Here are answers to the most common questions we get from applicants. They are grouped by category, as follows:

1. FS Foundation Terms
2. Organization Eligibility
3. Program Eligibility
4. Accessing and Using the SMApply Portal

FS Foundation Terms

What is a person with functionally limited abilities (PWF)?

For our purposes, a PWF means someone who cannot readily interact with others equitably due to chronic physical or mental impairments—caused by birth defects, illness, injury or PTSD—which severely limit basic life activities, leading to social isolation and dependence on others.

What are "basic" activities?

For our purposes, "basic" means anything essential to surviving and thriving in the most fundamental ways—e.g. meeting fundamental human needs like food, water, shelter, livelihood, security.

What is an impairment?

For our purposes, physical or mental impairments include, non-exhaustively: reduced vision, hearing, communication, movement, learning, or immunity.

They may be caused by birth defects, cognitive disorders, irrecoverable injuries, persistent medical conditions, etc.

What is a "chronic" impairment?

For our purposes, an impairment is "chronic" if it is untreatable, unmanageable, or unresponsive to established treatments, causing progressive or life-long struggles.

Organization Eligibility

What does The FS Foundation require to be considered a U.S. non-profit?

We require grant recipients to be federally tax-exempt under United States Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).

To support our verification checks, your organization must have an exempt Employer Identification Number (EIN) and have filed at least one full Form 990 return. Those organizations who have filed only such forms as 990-EZ,  990-N, or 990-PF are not eligible to apply.

What does The FS Foundation look for in terms of operating finances?

The ideal applicant will:

• have revenue of at least $250,000 in its most recent complete fiscal year;
• be on track to remain above that mark in the current fiscal year; and
• maintain administrative/general overhead at under 35% of total spending.

Our evaluations award higher priority to applicants who also generate a significant portion of their revenue from product sales or fees-for-service.

Program Eligibility

What is a "new" or "improved" project?

A "new" project is something you haven't done before. It might be a pilot program, or a full rollout following one.

We consider a project "improved" if, for example, you are modifying an existing program to serve a new geographic area, or to accommodate varied abilities in ways it currently does not—such as including non-PWFs or other PWFs as peers, mentors, or staff working with or designing adaptations for PWFs.

The most important piece of this requirement is that we will not give a grant simply to sustain an ongoing program, unchanged, if it has already existed for more than two years.

What outcomes does The FS Foundation look for in proposed programs?

We seek greater community access and interaction for PWFs by, for example, facilitating applied research and assistive technology, inclusive creative expression, career training and technical education, or mental or physical health improvements.

The most important question is of intent and pre-session marketing/engagement. Statistics are always interesting, but participants' medical details are not our focus—nor even required. You're welcome to provide us with any survey results you collect along the way after program delivery, but we're chiefly concerned with whether you will commit up front to actively seeking out those who might not otherwise even think to sign up.

Our aim is a little higher than just accommodating folks as they come in. We think both groups are equally important:

• Those with limitations should get to push against them.
• More typically-abled peers should get to see what it's like to work around some of those everyday abilities that many of us just take for granted.

Your program plan should involve both of these demographics, not on separate tracks but together in the same sessions.

What makes a project's budget "complete"?

Your budget spreadsheet must serve as a standalone strategic document demonstrating fiscal sustainability over the project's lifetime. We strongly encourage you to feature:

• A diverse mix of earned revenue categories and contributed funding sources, illustrating a limited reliance on any single income stream.
• Clearly itemized project expenses showing how resources are strategically deployed over time.
• Side-by-side annual columns tracking the projected growth, scaling, or stabilization of the project in its first few years.

Accessing and Using the SMApply Portal

I don't have an account. How do I get started?

If you are already registered with an Individual profile—welcome back, 2024 applicants!—see the next section.

Brand new users must "Register as an Organization" when creating an account. Depending on timing, you might need to respond to an invitation email first so our staff can start your signup process.

Before you start your registration, refer to the How to Register and Required Information sections in SMA's Help Center.

If upon trying to confirm your signup via email you see the error, "This link is invalid or has expired," please try to log in anyway. This glitch has been tricky to pin down. Signing in will probably still work, but please get in touch if it doesn't.

I already have an account, but never created an Organization profile. What do I do?

Our application process in 2024 used Individual accounts. This year, we have switched to accepting applications from Organization accounts.

Existing Individual users will have to create an Organization in order to proceed. Until SMA updates its instructions for doing so, here's our tested version:

1. Log into the application site
2. Click your name in the top right corner
3. Choose My Account
4. On the My Account page, go to the Site Settings tab
5. Click the Set up organization button and go through the process

If your organization already has a profile from another SMA portal, see the How do I Join an Existing Organization section in SMA's Help Center.

What do I need to do before starting an application?

If you have an account but can't start an application, be sure your Organization is selected in the top left of your screen, where your login might have defaulted to Individual mode.

Refer to the How do I toggle between my individual and organization account? section in SMA's Help Center.

What do I do if I run into an error or get stuck?

Please first check the SMApply Help Center, accessible via the top right menu. While not always completely comprehensive, the platform's documentation covers a lot of ground.

You can also "Contact support" from the same menu; this will take you first to an automated chatbot that has been trained on the help articles, and you can ask it for guidance. It might also suggest contacting SurveyMonkey Support if it can't help you.

If you are still stuck, feel free to "Contact the site administrator" via email and we'll do our best to help you troubleshoot. Self-help is great and all, but sometimes the problem really is our fault—and we'd like to fix it!