Sample Cover Letter

The Virtual Community Group, Inc.

17 Park Road
Rural Town, NH

July 1, 1995

Jane Smith, Executive Director

Xavier Foundation
555 S. Smith St.
Washington, D.C. 22222

Dear Ms. Smith,

I am pleased to submit this proposal from the Virtual Community Group, Inc., requesting an
investment of $50,000 per year over two years from the Xavier Foundation to support our Enterprise
2000 initiative. This grant would provide part of the funds needed for us to train at least 1200 low-
income entrepreneurs in rural New Hampshire, helping them acquire the computer skills they need to
create sustainable local businesses as we enter the twenty-first century.

As elsewhere in the U.S., the economic health of New Hampshire's rural communities has suffered
steady decline since the early 1900's. Family farms, which once formed an economic base supporting
large numbers of rural inhabitants, have been all but eradicated by large-scale agribusiness.
Moreover, since 1960, New Hampshire has lost xx% of its manufacturing jobs, as corporations or local
factories have shut down or moved operations out of state. As a result, many thousands of individuals
from New Hampshire -- particularly our young people -- are moving to cities to seek jobs, not only
depopulating and further impoverishing rural communities, but contributing to the growing pool of
urban unemployed.

By tapping the energy of the small local entrepreneur, and linking it to the explosion in
communications technologies, we believe it is possible to reverse this trend, enabling rural inhabitants
to retain viable, high-quality jobs far from industrial and urban centers. Small towns would again offer
a wide spectrum of employment opportunities -- from small manufacturing to services to retail -- and
develop sound, diversified economies for the first time in generations.

Unfortunately, many small entrepreneurs cannot afford either the training or equipment needed to
participate in the rewards of the Information Revolution. Enterprise 2000 was designed explicitly to
address this lack of parity, and help level the communications playing field. Working in collaboration
with microenterprise organizations, community colleges, and agencies which recycle computer
hardware, Enterprise 2000 will offer disadvantaged entrepreneurs the following services at low or no
charge:

 Day-time or evening classes in basic, intermediate, and advanced computer skills

 Training to use the Internet and other information networks
  Assessment of MIS needs

Access to reconditioned computer hardware After two years of experimentation and program
development, the Virtual Community Group has fashioned a superb, easily replicable model in
Enterprise 2000, and established a high degree of credibility among community groups, policy makers,
and funders. Our collaboration with other agencies leverages every dollar invested. Given that the
Xavier Foundation has already made a number of strategic investments to improve the lives of the
rural poor, we are calling on you to help us advance our joint objective one step further.

I appreciate your consideration of this proposal. Please feel free to call me if you have questions or
would like us to arrange a site visit. I look forward to meeting with you soon.

Sincerely,

Executive Director
(This sample cover letter was created for AGM by Molly Clark Associates.)
Sample Letter of Inquiry

The Virtual Community Group, Inc.

17 Park Road
Rural Town, NH

January 2, 2011

Jane Smith, Executive Director

Xavier Foundation
555 S. Smith St.
Washington, D.C. 22222

Dear Ms. Smith,

I am writing to inquire whether the Xavier Foundation would invite a proposal from the Virtual
Community Group, Inc., requesting an investment of $50,000 per year over two years to support our
Enterprise 2000 initiative. This grant would provide part of the funds needed for us to train at least
1200 low-income entrepreneurs in rural New Hampshire in the computer skills they need to create
sustainable businesses as we enter the twenty-first century. Your literature indicates that the Xavier
Foundation is searching for innovative ideas to improve the lives of the rural poor; we believe
Enterprise 2000 falls well within your area of interest.

Information technologies are a promising solution to one of the primary obstacles facing the small
rural enterprise: the geographic distances which inhibit networking with other businesses, and which
segregate them from a larger marketplace. The Internet and other networks are now making it
possible for entrepreneurs even in the most remote locations to communicate and do business on a
region-wide, national, or even international basis. Working in conjunction with other organizations,
Enterprise 2000 gives program participants technical skills training adapted to individual need; and, in
collaboration with organizations which recondition and redistribute used computers, we also assure
that they obtain the necessary computer hardware, at low or no cost.

We believe that broadly-implemented technical skills programs such as Enterprise 2000 have the
potential to transform the lives of many struggling entrepreneurs, and change the economic landscape
of impoverished rural communities. Unlike many poverty alleviation initiatives, all of the Virtual
Community Group programs are predicated on the assumption that these entrepreneurs already have
90% of what it takes to compete in the marketplace -- intelligence, ambition, initiative, and talent.
After two years of experimentation and program development, the Virtual Community Group has
fashioned a superb, easily replicable model in Enterprise 2000, and established a high degree of
credibility among community groups, policy makers, and funders. With your support, we can make
that 10% difference in the lives of these hard-working people and the future of our rural communities.

Please feel free to call me with any questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,

Executive Director

(This sample letter of inquiry was created for AGM by Molly Clark Associates.)