The City of
Santa Monica offers matching grants of up to $4,000 to qualifying
neighborhood groups to assist in communications activities and
membership building. Applications for funds for fiscal year 2007/08
will be accepted through April 30, 2008.
- Application (PDF)
-
Mid-Cycle Report due September 30, 2008 (PDF)
-
Final Report due February 15, 2009 (PDF)
FY 07/08 Matching Grant Program Guide
Qualifying for the Matching Grant Program
To qualify for these funds, a neighborhood organization must:
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Represent a commonly recognized
neighborhood within Santa Monica;
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Possess tax-exempt status as a nonprofit
organization under Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) of the
Internal Revenue Service Code or Section 23701(d) or 23701(f) of the
California State Franchise Tax Code;
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Have an active board of directors or
officers, selected in accordance with association bylaws, who meet
regularly, with meetings open to the public;
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Hold at least one general membership
meeting annually;
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Maintain a membership list of at least 50
active members (residing at separate addresses) or 10 percent of
eligible households within the neighborhood boundaries as defined in the
bylaws, whichever is less.
Currently, five 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) neighborhood organizations are
active in the community: Friends of Sunset Park, North of Montana
Association, Ocean Park Association, Pico Neighborhood Association and
Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition.
Should any other groups representing geographical areas commonly
recognized as neighborhoods in Santa Monica achieve tax-exempt nonprofit
status prior to April 30, 2008 and wish to apply for and qualify for
matching funds, additional funds will be allocated to the program so
that all such groups can receive funding.
In addition, grant recipients must adhere to the reporting guidelines
below. Organizations will not be considered for future matching grants
or other City funding unless proper documentation is submitted in
accordance with the guidelines.
Projects Eligible for Funding
Because the Neighborhood Organization Matching Grant Program is designed
to support projects and activities to further communication and build
membership from within the neighborhood the organization represents, a
wide range of projects will be eligible for funding. Such projects and
activities may include:
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Publishing and distributing a newsletter
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Publishing and distributing
membership/meeting announcements
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Purchasing ads announcing meetings and
events
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Hiring a student intern to coordinate
mailings, make phone calls, etc.
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Purchasing a computer for use in preparing
written materials or maintaining a website
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Installing/maintaining a
phone/fax/Internet connection dedicated to organization business
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Implementing or participating in an event
aimed at improving communication and increasing membership
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Conducting a neighborhood interest survey
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Developing an organization database
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Participating in workshops or training
programs to help the organization’s leadership develop community
organizing and outreach skills and strategies.
The funds can be used for a combination of projects and activities
supporting communication and membership building. Creativity is
encouraged!
Restrictions on Use of Funds
The intent of this program is to allow neighborhood organizations
flexibility in using the matching funds for communication and
membership-building purposes, without heavy city oversight or intrusion
into organization affairs. As long as an organization uses the funds for
the purpose(s) stated in the application, only the following
restrictions shall apply:
-
No
city funds shall be used by the
participating neighborhood organizations for projects or activities
involving political campaigns, candidate endorsements, or ballot
measures.
-
No
city funds shall be paid to individual
organization members, their relatives or business associates, except as
a reimbursement for a product or service purchased with personal funds.
(Example: The secretary of the organization uses a personal credit card
to pay for copies and is reimbursed from the grant account. The receipt
from the copies and a copy of the reimbursement check are attached to
the report.)
About the Neighborhood Organization Match
The organization match must be at least one-half the value of the grant
amount requested (i.e., $2,000 for a $4,000 grant or a "half match").
Volunteer time
will be valued for 2007-08 at $14 an hour. Volunteer services include
tasks such as soliciting and writing or editing newsletter articles,
addressing and stamping envelopes, hand- delivering flyers and posting
information on the website. However, if an organization member performs
a volunteer task for the organization that he or she does
professionally, such as graphic design and layout for newsletters or
website design, it may be considered a professional services donation.
Professional services are valued at the reasonable and customary value of
the product or service contributed by the professional to the proposed
project. Although the City will accept documentation of the provider’s
standard hourly rate for the match, comparisons will be made to the mean
hourly rate for the occupation as determined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics for the L.A.-Long Beach metro area to ensure a
reasonable valuation.
Donor contributions may be pledged rather than in-hand at the
time of application, but written evidence (including
letters of receipt, cancelled checks and/or bank statements) must be
provided with the mid-cycle or final report that the donations were
actually received. If such evidence cannot be provided, the City
may not allow pledged contributions to be included in the organization’s
match for the following fiscal year.
Donated materials or supplies are valued at the price that would have
been paid for them if purchased. Borrowed equipment can also be
considered part of the match and valued at the amount that would have
been paid to rent.
Cash
is an acceptable match, but grant funds from a previous cycle and other
city funding provided to the neighborhood organization can not
be used towards the FY 07/08 match.
Documenting the Organization’s Match
(for Application)
Following are acceptable ways to document your organization’s match as
part of the application. (Note: volunteer time, professional services
and donations of materials and supplies are referred to as the "In-kind
Match" in the budget section of the application form.)
Volunteer Time
Sign-up forms with number of hours each
person is willing to donate, type of labor; OR
Pledge letters from individuals promising to donate a specific number of
hours and explaining what type of work each will do for your project.
Professional Services
Pledge letters on professional/business letterhead from individuals
promising to donate a specific number of hours to the project,
explaining the type of work to be done, and giving the individual’s
standard hourly billing rate.
Donations of Materials, Supplies, Things
Pledge letters on company letterhead pledging a specific material
donation and its retail value; OR
Invoice or bid form showing type of donation and value (e.g., printing
5,000 copies of 8-1/2 x 11 flyer--$250, postage and distribution--$700
donated by XYZ Mailing House).
Cash Match
Photocopies of bank statements;
Photocopies of checks;
Photocopies of commitment letters;
Fundraising plan, if not all cash match is secured by application
deadline (will need to document funds raised at end of the fiscal year)
Review and Approval of Applications
If an organization qualifies for participation, documents its match,
commits to a specified plan to use the City funds for communication and
membership-building purposes, and provides a complete application with
required documentation (all as outlined in these guidelines), the
application may be approved administratively by the City Manager or
designee.
Should applications be considered incomplete, organizations will be
given an opportunity to provide the missing information. Should the City
Manager or designee have concerns about the eligibility of a proposed
project, the concerns will be discussed with the applicant organization
to determine jointly how the project or activity might be altered to
eliminate concerns.
To be complete, an application must describe how funds will be used, set
forth a proposed budget for the project and be accompanied by:
-
an
organization membership list (including addresses—to remain confidential
or to be returned upon the organization’s request) of at least 50
individuals or 10 percent of the eligible addresses within the group’s
boundaries
-
a list of all elected board members and organization contact
information (address, phone & fax numbers, e-mail address)
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a copy of
the organization’s bylaws,*
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proof of the organization’s tax-exempt
nonprofit status, and
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documentation of neighborhood organization match.
*If the organization’s bylaws were submitted with a funding application
for the previous year, and the bylaws have not been amended in the
interim, the bylaws on file with the City Manager’s Office will suffice
for this application.
Approval & Funding
Applications are accepted between March 1 and April 30, 2008. The
neighborhood organization will be notified in writing of approval or
contacted by phone if further information is necessary. Once funding is
approved, a warrant for the funds will be requested by the City
Manager’s Office, made payable to the neighborhood organization, and
will be available for pick-up at City Hall within approximately two
weeks from the date of funding approval.
City matching grant funds must be kept in a bank account separate from
the organization’s other funds, in order to assure its use only for
purposes specified and to simplify record-keeping and reporting. The
bank fee to maintain the account is an appropriate use of the City
funds.
Checks must be deposited in a separate bank account designated for grant
funds (see below) by the end of FY 2007/08, which is June 30, 2008.
Neighborhood organizations have until December 31, 2008 to expend all
funds. Any remaining grant funds ($100 or more) may be returned along
with the final report as described below.
Reporting Use of Funds
Neighborhood organizations will be required to submit to the City
Manager’s Office a Mid-cycle and Final Grant Report
on forms provided by the City, documenting that the project for
which the City funds were designated was accomplished, detailing how
the funds were spent and including paid receipts. A mid-cycle progress
report is due on September 30, 2008 and a final report is due on
February 15, 2009. Bank statements reflecting the initial deposit of
the City funds and the final statement for the period ending December
31, 2008 should be included. A check for any remaining grant funds
($100 or more) may be included with the final report, made payable to
“The City of Santa Monica”.
Documentation can be provided in a variety of ways, depending on the
type of project. If an organization newsletter were the funded project,
for example, along with budget detail on and receipts for design,
printing and distribution costs, copies of the newsletters should be
submitted. If purchase of a computer were the project, a copy of the
paid invoice should be provided, along with a letter detailing where the
computer is housed, who has access to it and how it has been used for
organization business. Acceptable documentation of fund use will be
agreed upon by the City and the neighborhood organization prior to the
release of funds.
Staff will report to the City Council annually as part of the budget
process on the use of the Neighborhood Matching Fund Program, providing
information on programs and activities conducted to benefit neighborhood
communication and to increase organization membership.
Application
Applications are available online and from the City Manager's Office by calling
(310) 458-8301 (Room 209, City Hall). Applications should be submitted
to the City Manager's Office no later than April 30, 2008 to the
attention of the Neighborhood Grants Administrator.
Questions about the program may be directed to
Rachel Waugh at
310-458-8301
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, CA 90401
