About Our Grantmaking

Below is a list of frequently asked questions regarding our grantmaking. If you do not see your question listed below, feel free to contact us with your question.

Background to Grantmaking at the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona?
Social Change Grantmaking
What are the funding restrictions?
Target Populations
What size and types of grants does the Foundation make?
Grant Categories
What is the Evaluation and Reporting Process for grant recipients?
What is the renewal policy?

Background to Grantmaking at the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona

The mission of the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona is to foster equity and opportunity for women and girls. One of more than a hundred women's funds globally, the Foundation advances women's leadership and philanthropy by raising, managing and granting money to meet the needs of women and girls. The Women's Foundation strives to improve the status of women and girls in southern Arizona by supporting and funding public policy work, advocacy, and research.

The Board of Trustees, a community-based volunteer board, sets the funding priorities of the Women's Foundation. According to national research, including the 2004 Status of Women in Arizona Report, a research document authored by the Institute for Women's Policy Research and co-sponsored by the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona, Arizona ranks:

2nd in the rate of teen pregnancies;
33rd for the number of women living in poverty;
38th in health insurance coverage for non-elderly women; and,
50th in women's voter turnout (1998 & 2000 elections).

The Women's Foundation seeks proposals to address issues such as these.

Grant proposals to the Women's Foundation are reviewed by a community-based group of volunteers who make funding recommendations to the Foundation's Board of Trustees. This Grants Allocation Committee exemplifies the Foundation's commitment to inclusiveness. Committee members are individuals with a wide range of experiences and knowledge as well as diversity in ethnicity, race, income, sexual orientation, and age.

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Social Change Grantmaking

The Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona is committed to social change grantmaking that focuses on long-term solutions to societal problems. The Women's Foundation recognizes and values direct service work aimed at addressing immediate needs and will consider supporting that work when clear evidence of the social change it brings about has been demonstrated by the applicant.

The Foundation funds programs that:

• Address the root causes of social problems facing women and girls;
• Challenge societal attitudes, promote public policy change, and encourage institutional reform to eliminate barriers that prevent women and girls from full participation in society;
• Have the capacity for impact that extends substantially beyond the women and girls immediately involved in the project.
• Promote the unique contributions and/or needs of girls and women through the education of boys and men.
• Develop collaboration between the applicant organization and other organizations in the community.

Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) organization in good standing or a grassroots organization conducting charitable work in Southern Arizona.

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What are the funding restrictions?

The Foundation does not provide funds for:

• individuals
• campaigns to elect candidates to public office
• capital fund drives
• debt reduction
• endowments
• fund-raising events or one-time conferences
• scholarships, fellowships and tuition reimbursement
• programs inconsistent with federal, state and local non-discrimination statutes regarding equal employment opportunity
• programs that promote religious activities
• programs outside of southern Arizona
• individual classrooms or schools

The Foundation provides funding for:
Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties.

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Target Populations

The Women's Foundation recognizes significant need among commonly overlooked populations. We strive to ensure that our grants fund a broad spectrum of populations including:

• Girls
• Older women
• Women and girls with disabilities
• Lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons
• Low-income women and girls
• Women and girls outside Metropolitan Tucson
• Immigrant, undocumented, and refugee women and girls
• Incarcerated women
• Women of color

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What size and types of grants does the Women's Foundation make?

The Women's Foundation believes that small and large grants alike can have powerful effects. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded well over 180 grants ranging in size from $600 to $15,000, totaling over $1 million dollars. The Foundation provides:

• Project-specific support
• General operating support for programs that foster social change
• Planning or start-up support
• Research
• Grants of up to $15,000

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Grant Categories

To be considered, a grant proposal must fall into one of the three categories, Health, Safety and Well-being for Women and Girls, Economic Justice for Women and Girls, or Social Justice and Human Rights. The list of projects below is for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to be exhaustive.

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What is the Evaluation and Reporting Process for Women's Foundation grant recipients?

The purpose of evaluation and reporting is to help grant recipients reach their stated goals. Evaluation also helps the Women's Foundation assess the quality of its grant-making.

Organizations receiving funding from the Foundation are required to participate in the following evaluation and report process:

• A written mid-year report documenting progress toward stated objectives.
  
• A final grant report at the end of the funding period including a budget report (form provided by the Women's Foundation).
  
• An informal phone call with Foundation staff during the first quarter after receiving funding, if requested.
  
• A one-on-one, informal meeting with Foundation staff and selected board members within the first six months of receiving funding, if requested.

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What is the Women's Foundation's renewal policy?

The Women's Foundation considers organizations for funding on a year-to-year basis. Proposals must be submitted each time a grant is requested. Previous funding does not guarantee continued funding. An agency cannot apply for funding unless all reports required in previous award contracts have been received.

In an effort to make resources available to new organizations applying to the Foundation, organizations that have been funded by the Foundation for the last three years are required to abstain from applying for one year, after which an organization will again be eligible for funding.

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