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

o 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.

o 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

o 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

o 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

o 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.

o 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.

Project Grant Application https://www.themfva.org/grant-application

Research Grant Application https://www.themfva.org/research-grant-application

Project Grant Agreement Form https://www.themfva.org/project-grant-agreement-form

MFVA Grant Progress Report https://www.themfva.org/grant-progress-report

MFVA Grant Final Report https://www.themfva.org/projectresearch-grant-final-report