Examples of what can contribute to the declination of a grant application:

The majority of the hundreds of applications submitted to the Foundation annually are worthy of funding and serve an important need in the community. Unfortunately, many cannot be funded due to the limited funding resources of the Foundation. In addition, some applications do not merit serious consideration due to one or more of the following:

• All of the requested information is not included in the grant application (14% of the 2010 grant applications submitted were missing information). Agencies are strongly encouraged to submit their application well before the deadline so they may be contacted if information is missing. (More than half of the 2010 grant applications submitted were received on the deadline date).

• The nonprofit or project does not serve areas where there are large concentrations of Pacific Life employees; generally Orange County, Inland Empire, Long Beach, greater Los Angeles area, and Northern San Diego county, as well as the greater Omaha, NE area.

• The requested financial information on page two of the application (e.g., annual income, annual expenses, and unrestricted net assets) is not completely filled in, is left blank, or states “see enclosed.”

• A complete audited financial report or 990 Form is not provided.

• The most recent audited financial report or 990 Form is two years old or older.

• Sustainability of the agency is not demonstrated, e.g., annual agency budget of less than $100,000, etc.

• The line-item budget for the project does not match what is stated on the application.

• If applicable, a project summary (outcome) of the Pacific Life Foundation grant given in the previous year is not provided.

• Sectarian or denominational religious organizations do not demonstrate that their programs are broadly promoted, available to everyone, and free of religious orientation.

• A list of corporate and foundation agency supporters (and grant amounts contributed) is not provided.

• A video, DVD, CD, notebook, folder, or book is included with the application and the guidelines state they are not accepted.

• For a capital grant request, a list of the committed funders and their contribution amounts for the capital project are not provided.

• For a capital grant request, 50% of the fundraising goal has not been pledged.