Thanks. We should probably try to display this on our website properly. We have been able to fund for-profits in the past, but it is pretty difficult. I don’t think the only reason we passed on your application was that it’s for-profit, but that did make our bar much higher (this is a consequence of US/UK charity law and isn’t a reflection on the impact of non-profits/for-profits).
By the way, I personally think that your project should probably be a for-profit, as it will be easier to raise funding, users will hold you to higher standards, and your team seems quite value-aligned.
Ok, but the message I received was specifically saying you can’t fund for-profits and that we can re-apply as a non-profit:
“We rejected this on the grounds that we can’t fund for-profits. If you reorganize as a non-profit, you can reapply to the LTFF in an future funding round, as this would change the application too significantly for us to evaluate it in this funding round. Generally, we think it’s good when people run for-profits, and other grant makers can fund them.”
We will reconsider going the for-profit route in the future (something we’ve thought a lot about), but for now have gotten funding elsewhere as a non-profit to survive for the next 6 months.
Just a quick note, I completely understand where you guys are coming from and just wanted to share the information. This wasn’t intended as a call-out or anything. I trust you guys and appreciate the work you do!
Thanks. We should probably try to display this on our website properly. We have been able to fund for-profits in the past, but it is pretty difficult. I don’t think the only reason we passed on your application was that it’s for-profit, but that did make our bar much higher (this is a consequence of US/UK charity law and isn’t a reflection on the impact of non-profits/for-profits).
By the way, I personally think that your project should probably be a for-profit, as it will be easier to raise funding, users will hold you to higher standards, and your team seems quite value-aligned.
Ok, but the message I received was specifically saying you can’t fund for-profits and that we can re-apply as a non-profit:
“We rejected this on the grounds that we can’t fund for-profits. If you reorganize as a non-profit, you can reapply to the LTFF in an future funding round, as this would change the application too significantly for us to evaluate it in this funding round.
Generally, we think it’s good when people run for-profits, and other grant makers can fund them.”
We will reconsider going the for-profit route in the future (something we’ve thought a lot about), but for now have gotten funding elsewhere as a non-profit to survive for the next 6 months.
Sorry, I agree this message is somewhat misleading—I’ll ask our ops team to review this.
Just a quick note, I completely understand where you guys are coming from and just wanted to share the information. This wasn’t intended as a call-out or anything. I trust you guys and appreciate the work you do!