An affiliate of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, a partner with FESAC, Sonora,
Mexico and a member of the US/Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership.
Grant Round 2013 – 2014 Details
The Santa Cruz Community Foundation (SCCF) will commit its 2013-2014 grant funds
to support the NPO Collaboration Challenge Grants.
Basic Eligibility Requirements
1. Each proposed collaboration application must have a lead agency. The lead agency
must be a 501(c)(3) in good standing conducting charitable work in Santa Cruz
County Arizona or Nogales, Sonora (as certified by FESAC).
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 the people of Santa Cruz County and/or
Nogales, Sonora.
4. Grants are not made to individuals, for-profit organizations, government entities,
capital fund drives, agency endowments, individual schools or for sectarian purposes.
5. Grant funds are to be used for the direct costs described in the project proposal.
Indirect costs will not be considered for funding.
6. An agency cannot apply for funding until all reports required in previous award
contracts have been received.
7. 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 unlawfully 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.
The following are the guidelines for this year’s granting process:
1. This grant cycle is dedicated to agencies that collaborate to strengthen programs
and save funds – collaboration here means the actual sharing of staff, facilities
and financial resources. If you are not currently involved in an active
collaboration but are committed to starting one, you can still apply. If you need
help locating partners, ask us.
2. SCCF welcomes applications that identify areas where the agencies involved in
the proposed collaboration will use technical assistance to strengthen their
capacity to plan, implement and evaluate programs as well as to improve their
management and governance system. If you are seeking capacity building or
technical assistance, please fill out and return that form.
3. SCCF will consider making multi-year grants if applying agencies can show
adequate multi year planning.
4. Special consideration will be given to projects that collaborate with counterparts
in Nogales, Sonora.
Key dates for the grant cycle are:
 April 10 Letter out to all NPOs announcing the 2013-2014 SCCF grant cycle and
inviting representatives to attend a training on how to form a collaborative. Grant
applications are available from the SCCF office or by email.
 May 7: Collaboration training at SCCF and briefing on application process. Map
and directions are available along with application from the SCCF office.
 May 17: Applications due by 4:00 pm. Electronic submission is acceptable.
 Grant Review committee meets – May 14, first round review
 Site visits when needed – May 21-23
 Final grant committee meeting (awards decided) – May 24
Application Process and Content
Collaborations meeting the requirements and priorities listed above must submit an
application no later than May 17, 2012, 4:00 P.M. that includes, in this sequence:
 The lead applicant’s mission statement, board and staff list, sources of funding and
IRS proof of non-profit status.
 What is the project? See Describe Your Request at the end of this document.
 A very brief (2 page max) description of all organizations involved in the
collaboration. Include the date founded, service areas, number of unduplicated
individuals served during the course of a year, and an overview of the types of
programs offered. Please include a short explanation of how the agencies in the
collaborative came together.
 A detailed lead agency current annual budget (for the year reflected in the grant
request), showing both income and expenses.
 A budget for the program for which you are seeking SCCF grant support. How much
are you requesting in SCCF financial support? What are other sources of support for
your project? Are you seeking multiyear support? See Tips on preparing a project
Budget for your grant application at the end of this document.
 A statement on how the governance, planning, implementation and evaluation (See
Evaluation at the end of this document) of the collaborative project will be handled
between the collaborating agencies. Have the boards of directors of all involved
agencies approved the project and is the approval reflected in their minutes?
 Let us know if the agencies involved in the collaboration are considering merger or
are focusing just on the specific project described in the application.
 An outline of the collaborative project seeking funding, the results your collaboration
hopes to achieve and a description of how those results will be verified and evaluated.
In all the above areas, brevity is appreciated. If we need more details we will ask for
them. Your total application should not exceed 10 pages, including attachments.
Please call Pat Trulock, Administrative Assistant, with any questions: 520-761-4531.
Applications are to be personally delivered, mailed or emailed to the Foundation’s office:
Sunrise Bank of Arizona Business Center, 825 N. Grand Avenue, Suite 104B, Nogales
85621. Hours of operation are 9-4 weekdays.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Important! Suggested guidelines for your application.
The easiest way to write your application and the one that is most helpful to
the reviewer of your application is to go right down the outline below and
answer each question in the order it is asked.
Describe Your Request (incorporating the following points:)








What is the name of your collaborative project?
What, in one sentence, do you propose to do with your collaboration?
What is the need that will be met by your activities?
Which results will you hold yourselves accountable for?
How will you achieve them?
How will SCCF grant funds and/or technical assistance help?
What will results really cost (time, staff, volunteers, equipment, funds etc), and
how can you support them now and over time?
How do you build the organization you need to deliver and sustain results?
Evaluation
Provide a clear plan for the evaluation of the results of the program/project in relation to
its stated objectives. How will you show that the expected outcomes were met? Include:
a) Outcomes,
b) How outcomes will be measured,
c) What would be considered a satisfactory level of accomplishment?
Tips on preparing a project Budget for your grant application







Clearly depict how much money is needed and how it will be used.
The budget should include sources (income) and uses (expenses) of funds.
Sources of funds should include names of other funding organizations and
amounts pledged or received as well as amounts still needed to be raised and
possible sources for those funds.
Indicate the time period covered by the budget. One year or multi year?
Indicate if requested expenses are one-time or ongoing.
Make sure that you have accounted for all costs, such as benefits and payroll taxes
as well as salaries, so that there will be no surprises mid-project.
Finally, make sure all the numbers add up.
Good luck – you will do great!