Grant Portal

Access our Grant Portal

Brian & Patricia Giese Foundation is a private, faith-rooted family foundation with a mission to put God’s love into action by bringing people together through community.

To learn more about our funding priorities, please read our eligibility guidelines.

If you do not yet have an account, please click on the “Create an account now” button below to register in our system. Please note we must review and validate your registration before you can start a letter of inquiry.

Create an Account Now

How to Inquire

All submissions go through the Brian & Patricia Giese Foundation Grants Portal. We accept one Letter of Inquiry per organization, per calendar year.

Full Grant Proposal Document

The steps below apply to General Purpose Grants and Seed Grants, both of which start with a Letter of Inquiry. Multi-Year General Grants are invitation-only, so that pathway has no application step—the Brian & Patricia Giese Foundation reaches out directly to organizations we would like to partner with.

Step 1 — Check Eligibility

Confirm you meet all requirements above before starting. Ineligible submissions will not be advanced.

Step 2 — Register in the Portal

Create your account. Registration is reviewed and validated before access to the Letter of Inquiry is granted.

Step 3 — Submit Your Letter of Inquiry

A Letter of Inquiry is a short introductory proposal outlining your project and funding request.

  • If you are applying for a General Purpose Grant: your Letter of Inquiry is due by 5:00 PM EST on the posted deadline, ahead of our June and October review cycles.
  • If you are applying for a Seed Grant: there’s no fixed deadline — submit your Letter of Inquiry any time, and we’ll review it as it comes in.

Written or video — see below.

Step 4 — Await Invitation

Selected organizations are invited to submit a Full Proposal. All applicants are notified within 4–6 weeks of the Full Proposal deadline.

What to Include in Your Letter of Inquiry

Keep it concise. Your Letter of Inquiry should take no more than 30 minutes to complete. Written or video — your choice.

Letter of Inquiry Document
Field
Organization & Mission
Program Overview
The Need
Grant Request
Impact
Why Now
What We’re Looking For
Name, EIN (your organization's federal tax ID number), website, and one sentence on your mission.
What you do, who you serve, and where in Maryland.
What problem are you solving? Use local data if available.
Which pathway you're applying for — Seed Grant or General Purpose Grant — along with the amount requested and how you intend to use the funds.
What will change? One or two measurable outcomes.
Is there a specific opportunity or urgency driving this request?

Alternative Submission Option-Submit by Video

We know grant writing takes time. As an alternative to written responses, you may submit a short video Letter of Inquiry especially encouraged for organizations whose leaders communicate best in person.

Video Letter of Inquiry Guidelines

Length
Format
Who
What to Cover
Quality
Accessibility
5–8 minutes maximum.
MP4, MOV, or a YouTube/Vimeo link. Upload directly in the Grants Portal.
Your Executive Director, Program Director, or Founder. A community member you serve is welcome too.
Walk through the six Letter of Inquiry fields listed above — Organization & Mission, Program Overview, The Need, Grant Request, Impact, and Why Now — in any order that feels natural.
A smartphone recording is fine. We care about your story, not production value.
Please include captions or a brief written summary when you upload.

You may submit written responses, a video, or both. The Brian & Patricia Giese Foundation reviews all formats equally.