The 2016-17 Season for Sharing campaign kicks off in November

Season for Sharing, the annual campaign of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, in partnership with the Gannett Foundation, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and the Arizona Community Foundation, raises awareness and dollars for non-profit 501(c)3 agencies that help the Valley’s neediest.

Specific funding priorities

Grants will be made to organizations that match the criteria:

Children and families

• Support of programs that focus on preventing child abuse, protecting children from abuse, finding permanent appropriate placements and providing support for children in the foster care system.
• Programs that offer access to free or low-cost food including food banks and meal programs for children.
• Programs that help people receive emergency short-term shelter and long-term affordable housing.
• Programs that provide for short-term emergency needs including personal care or hygiene items, clothing, rental or utility assistance or disaster relief.
• Programs that help disadvantaged populations with job training and support for the under-employed and unemployed youth and adults.

Education

• Programs that support early childhood education and quality childcare for disadvantaged populations.
• Programs that enhance and/or improve K-12 core curriculum including tutoring and academic after-school programs.
• Programs that provide for school readiness (back to school clothing, supplies, and school food programs).
• Programs that ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college or the workforce.
• Programs that support adult and family literacy programs.

Domestic violence

• Programs that support abuse prevention and victims of domestic violence and abuse including emergency shelter, housing, counseling, lay-legal advocacy, case management, crisis hotline, and job training and education.

Older adults

• Programs and services for the elderly including supportive services, assisted living services, Alzheimer’s support, access to free or low cost in-home or congregate meal programs and nutrition assistance, and recreational services.

Thank You Thursday: Season for Sharing raised $2.73M for local nonprofits

Funding request range

Average grant range is $5,000 to $30,000. No grant requests for less than $5,000 will be considered. First-year recipients of a Season for Sharing grant should expect no more than $5,000.

Eligibility requirements

Applicants must meet the following six criteria:

• Priority is given to agencies that serve low-income and under-served families and children.
• Primary geographic focus areas are Maricopa and Pinal counties, and all grants must be for programs in the state of Arizona.
• Agency must be providing services in Arizona for a minimum of three years and, as a rule, have a minimum operating budget of $200,000 (can include in-kind support and must be reflected in profile budget or latest 990). 
• Agency must not request than 5 percent of total annual operating budget (including in-kind donations), and no more than 10 percent of total contributed annual income (excluding in-kind donations).
• Agency must be receiving income for proposed projects from multiple sources; Season for Sharing dollars cannot be the only source of funding.
• Agency can apply for one category only.

Please note the following are ineligible for Season for Sharing funding:

• Agencies or programs that primarily support a specific disease, disability, illness or addiction and/or whose primary mission is funding medical or scientific research.
• Agencies that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, disability, ancestry, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. 
• Religious organizations, churches, and programs that are purely denominational in purpose.
• Sports teams or sporting programs or programs that are primarily recreational in purpose.

General guidelines:

• There is no guarantee of funding. Grants are competitive and funding may vary each year based on the annual campaign’s success.  
• Agencies previously funded may request an increased grant award. However, requests with a greater than a 50% increase may not be considered. 
• In general, pilot programs are not traditionally funded. Grant requests that most effectively address the one or more defined criteria in each category that can show measurable results and outcomes are more likely to be funded.

Timeline for 2016-17 grant making

• Grant cycle opens Monday, Sept. 12, 2016.
• Applications are due 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, 2016; no exceptions.
• Giving Committee will make final recommendations by Feb. 24, 2017.
• Grant awards and decline letters will be emailed out by March 14, 2017.

Grant deadline

Proposals must be submitted online by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, 2016. No exceptions

How to apply

Season for Sharing grants are submitted through the Arizona Community Foundation grants portal . Season for Sharing is a donor-advised fund of the Arizona Community Foundation (non- profit tax ID# 86-0348306).

If your organization has an ACF profile:

Go to the Arizona Community Foundation’s grants page by clicking here.

If your organization does not have a registered ACF profile :

If your organization needs to be registered, please go the ACF site here and select “Grantee Login”  to sign up. Once you are registered, you may begin the application process by starting a new application. You may also edit organizational information once you have logged in and attached your organization to your profile.

For assistance with technical questions regarding the online registration and application, please contact our Competitive Grants Management Team at grants@azfoundation.org or 602-381-1400.

Tips for submitting

All users will be required to update and complete their organizational profile before being able to submit any grant application.

Do not wait until the deadline date to apply.

• During the last week of any grant cycle’s duration, you will have limited access to ACF technical support.
• It is recommended that the application be prepared offline in a text editor such as Microsoft Word to ensure a duplicate exists.
• Update your browser. Google Chrome is the recommended browser. You can download Chrome here: 
• If you prefer another browser, please download Mozilla Firefox or update to the current version of this program. You can do that by clicking here. We do not recommend using Internet Explorer.
• There are new fields in the organizational profile to complete. Be sure to update and complete the profile before submitting your proposal.
• Narrative responses are limited to the maximum word count. You do not have to use all the words. Only provide information that is pertinent.
• Be sure to review applications for spelling and grammar errors.
• Be sure to check for an email notification indicating that your application has been submitted. 

How to get help

Due to the high volume of calls and inquiries as the deadline nears, organizations are encouraged to contact staff well in advance of the deadline with any questions! During the last week of any grant cycle’s duration, you will have limited access to ACF technical support or Community Relations at The Arizona Republic.

For technical assistance with the website, including organizational profile and the online application, please contact a member of the ACF Grants Management Team at 602-381-1400 or grants@azfoundation.org.