Santa Cruz Community Foundation: 2015 Spring Grant Round

Who We Are

An affiliate of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, the Santa Cruz Community Foundation (SCCF) is a permanent charitable resource that was founded in 2001 by area residents to empower their community to invest in itself. SCCF assists Santa Cruz County to prepare for the future by strengthening the community through the awarding of scholarships and grants to nonprofit organizations.

As SCCF’s umbrella organization, the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSA) provides expertise and skilled guidance to help donors give back in ways that are aligned with their charitable and financial goals. The Board of Trustees oversees the Foundation’s growing community endowment – which includes assets earmarked for Santa Cruz County - and ensures that donors’ intentions are honored now and forever. Last fiscal year, the Foundation distributed over $5.4 million.

Introduction

Up to $40,000 is available this grant year; requests up to $5,000 will be considered. NOTE: this is not a grant for general support. Choose a specific program as the focus of this request.

Basic Eligibility Requirements

  1. The applicant must be a 501(c)(3) in good standing, conducting charitable work in Santa Cruz County.
  2. The organization must have local leadership in the form of a board of directors or advisory committee, local financial support, and local program management and accountability. In the case of nationally-sponsored organizations, no portion of the grant can be used to support the national, state or regional entity.
  3. The proposed program must directly benefit people living inSanta Cruz County.
  4. Grants are generally not made to individuals, for profit organizations, government entities, capital fund drives, agency endowments, individual schools or for sectarian purposes.
  5. The grant period is one year in duration. An agency can not apply for funding until all reports required for previous awards have been received.
  6. One of our guiding principles is to honor the rich diversity of our community and to promote equal opportunities for all people. Awards made by the Foundation’s various grant panels support organizations that do not discriminate in their employment practices, volunteer opportunities or delivery of programs and services on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, disability, ethnicity, marital status, familial status, gender identity, economic circumstances and/or veteran status.

Priority will be given to organizations that:

  • are working collaboratively with other agencies on the planning and implementation of the project.
  • utilize the Making Action Possible (MAP) website (

and/or other research that supports the specific request.

  • have involvedstaff, volunteers, and current/potential participants in the planning and implementation of the proposed program.
  • enable individuals to identify, contribute and enhance their skills, abilities, capacities and assets, focusing on strengths rather than problems or deficiencies.
  • can clearly articulate the outcomes the program/participants will achieve and be able to collect the data to demonstrate measurable progress toward the accomplishment of those outcomes.
  • can provide a clear description of plans to sustain the organization and/or program beyond the grant period.

PLEASE NOTE: Only one application will be accepted per organization. The maximum request is $5,000.

Application Process

Organizations meeting the requirements and priorities listed above are encouraged to submit an original and 10 copies of theapplicationno later thanMarch 27, 2015. The application packet is comprised of the following:

a.)a completed cover sheet.

b.)a narrative of no more than fourpages that covers the following information:

1.) Provide a brief, bulleted description of the organization that includes:

  • service area
  • number of unduplicated individuals served during the course of the year
  • an overview of the programs offered

2.)A detailed outline of the program to be funded, including a description of the participants, a list of partners (if any), implementation timeline, etc.

3.)The measurable outcomes the agency hopes to achieve and a description of how those outcomes will be verified.

4.)A description of how the program/activity might be sustained beyond the grant period.

c.)a completed program budget.

d.)a list of executive and program staff. Provide titles and tenure with the organization, and whether they are full-time or part-time

e.)a list of board members. Indicate years of service and board officers/title

Please use a standard typeface of 12 points or larger and leave margins of at least ¾ of an inch on all four sides. Collate and staple the pages together in the upper left-hand corner. Our preference is that copies are double sided, but this is not required. Please indicate which packet has the original signatures - a sticky note works just fine.

For our records, we will need

  • ONE copy of your final determination letter from the federal tax authorities,
  • ONE copy of the last audit if available, or if not, the most recent Form 990,
  • ONE copy of the current agency budget showing progress toward financial goals, and
  • ONE copy of last fiscal year’s end-of-year accounting approved by the agency’s Board.

Please attach these documents to the original.

Do NOT attach a cover letter, brochures, flyers, newspaper articles or letters of support. Do NOT use binders or report covers.

Application Deadline:

March 27, 2015 by 4:30 P.M.

Applications may be mailed or hand-delivered, and have to arrive at the office by the deadline.

If mailed they must be received in our office before the March 27 deadline.

Faxed or e-mailed letters will not be accepted.

Other Important Dates:

  • Site visits will be conducted between April 20 and April 27, 2015.Please indicate when you submit your application if there are weekdays and/or times during this time frame when key individuals will not be available and we will try to avoid them when doing our scheduling.
  • Notification letters will be mailed the week of June 14, 2015.
  • All grantees will be required to submit a six-month report at a face-to-face meeting (date, time, location TBD) and a final report.
  • The Santa Cruz Community Foundation is planning to again hold a celebratory reception for the grantees and the community. Each organization receiving a grant should plan to send a representative. Date, time and location TBD.

Address applications to:

Barbara Brown

VP/Program Services and Community Initiatives

Community Foundation for Southern Arizona

2250 E. Broadway Blvd.

Tucson, AZ 85719-6014

The office is open Monday – Friday from 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M.

Questions?

Contact Barbara at (520) 770-0800 ext. 7119, (520) 209-2866 or

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