Grant Guidelines

The grant process has been changed in response to the needs of today and to the dynamic changes occurring in the grant making community as a whole. The Foundation does participate in networking with other grant makers in understanding the changes, needs and desired outcomes of social impact. Grants cycles are effective June to May. Grant distributions are awarded in the third quarter following results and participation of the agency requesting a grant. Distributions are issued in two parts with the second half issued after successful reporting of the program results, usually in Feb/March.

In our continuing effort to improve transparency and ensure that donor trust is respected, the public may inspect the grant reporting records of funded agencies at our offices at any time. Reports are available for viewing only and no copies may be removed from the premises. Because of new changes to the IRS 990 Tax Forms, beginning with the 2010/2011 Funding Cycle, the cost of fundraising and other pertinent financial information will be made available to the public through this website. This feature will be available on the web site beginning December of 2010.

General Grant Focus

The Long Beach AIDS Foundation considers grants to assist organizations in program areas of HIV prevention & education, human services, and health. The Foundation gives highest priority to activities that provide greater access to services for people who are economically disadvantaged and underserved. Of particular interest to the Foundation are applications that specifically address the needs of youth and adolescents (15 to 24), underserved communities, and people affected by disabilities, linkage to services and access to care. The Foundation also funds activities that benefit the general community through direct HIV education and prevention programs in Southern California.

Geographic Area of Grant Focus

Preference is given to organizations providing services in South Los Angeles County (SPA8), with a geographic focus in the South Bay, Long Beach and adjacent areas not serviced by other major Walk-a-thons.

All communications regarding grant requests should be directed to the Long Beach AIDS Foundation, Inc. 2630 E 4th Street, Long Beach, CA 90814. Phone (562) 987-5200. www.lbaidsfoundation.org

Types of Support

The Foundation's area of grant making offers the following types of grants:

Program. New or expansion program projects will only be considered with viable fundraising and sustainability plan. However, requests for small and discrete program development or enhancement activities will still be considered through our Small Grant Program. Programs that are new are encouraged to apply for a grant if the program addresses the focus area of the Foundation and have a viable funding stream and sustainability.

Capacity Building. For a discrete project aimed at building an organization’s capacity to achieve its mission and goals of reducing HIV infections. Funding is available to support new project costs. The proposed project should present a well-thought out strategy focused on sustaining and strengthening the organization during this economic recession.

Core Support. Not funded for 2010/2011 cycle.

Small Grant Program. For the primary purpose of increasing access to funding and strengthening the capacity of small, grass roots, and developing organizations. Also to support HIV prevention & education projects with small budgets for organizations of any size. As explained in the How To Apply section, funding is available for requests of $2,000 or less that fall within the general grant focus of the Foundation.

What We Don't Fund:

Capital Expenditures. For specific projects with capital expenditures, no funding is available to support land, facility, equipment purchases, renovations, new construction or large capital campaigns.

General Operating Support. Under normal conditions, the Foundation does not fund core support. However, please reference Core Support guidelines when available.

Grant Duration

The Long Beach AIDS Foundation grants are awarded for a limited period of time and most grants will be limited to one year in duration. Multi-year funding are rarely awarded but will be considered on an exceptional case by case basis. The Foundation generally does not approve grants to organizations on a continuing annual basis.

Funding Amounts

While requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, applicants should note that as a general practice, the Foundation does not fund the total cost of any program, or capacity building budget. Requests should be proportional to the amount of the specific program or capacity building budget, or in the case of core support, the size of the agency’s operating budget.

Applicants should request a grant amount that is consistent with a thoughtful and sustainable fund raising strategy. The information below is intended to provide general guidance. Based on individual circumstances, the Foundation’s Beneficiary Committee recommendations to the Board of Directors will use flexibility and apply individual judgment to each request.

General guidelines for funding requests of $5,000 or more are as follows:

For capacity building support, grant amounts will not generally exceed 50% of the total project budget. The Foundation cannot be the only source of funding for any program. Capacity Building programs needing core support should not exceed 25% of the total grant request.

All applicants seeking core support, regardless of grant size are advised that grant amounts should not generally exceed 15% of an agency’s total annual operating budget and program grant requests including the core support request should not exceed 50% of total program budget for which funding is sought, whichever is less.

These funding guidelines noted above do not typically apply to requests of less than $2,500 or requests through the Small Grant Program. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the Foundation will not fund an entire project or program budget. Applicants are strongly urged to apply for amounts that will exceed 50% of the total budget from other sources of additional funding.

Applicant Eligibility

An organization that is certified as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and is not a private foundation as defined in section 509(a) of that Code is eligible for consideration. The Foundation does not fund Section 509(a)(3) Type III non-functionally integrated supporting organizations.

Focus Eligibility

In addition to meeting the above criteria, applicants must be established and well-managed human service and health organizations whose primary mission is the delivery of:

Safety net services (food, shelter, and clothing); and/or
Infant, child, youth and/or adolescent HIV prevention programs for at-risk and economically disadvantaged populations; and/or

Substance abuse programs with a residential component.

Priority will be given to organizations that:

Provides linkage of service to all ASO’s services in SPA8
Are financially viable, evidence strong management and resource development capacity, and operate effective programs.

On a case by case basis, consideration will also be given to organizations that face a significant threat of having to eliminate core staff positions and/or core services due to funding reductions.

Grant Limitations
Grants are not made:

For propagandizing, influencing legislation and/or elections, promoting voter registration; for political candidates, political campaigns; for litigation.
To institutions limiting their services to persons of a single religious sect or denomination.
For social or political issues outside the United States of America.
To individuals.
To federated appeals or for the collection of funds for redistribution to other nonprofit groups.
For conferences, workshops, temporary exhibits, travel, surveys, films or publishing activities.
For endowment funds.
For contingencies, deficits or debt reduction.
For fundraising dinners or events.
For research.

Grants generally are not approved for:

National organizations that do not have local chapters operating in the geographic area of grant focus.
Projects or programs normally financed by government sources.
Refugee or religious programs, consumer interest or environmental advocacy.
Feasibility studies.