Concerning the use of overnight mail to send applications/letters of
inquiry to small foundations:

Basically, if I understand what I've heard from a few sources, overnight
mail is a waste of money.  Though now a standard practice in our affluent
and so so busy society, I think the perception is that any group willing to
spend $30 or more to get something delivered in 10 hours rather than $2.50
for a 5 day transmittal:
1) uses too much of its money for administrative purposes,
and therefore 2) probably doesn't really need the $5000 it is asking for,
3) has been so rushed to finish the proposal that the final product is
sloppy and ill-conceived,
4) does not understand the nature of the "review" system at the smaller
foundation.

Keep in mind that many of these smaller foundations have NO full-time
staff, need to see proposals and pre-proposals well ahead of any board
meeting date (or even published deadline), AND most importantly, are giving
away money in order to play a SIGNIFICANT role in a worthwhile project.  We
can argue forever about the naivete of someone who thinks that their
$20,000 is going to cure cancer, especially when they do not want to pay
salaries and fringe benefits.  But we should not lose sight of the
essential goodness of philanthropy and consider that the awarding of a
grant may be viewed by them as part of an individual's final contribution
to, if not activity in, society.  $30 represents about 1/10 of a percent of
a $20,000 budget.  Imagine asking for $7500 in a $5,000,000 grant from a
big foundation for transporting your application by white gloved men in
tails in a Rolls Royce.

If you are (and need to appear) so big and sophisticated that use of
overnight couriers is a fact of your business life and an expense that you
accept without second thought, perhaps you should not be asking a small
foundation for money that is big to them but peanuts to you.

Charlie Hathaway

At 08:42 AM 7/30/98 -0400, you wrote:
>>I can tell you all, from experience...
>>The Eppley address is correct...but as a rule of thumb:
>>Never send applications to small foundations by overnight mail.  They do
>>not like it.
>
>Is there some reason for their not liking it?
>(For example, as a rule of thumb, the average thumb *is* about three
inches long.)
>It seems like too general a rule for it to be based on the personal whim
of small foundation directors.
>
>Jim Matta
>xxxxxx@huskey.bloomu.edu
>
>
**************************************
Charles B. Hathaway, Ph.D., Director
Office of Grant Support
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Belfer 312A
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, NY 10461
718 430-3642