Apply for a Grant

Apply for A Grant

We invest in educational projects that improve health by advancing the education and training of future health professionals.

We have two distinct grant programs. We award President’s Grants and Board Grants.  Both types of grants focus on the foundation’s three priorities.

Detailed information, instructions, and answers to frequently asked questions about our two grant programs follow.

President’s Grants

  • President’s Grants can be given at any time. They are evaluated by an internal team and awarded by our president. President’s Grants primarily align with our priority areas.

  • President’s Grants are one year or less in duration and awarded amounts are no more than $25,000, which includes indirect costs of not more than 10%.
How to Apply: 

Complete an Application

All applications must include:

  • A short cover letter on institutional letterhead signed by the principal investigator(s), which provides a statement of the problem, the project, and its importance to your institution and to health professions education
  • Macy Priority Area (check one or more):
    • Promoting diversity, equity, and belonging
    • Increasing collaboration among future health professionals, with an emphasis on developing exemplar teams
    • Preparing future health professionals to navigate ethical dilemmas
  • Names and qualifications and contact information of those who would carry out the project
  • Organizational information
  • Brief description of the project goals and design
  • Description of expected accomplishments, outcomes, and measurement/evaluation strategies
  • Estimated total budget request and sources of co-funding, if relevant
  • Up to two supporting documents, if relevant
  • Grant checklist

All applications must be completed and submitted online. You may return to your online application as often as you like prior to submitting it. Once you have submitted your application online it cannot be reopened.

Preview the application for a President’s Grant prior to registering for an account.

Within two months of submission, you will receive a request for more information or a decision about your proposal.

If you have any questions about this process, feel free to contact us via email at: applications@macyfoundation.org


Board Grants

  • Board Grants are generally one to three years in duration with a budget target of no more than $100K annually, which includes indirect costs at no more than 10%.

  • Board Grants are awarded three times each year, following approval at one of the three annual Macy Foundation board meetings. 
How to Apply:

Step One: Letter of Inquiry

Letters of Inquiry are accepted at any time.

All Letters of Inquiry must include:

  • A cover letter on institutional letterhead signed by the principal investigator(s). The cover letter should provide a statement of the problem, the nature of the project, the importance of the project to your institution, and the importance of the project to health professions education.
  • Macy Priority Area (check one or more):
    • Promoting diversity, equity, and belonging***
    • Increasing collaboration among future health professionals, with an emphasis on developing exemplar teams
    • Preparing future health professionals to navigate ethical dilemmas
  • Names and qualifications and contact information of those who would carry out the project
  • Organizational information and support
  • Brief description of the project goals and design
  • Expected outcomes and description of measures for success
  • Estimated total budget request.  Sources of co-funding, if any.  Note: co-funding is desirable.
  • Up to two supporting documents, if relevant
  • Board Grant LOI Checklist

***Although the Foundation recognizes their importance, we do not support “pipeline projects.”

All Letters of Inquiry must be completed and submitted online. You may return to your online document as often as you like prior to submitting it. Once you have submitted your document online, it cannot be reopened.

Preview the Letter of Inquiry document for a Board Grant prior to registering for an account.

Within two months of submission, you will receive one of the following: a request for more information, a request to submit a full proposal, or a notice informing you that your project will not be supported.

Step Two: Invited Proposal for Macy Board Grant

If our review of the Letter of Inquiry indicates that your project is a strong candidate for Board funding support, you will be invited to submit a full Board Grant proposal.

All full proposals must include:

  • Names and qualifications of those who would carry out the project
  • Organizational information and support
  • Executive summary of the project
  • Project overview
    • Background on nature and importance of the problem to be addressed
    • Primary goals and objectives of the project
    • Target audience impacted by the project
    • Relevance of the activity to Macy Foundation priorities
    • Description of the project and work plan, including key milestones
    • Description of expected accomplishments, outcomes, and measurement/evaluation strategies
    • Description of project challenges and how they will be addressed
    • Description of how the project will be sustained over time
    • Description of scalable or replicable programs
    • Communication plan and plan for dissemination of project outcomes
  • Principal Investigator(s) CV
  • Line-item budget that includes:
    • Personnel—salary and fringe benefits
    • Other Direct Costs—office operations, communication, travel, meeting expenses, etc.
    • Purchases Services—consultant and/or contract costs.
    • Indirect Costs—administrative expenses related to overall operations. Note: Our approved rate for indirect costs is 10%.
  • Other Direct Costs—office operations, communication, travel, meeting expenses, etc.
  • Purchases Services—consultant and/or contract costs.
  • Indirect Costs—administrative expenses related to overall operations. Note: Our approved rate for indirect costs is 10%.
  • Description of other anticipated funding support, i.e., co-funding
  • Supporting documents (letters, evaluation tools, publications, etc.)
  • Board Grant Checklist


All Invited Proposals must be completed and submitted online. You may return to your online full-proposal document as often as you like prior to submitting it. Once you have submitted your document online it cannot be reopened.

Once the full proposal is submitted, it will be reviewed by our staff, and it is possible that revisions may be requested. Board Grant proposals accepted by Macy Foundation staff will then be submitted for final review by our Board of Directors, who will ultimately determine whether the project is funded.

Please note: The process from Letter of Inquiry to Board approval can take up to a year.

If you have any questions about this process, feel free to contact us via email at: applications@macyfoundation.org


Frequently Asked Questions

What organizations does Macy support?

Grants are made only to tax-exempt institutions or agencies—no grants are made directly to individuals. We do not consider requests for general support, endowments, equipment, construction or renovation projects, capital campaigns or activities conducted outside the United States and its territories.

What projects does Macy support?

We support projects that:

  • align with our priority areas
  • demonstrate impact beyond local benefit
  • are generally demonstration and evaluation projects (not formal research)

What are the parameters that Macy uses to evaluate grants?

Grant applications are evaluated on these key dimensions:

  • Relevance to Macy’s three priority areas
  • Importance and originality
  • Significance, generalizability, and potential for spread
  • Sustainability after period of project support ends
  • Focus on clinical learning environment (preferred)

Which health professions learners are of interest to Macy?

We are interested in projects that focus on medical students, medical residents, undergraduate nursing students, and/or graduate nursing students, as well as learners in other health professions

What settings are of interest to Macy?

We are interested in projects that focus on the clinical learning environment.

Learn more about Our Grantees