The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Grant

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, or AVDF, provides grant funding through multiple Program Areas. According to the supplied Grant Calendar, AVDF accepts open-submission funding requests in only one Program Area, Private Higher Education. The Foundations other four Program Areas are by invitation only. The source therefore identifies Private Higher Education as the program area through which unsolicited applicants may enter the grant review process. The supplied material does not state an award range, total program funding amount, expected number of awards, geographic restriction, cost-sharing requirement, or detailed restrictions on how awarded funds may be spent. AVDF uses a two-stage competitive review process for open-submission requests. The first required stage is a letter of inquiry. Applicants must submit the letter of inquiry through the Foundations online portal by the applicable deadline. AVDF staff review all letters of inquiry and determine which requests are sufficiently competitive to advance. Applicants submitting the most competitive letters of inquiry are invited by AVDF Program staff to proceed to the second stage and submit a full proposal. Thus, submission of a letter of inquiry does not guarantee access to the full proposal stage. For the 2026-2027 review cycle, the letter of inquiry deadline is August 27, 2026. All materials must be received by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on that date to be eligible for review in the annual cycle. AVDF plans to issue full proposal invitations on October 8, 2026. Invited applicants must then submit all required full proposal materials by November 13, 2026, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time. The source does not identify the specific questions, narrative sections, attachments, financial documents, or other components required within either the letter of inquiry or full proposal. The supplied source does not provide detailed scoring criteria or a formal evaluation rubric. It does, however, establish competitiveness as an important element of the first-stage review: AVDF staff review all letters of inquiry and invite applicants with the most competitive submissions to provide full proposals for further consideration. Full proposals recommended for approval proceed to review by the AVDF Board of Trustees. The source does not describe the factors used by staff to recommend a full proposal for Board consideration, nor does it identify a required interview, site visit, presentation, or other due-diligence step. Board review decisions for the 2026-2027 cycle are issued in February or May 2027. AVDF explains that various factors determine when an individual full proposal will be reviewed by the Board, so applicants should not assume that every proposal will receive a decision during the same Board review month. Applicants are specifically instructed to assume a project start date of June 1 or later in the year following submission of their request. The source therefore indicates that applicants submitting during the 2026 cycle should plan for a project start date of June 1, 2027, or later. The Grant Calendar describes this process as an annual cycle, supporting treatment of the opportunity as recurring. Based on the supplied 2026-2027 cycle, the current letter of inquiry deadline is August 27, 2026, followed by invitations on October 8, 2026, the full proposal deadline on November 13, 2026, and Board decisions in February and May 2027. The source provides an application portal but does not identify an individual program contact, program email address, telephone number, or downloadable PDF solicitation. It also does not state a matching requirement, award floor, award ceiling, total available funding, award count, or formal performance period beyond the instruction to assume a June 1 or later project start date.

Prepare a competitive letter of inquiry because AVDF advances applicants submitting the most competitive letters of inquiry. Submit all materials by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on the applicable deadline. Plan for a project start date of June 1 or later in the year following submission.