Oral Health Grant Program

At Delta Dental of Missouri, our passion and our purpose is to improve oral health for all ages.  We fulfill this mission in part through our oral health grant program.

Objectives

The objectives of the Delta Dental of Missouri Grant Program are to:

• Reduce oral disease through education, prevention and treatment.

• Ensure access to affordable, timely and high-quality dental health care.

• Enhance the awareness of good oral health with a focus on children, the indigent, and other underserved populations.

• Make a measurable difference in the oral health of Missourians, with an emphasis on underserved populations.

• Ensure that Missouri is among the states with the highest indicators of oral health.

 

Grants are generally awarded for:

• Project/Program/Restricted

• Capacity Building

• Equipment

• Preference will be given to proposals focused on increasing access to care in rural, dental health professional shortage area.

• Preference will be given to proposals showing a dollar-for-dollar level of matching from other sources

 

Minimum Grant Amount: Over $5,000 (requests for $5,000 or less should be submitted through the community donations application)

Maximum Grant Amount: $100,000

All approved grants will be for a single year of support. Organizations should only submit one (1) grant request per organization per year. Additional requests will not be considered for funding. Grant funding is only guaranteed for the one-year grant term and does not necessarily indicate continuing support in subsequent years.

Eligibility

Organizations receiving funding must: 

• Be a public charity classified as exempt from federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; or

• Be a governmental entity or academic institution such as a not-for-profit school or health department.

• Serve individuals in the state of Missouri.

 

Please note: All applicants are required to submit financial statements for the recent fiscal year.

• Organizations in existence for more than five years and with operating income of $500,000 or more are required to submit audited financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal year.

• Organizations with annual income under $500,000 or founded within the last five years must submit an independent review of their financial statements, completed by a Certified Public Accountant.

• If an organization does not have an audit or independent financial review, they may only apply for a maximum grant amount of $25,000.

• Organizations submitting a completed financial audit or independent financial review are eligible to apply for up to $100,000.

Click here to view Oral Health Grant FAQs

 

Application Process

The grants program is a two-stage process which consists of submitting a letter of inquiry and, if invited, submitting a full application.

1. Applicants submit a Letter of Inquiry through the online application system in accord with the directions by the stated deadline. E-mailed or hard copy Letters of Inquiry will not be accepted. The purpose of the Letter of Inquiry is to enable any organization to present a program or project to Delta Dental of Missouri staff for an initial review.

2. Staff reviews the online Letters of Inquiry; for those organizations meeting initial criteria, staff may conduct a meeting or site visit to determine if a project is ready to go forward with a full application.

3. Using the online application system, applicants submit completed grant applications and supporting documents (as requested) by the deadline. There are two oral health grant applications: Missouri Oral Health Grants and South Carolina Oral Health Grants. Applicants should choose the appropriate application based on the location of the individuals being served by the project/program.

4. The Charitable Giving Committee evaluates each application and decides if grant funding will be awarded.

 

Preview the Letter of Inquiry PDF

Preview the Application PDF

2025 Grant Deadlines

    First Grant Cycle

  • Applications Open: February 3, 2025
  • LOI deadline: March 14, 2025
  • (If LOI is approved) Application Deadline: March 28, 2025
  • Application Review: April 2025
  • Announcement of Grantees: May 2025

    • Second Grant Cycle

  • Applications Open:  March 31, 2025
  • LOI deadline: June 13, 2025
  • (If LOI is approved) Application Deadline: June 27, 2025
  • Application Review: July 2025
  • Announcement of Grantees: August 2025

 

*Please note: Your Letter of Inquiry (LOI) will be reviewed within two weeks of submission to determine if the program/project is ready to move forward with a full application.  The LOI due date is the final date LOIs can be submitted to be considered for the grant cycle.

 

Applications for the 2025 Oral Health Grant Program will open in February 2025.

For any additional questions about the application process or using the online application system, please contact Stacy Harris at charitablegiving@deltadentalmo.com.