Grant Funding - TheSharksFoundation.org

The 2011-12 Sharks Foundation Grant Cycle is now CLOSED.

Funding Priorities

The Sharks Foundation provides $20,000-$25,000 grants for youth or youth and their families, with special emphasis towards underserved populations and at-risk youth. Each grant must fall into one of our focus areas of giving: Education, Health & Safety, or Character Development. Funding must be applied to the costs associated with a specific project or programming element of an organization.

The Sharks Foundation will NOT support:

General operating deficits
Administrative staff costs (i.e. salaries, training events, etc.)
Sponsorships or fundraisers of any kind (i.e. walks/runs, galas, tournaments, etc.)
Recreational group outings or trips (i.e. sporting events, museums, amusement parks, etc.)
Capital campaigns or building improvement projects
Endowments or reserve funds

Grants to individuals, athletic teams or schools or any associated 501(c)(3) organizations (i.e. PTAs, booster clubs, etc.)

Organization Eligibility

To qualify for a grant from the Sharks Foundation, an organization must:

Be a public 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service for a minimum of five (5) years
Provide services to children in need within Santa Clara County
Be available for a site visit if selected as a beneficiary
Adhere to all deadlines and application requirements

Important to note: The Sharks Foundation will not fund any organization for more than three (3) consecutive years. If your group has been funded for each of the past three seasons, you must wait one year before reapplying.

Grant Eligibility

Each organization is able to submit one (1) grant application per season. To qualify for a grant from the Sharks Foundation, an application must:

Be within the range of $20,000 to $25,000
Fall under one of the focus areas of giving: Education, Health & Safety, or Character Development
Ensure that 100% of grant monies received from the Sharks Foundation are used for the exclusive benefit of youth or youth and their families
Ensure that a majority of monies used (51% or more) are used for the exclusive benefit of children in Santa Clara County
Be submitted by the September 13, 2011, 5 p.m. deadline

Application Materials

All grant requests should be submitted in full, typed and placed in an envelope (no binders, folders, etc.) To that end, we ask that you submit the following:

One (1) signed Application Checklist Form

Six (6) stapled copies of the Main Application, which includes:

o Cover letter on your organization’s letterhead

o Signed Application Cover Form

o Grant Application Narrative (4 page max.)

o Detailed description of organization’s current budget

o Detailed description of specific program/project budget

o Names and affiliations of your organization’s Board of Directors

One (1) copy of your current IRS Determination Letter verifying 501(c)(3) status.

NOTE: Please do not submit any supplemental materials including written materials (i.e. brochures, news articles, etc.), photos, videos, DVDs or discs. These items will not be taken into consideration.

Please download the application forms by clicking on the following links. (NOTE: there have been slight modifications to last year's application. Please download the current 2011-12 version below):

1. Grant Application Guidlines 2011
2. Grant Application Checklist 2011
3. Grant Application Cover Form 2011
4. Grant Application Narrative Guidlines 2011

Process

All applicants must send the materials requested in the Application Checklist in full.

The deadline to apply is September 13, 2011. Applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered by this date. NO EXCEPTIONS! Hand-delivered applications must be received by the HP Pavilion receptionist by 5 p.m. Applications will not be accepted via fax or email.

Once the application period has closed, the Sharks Foundation staff will review and prepare all eligible applications for consideration by the Sharks Foundation Board. An application will be deemed ineligible if it is incomplete, not submitted by the deadline, if it is submitted by an organization that does not meet the stated criteria or if the purpose for funding falls outside of the stated priorities. All eligible applications will receive written notification of their approval status.

The grant timeline for the 2011-12 season is:

September 13, 2011: Deadline to submit applications
September – December 2011: Review process
January – February 2012: Beneficiaries announced, all applicants notified in writing of status
February – March 2012: Funding dispersed, check presentation and site visits scheduled

Contact Information

Completed applications should be delivered to:

The Sharks Foundation

Grant Application

525 West Santa Clara Street

San Jose, CA 95113

If you have questions regarding The Sharks Foundation application process, please contact Jeff Cafuir at jcafuir@sharkssports.net. Please do not send inquiries as to the status of a submitted application.