Grant Making
OLAF's organizational mission is to ensure equal access to justice and to assure that resources, programs and services exist statewide to serve the unmet civil legal needs of Ohio's poor.
OLAF ONLY AWARDS GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE LEGAL AID SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE STATE OF OHIO.
In 2006, a new 15% set-aside from the legal aid fund was allocated to the Ohio legal assistance foundation fund. OLAF's board directed that these funds be used to establish and maintain a pool of discretionary funds to address the gaps in the delivery system identified in OLAF's planning process.
OLAF continues to use funds from the 15% set-aside, as well as other available funds, to support projects which address the delivery system needs identified through the planning process.
OLAF also developed specific goals, regarding the OLAF grants process. These goals are to:
Expand legal services through quality projects and efforts that are aligned with priority strategies from the strategic planning process;
Promote administrative ease and develop a streamlined process which can be used for making multiyear grants;
Create clear, easy-to-understand selection criteria;
Ensure a fair and transparent grant-making process; and,
Tie selection criteria to performance/outcome measures and community impact.
OLAF has developed these application instructions and the OLAF grants process to help ensure the foundation achieves our goals, which reflect input from stakeholders on how to support new directions and quality programming most effectively, while building upon the experiences and accomplishments of our partners to date.