The Buhl Foundation was established by will of Henry Buhl, Jr. in 1927 as a memorial to his wife, Louise C. Buhl. It was to serve "such religious, charitable, educational and public uses as the Board…shall direct."

Consideration is given to organizations located in the southwestern Pennsylvania region with special emphasis on the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Program Priorities

Based on the philosophy that its grants should strive not to displace other giving but rather to stimulate it, the Board of Directors has designated proposals with the following characteristics to be of particular interest to the Foundation:

• Educational programs.
• Programs for young people.
• Studies to produce practical applications which make a contribution to basic theory.
• Attempts which relate specialists in a common approach to problems or which call for cooperative efforts among separate agencies.
• Institutional, experimental, or demonstration approaches to resolving problems when they are innovative either for the institution or for institutions in general.
• Previously supported and promising programs where time extension or new developments would afford opportunity for enhancement of values already realized.

Application and Grant Procedures

• No specific application form is required. A letter of inquiry is sent to the President, to be followed by a formal proposal, if invited.
• Interviews and other follow-up procedures may then be carried out by arrangement with the President. Expression of interest in a proposal, or work with an applicant to assure best possible presentation, should not be construed as an indication of forthcoming grant approval.
• The Board of Directors of the Foundation usually meet eight times a year to act on program proposals. Proposals should be submitted to the President at least two months before consideration may be given by the Board.
• When a grant has been awarded, the grantee and Foundation agree upon schedules for grant payments and for progress reports on program achievements and financial stewardship, and for an evaluation on completion of the program.
• All inquiries and proposals are reported to the Board of Directors, including those which are declined.

Proposal Guidelines

A formal proposal must include all of the following:

• A statement of objectives of the proposed project, and the means by which those objectives are to be reached, including qualification of staff and a timetable.
• Documentation of need for the project, its significance or uniqueness in relation to other work being done in the field, and the result sought.
• A statement of procedures for evaluation of expected results.
• An itemized budget showing resources required for the project, an indication of other prospective funding sources, and the amount requested of each.
• General information about the applicant agency, its name, address, telephone number, contact person, executive director, members of its board, a brief history, its current mission, evidence of its tax status, and its capacity to implement and maintain the project.
• Statement that the proposal has been approved for submission to the Foundation by the executive leadership of the applicant institution.
• Applicants may find the Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania Common Grant Application format useful. This can be downloaded at www.gwpa.org.

Limitations

Grants are not normally made for building funds, overhead costs, accumulated deficits, ordinary operating budgets, general fund-raising campaigns, loans, scholarships and fellowships, other foundations, nationally funded organized groups or individuals.

Grants are not made for support of propaganda, sectarian religious activities, efforts to influence legislation or for conferences or seminars, unless grant-related.

Grants are limited to organizations which are defined as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and which are not private or operating foundations as defined in section 509(a) of the Code.

Grants are usually awarded for a limited period of time, such as one to three years.

It is important to note that the Foundation receives more good proposals than it can support, therefore worthwhile projects must often be declined.

All correspondence should be addressed to: