Foundation grants are funded through the general fund of the ADEAGies Foundation (the Foundation). Annually, the ADEAGies Board of Trustees meets in March during the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition to determine the total amount of funding available for the upcoming fiscal year. This amount is considered when determining funding levels for each grant.

The Foundation seeks to fund as many projects as possible, which may naturally limit the amount of funding available for each proposal. In general, the Foundation prefers to fully fund proposals. However, some proposals may merit partial funding. The Board of Trustees reserves the right to make such decisions.

Foundation grants will be awarded to organizations/institutions an on annual basis.

The names of Principal Investigators (the individuals submitting a Letter of Intent or grant proposal) are confidential. Only funded grants (including the grant program/project, institution/organization name, title of the work and a short blurb or testimonial) are published on the ADEA and ADEAGies Foundation websites. The funded grant information may also be announced at the annual William J. Gies Awards Gala (Gies Awards Gala) and other ADEA events and meetings.

The ADEAGies Foundation Grants Committee will assess for merit all funding requests that clearly define the purpose of the program or project and are compliant with the ADEAGies guidelines.

The Grants Committee will discuss annually the overall funding process and identify any adjustments that may be needed with regard to the criteria, LOI instructions, proposal guidelines and overall grant program.

Any ADEA member at a U.S.-based nonprofit organization (exempt from federal taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Revenue Code) or Canada-based nonprofit charitable organization—including higher education institutions, dental schools, advanced dental and allied dental programs—is eligible to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for a grant. LOIs must demonstrate how the grant award would support dental education development, scientific achievement within the recognized dental specialties, oral health education or research. Non-member institutions/organizations are excluded from receiving funding.

Individuals whose LOI has been approved are invited to submit a Grant Proposal. Proposals expand on how the grant award would support dental education development, scientific achievement within the recognized dental specialties, oral health education or research. In each grant cycle, only one LOI submission per individual will be accepted; each organization/institution can receive only one grant from the Foundation in a funding cycle.

Funding for multiyear programs or projects are granted only one year at time with no guarantee of continued funding. There is a two-year maximum on grant funding for a single program or project.

2025 ADEAGies Foundation Grant Cycle

All LOIs and proposals will be evaluated for their alignment with the Foundation’s mission and goals.

For the 2025 grant cycle, the Foundation will give additional consideration to projects that:

• Highlight collaboration with partners contributing to the advancement of broader accessibility to oral health education, including partnerships with HBCUs and/or MSIs (minority serving institutions).
• Align with the ADEA Strategic Framework Goal 3: Re-envision the model for oral health education through projects that promote models of oral health education that increase affordability and sustainability.

The Foundation continues to welcome other project topics advancing oral health education as outlined below.

To be considered, LOIs and proposals must support at least one of the following focus areas: 

• Higher education systems: study and strengthen dental education as part of national and international systems.
• Faculty development: encourage diversity and inclusivity of full-time faculty leadership, teaching and research in support of institutional capacity building.
• Oral health-related research: increase capacity of academic dental institutions to conduct research. 
• Dental education curriculum development: evaluate and develop innovative curricula and pedagogy to reflect changing environments in dental education, research, leadership and service.
• Research in underserved populations: help dental and allied dental education programs develop strategies to provide access to oral health care for all.
• Professional ethic and social responsibility: develop programs that promote a diverse and inclusive workforce and support cultural competence and values that sustain the profession for the public good.
• Teaching and learning in dental education: preparing faculty for teaching dental and allied dental students in contemporary and innovative modes designed to advance learning in classrooms and clinics, and in small and large group settings. Additional consideration will be given to proposals that advance inclusive pedagogy, patient-centered, efficient learning models and financially sustainable methods based in outcomes research that address broad approaches to improving access in programs and communities.

LOIs will be reviewed for the following aspects:

• Collaboration intra-departmentally and/or across member institutions and organizations.
• Member institutions/organizations that have not previously received a Foundation grant.
• Projects or programs that have additional or matching funding.

The first step in being considered for an ADEAGies Foundation Grant is for Principal Investigators (PIs) to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI). The LOI must include a cover page with demographic and other information along with the one-page letter that addresses the questions below.

The LOI itself should not exceed one page, single-spaced, and should use a font size no smaller than 11-point with margins no smaller than one inch all around.

The deadline for grant seekers to submit a Letter of Intent is Sept. 3, 2024.

• Demographic information (e.g., Organization/Institution, Principal Investigator name and title, email/phone/mailing address, Program/Project Name).
• Information about any other significant sources of funding support to date for this program/project, both received and requested.
• Grant amount expected to be requested from the ADEAGies Foundation and estimate of how that funding will be divided between administrative and programming costs.
• If your organization/institution has previously applied for a grant from the ADEAGies Foundation (funded or unfunded), please provide information on those applications.

1. Describe your program’s/project’s mission and goals, how they align with the ADEAGies Foundation’s mission.
2. Which focus area(s) are addressed (see Proposal Guidelines document for list). What specific question(s) or issue(s) will your program/project address?
3. If approved, how will you use the grant funds specifically?
4. List the names and designations of persons and their roles on this project and any organizations and institutions involved with your program or project and how they contribute or are essential to the project.

Email your LOI with cover page to ADEAGies-Letter_of_Intent@adea.org.

Proposals should include the following information, preferably in the order indicated. The proposal itself should not exceed 10 pages, including budget and budget justification, single-spaced, and should use a font size no smaller than 11-point with margins no smaller than one inch all around. The proposal must be accompanied by a one-page cover letter/page and a proposed budget.

The cover letter/page should include the following information:

• ☑  Date
• ☑  Formal Name of Organization/Institution
• ☑  Address
• ☑  City/State/ZIP
• ☑  Name, Title, Phone, and E-mail of Principal Investigator
• ☑  Program or Project Name
• ☑  List of names and designations of persons and their roles on the program or project
• ☑  List of any organizations and institutions involved and how they contribute or are essential to the program or project
• ☑  Grant amount requested from ADEAGies Foundation

The proposal document should expand on your approved Letter of Intent (LOI) and include additional detail and information.

• Elaborate on the mission and goals of your program or project as described in your LOI and how they align with the mission of the ADEAGies Foundation. Be sure to include which focus area(s) it will address (see Proposal Guidelines below for list of focus areas).
• Describe how you will measure the anticipated impact, outcome or success of your program or project. Include any specific events, documents, presentations or other material results.
• If a grant is awarded, explain how you will anticipate recognizing the ADEAGies Foundation. Include any planned use of signage, official ADEAGies logo, media announcements, etc.
• If a grant is awarded, which of the following are you able to provide from your program or project (participant testimonials, participant stories, conference presentations, other)?
• If your organization/institution has previously applied for a grant from the ADEAGies Foundation (funded or unfunded), please provide information on those applications.

Use the proposal budget spreadsheet to provide an estimated program or project budget.

• Complete only the areas that are relevant for your budget; leave irrelevant sections blank, do not delete them.
• Do not enter any information in the yellow cells. These cells contain formulas that will calculate your costs and roll them up into the overall budget.
• During the proposal stage, you will not enter any information into the Actual Expenditures column.
• Under personnel, no more than three individuals will be funded.

Email your complete proposal to ADEAGies-GrantProposals@adea.org.

The ADEAGies Foundation does not fund the following: 

• Operational phases of established programs.
• Capital expenses (facilities and equipment, except as part of a programmatic effort).
• Indirect or overhead costs.
• Capital campaigns or annual funds.
• Conferences and special events that are not part of a larger programmatic effort.
• Films, television, radio programs or other public awareness initiatives, unless they are key aspects of a programmatic effort.
• Direct patient care services.
• Clinical demonstration projects.
• Discretionary or emergency requests.
• General operational expenses as distinct from program or project costs (e.g., rent, utility bills).
• Individuals or individual research programs outside of the programmatic effort. • Lobbying and/or political campaigns or endorsements.
• Organization/institution budget shortfalls.
• Goods or services purchased prior to notification of the grant award.
• Recurring salary commitments for additional personnel or student workers.
• Extensive travel expenses not directly related to programmatic effort and that do not directly affect project outcomes.
• Food subsidy used as an incentive for support staff and student participation.

Note the following:

• Funds are allowed to be used for temporary, one-time expenditures for a consultant engagement.
• In each grant cycle, only one LOI submission per individual will be accepted; each organization/institution can receive only one grant from the Foundation in a funding cycle.
• Incomplete proposals will not be considered or returned to the PI for resubmission.
• Critiques of proposals will not be provided.
• Due to the volume of requests, we cannot respond to inquiries regarding proposal review status (see the grant lifecycle timeline above).
• Only the material requested in the proposal guidelines will be considered during the review. Additional items submitted with the proposal (e.g., CDs or videos) will be discarded.