regarding MFVA’s mission outweighs the value of the stipend provided by the grant. Such determination of valuation of service will be made by the MFVA Board of Trustees.
For example, there will be no compensation or money given to an optometrist or an optometrist in a group practice or group practice that is a direct benefit to their business or businesses. This could be either in compensation or for equipment. Similarly, there will be no compensation directly to a university professor or researcher that is already receiving compensation from a related institution. However, for optometrists who may be taking time out of their office, and away from generating revenue for the same, they could receive a stipend or reimbursement for some types of expenses. The Board could do this in partial recognition for their volunteerism to the profession of optometry.
Compensation to research participants (patients) may be considered/authorized, since incentivizing participation will likely contribute to more robust optometric research outcomes.
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Details and forms for current grant funded projects
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Reporting
Refer to your grant agreement for information about when grant reports are due for your grant. Progress Reports are due every 6 months until project completion.
Principal Investigators should be cognizant of deadlines to ensure there is no interruption in the flow of grant funds.
A Final Report is required for all grants.
Furthermore, when a grant request is received from a group or individual who has already received a grant and not submitted a Final Report, the new grant will not be considered until past grant Final Reports are received.
Extension
All grants are expected to be completed within 2 years of when the grant is approved. If your project will go past that deadline, please fill out a grant request and in that form request an extension on the deadline.
Contact
Inquiries about MFVA project and research grant policies, procedures, or processes should be directed by email to contactMFVA@gmail.com