Common Grantseeker Questions

Please begin the process on the Grantseekers page.

Organizations best aligned with the Trust’s funding interests have at least three years of experience in research and/or education in ornamental horticulture. Requests from organizations with less than three years of experience in research and/or education in ornamental horticulture are not likely to be successful. The Trust may consider requests from such organizations if the request can demonstrate that the principal or key staff of the proposed project has this experience.

Please contact Grants@SmithHT.org.

The deadline to submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) is June 15, 2026 and the deadline to submit an invited full proposal is July 15, 2026.

LOIs and Proposals are only accepted through the Trust’s online grants portal. Do not mail a funding request to the Trust. For more information, please see the Grantseekers page.

No.

Guidelines and requirements for funding requests are explained in the Trust’s online grants portal, at the LOI and Proposal stages. Funding requests are accepted online only.

For more information about the Trust’s grantmaking priorities, see Funding Interests.

For more information about how to apply for funding, see Grantseekers.

LOIs are reviewed in the order received. Staff will respond to LOIs via email. Eligible organizations whose LOIs are found to be strongly-aligned with the Trust’s funding interests will be invited to submit a full Proposal, also through the Trust’s online grants portal.

Trustee decisions are made once a year, typically in November. Decision notifications and grant payments are typically sent out in early December.

The Trust makes grants to organizations conducting activities in North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand.

Yes, however, new funding requests are only considered if eligibility and reporting guidelines have been met. See Reporting for more information. Also, organizations may receive a grant no more than every other year.

No. The Trust only makes grants to tax-exempt organizations that qualify as, or are equivalent to, public charities.

An organization should request an amount that is appropriate for their project. The maximum grant awarded by the Trust is $25,000, however, grants normally do not exceed $20,000. For more information see Recent Grants.

A large number of worthy organizations approach the Trust for support. The process is highly competitive. Even if a project fits within the foundation’s guidelines, it may not be funded. In 2025, approximately 18% of invited proposals were funded.

Please see Reporting for instructions on how to submit your report to the Trust.

If you have any questions about your reporting requirements, please contact the Director of Grants Management at dgaff@smithht.org.

A foreign charitable organization may submit an inquiry to the Trust, as long as the organization and program meet the Trust’s guidelines. Before a grant is awarded, the Trust will engage NGOsource to work with the organization to determine whether or not the organization can be treated as equivalent to a U.S. public charity.

The top reasons that a request is denied are:

• The proposal was not judged to be as competitive as those that received funding.
• The request is not strongly related to research and education in ornamental horticulture.
• The organization did not submit all the information required in the application guidelines.
• The organization is not up to date on reporting on previous grant(s).

The Foundation Center maintains a comprehensive listing of U.S. foundations and their areas of interest.