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Application Process


Outlined here are the five distinct phases of Impact100’s grant process and the steps needed to follow for each of them.

Our 2025 application is now available! Register your organization and apply HERE. 

  • If your organization is already registered, but has changed contact person(s), please contact Grants Oversight to make the appropriate changes.
1. Application

Impact100 uses an online grants management platform in order to facilitate the entire application process. Please register at our online Grant Portal to access the application. Even if you do not intend to apply for a grant this year, please register so we have your contact information (or update your information if already registered).

You will be able to save your work, collaborate with others and upload all supporting documents within this portal. You may see the entire application and download a copy before you begin.

Within this portal, Impact100 will require applicants to upload a number of additional documents outlined below. These are to be submitted as part of, and by the same deadline as, the grant application. These documents are as follows:

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

To be provided by ALL applicants and fiscal sponsors:

  • Current and previous fiscal year balance sheets (statements of financial activities)
  • Current and previous fiscal year income statements (statements of financial position)
  • Most recent IRS 990 form
  • Audit or review - if an independent audit or review was completed, please provide most current report
  • Current cash flow statement
  • Current annual budget for overall organization (fiscal year 2025)

If your fiscal year end is 12/31 and you have not yet closed your books for the end of FY 2024, please provide internal interim financial statements no older than 90 days.

Grant applications will not be accepted without the above information being included.

If you are applying with a fiscal agent, in addition to the applicant’s financial documents above, the fiscal agent must provide:
  • Most recent IRS 990 form
OTHER

The following forms will be asked for within the application; they will be simple to fill out and upload:

  • Proposed Grant Budget (required). Please detail how the applicant intends to spend the grant funds. See a sample Grant Budget here.
  • Encore Grant applicants must also fill out a section of the Grant Budget detailing how a second year of grant funds would be spent. They may also note any modifications to the first year budget, should they receive the Encore Grant. These forms will be available on or about November 1, 2024.
  • Letters of commitment from collaborating or partner organizations (if applicable):
    • [1] Collaboration - Two or more nonprofits share resources and have joint responsibility for managing and carrying out the proposal. In such a case, one participating nonprofit needs to be identified as the lead agency, and is responsible for the financial management of Impact100 Sonoma grant funds.
    • [2] Partnership - For example, to carry out the proposal the applicant relies on the clients or other resources from other organizations.

NOTE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION WITHOUT ALL OF THE FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND FORMS OUTLINED ABOVE. WE CANNOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS, FINANCIALS OR OTHER INFORMATION BY EMAIL.

The applicant will receive acknowledgment of receipt of its application within 24 hours. An Impact100 Grants Chair will inform the applicant if anything is missing or if we have questions.

Impact100 reserves the right to reject a grant application for any reason, including a missed deadline or incomplete information.

2. Financial Review

The Financial Review Committee (FRC) is responsible for reviewing the grant applicant’s financial position and grant budget. FRC members review the general financial viability of the organization, including cash flow, strength of other revenue sources, reasonableness of expenses in relation to the size and strength of the organization, and reasonableness of the grant request amount in relation to the other factors described above, and any other relevant factors. Based on that review, the FRC determines whether or not to move the grant application forward to a Grant Review Committee, including whether to recommend if an applicant should also be considered for the Encore Grant.

Any questions or concerns raised by the FRC are addressed during the site visit, or if necessary, through direct conversations with the appropriate financial representative of the organization requesting a grant.

3. Grant Review and Site Visits

Grant Review Committees (GRCs), comprising Impact100 Sonoma Members) are responsible for assessing the grant applications, conducting diligence reviews, and determining which applications will ultimately be selected as finalists for Impetus Grants and the Encore Grant.

Grant Review Committees first meet to determine which applicants to be selected for further evaluation at a site visit. The objective of a site visit is to complete a due diligence review and to resolve any remaining questions about the organization and its proposal.

  • All applicants will be notified if they have been selected for a site visit and whether they are being considered for an Impetus Grant or also the Encore Grant.
  • Applicants will be asked whether they prefer an in-person or a virtual (Zoom) site visit.
  • A Site Visit Leader from the Grant Review Committee will coordinate arrangements for the site visit and establish an agenda and proposed questions beforehand.
  • Site visits will last approximately 60 minutes, and will be attended by several Grant Review Committee members.

After site visits are completed, Grant Review Committees meet again to discuss findings and select finalists to be presented to the Impact100 Sonoma membership for voting.
4. Finalists

Organizations will be notified whether they have been selected as finalists for an Impetus Grant or both an Impetus Grant and the Encore Grant, by the end of March, 2025.

We invite representatives from each finalist organization to make a presentation to Impact100 members regarding their organization and their proposal at our annual Meet the Finalists event to be held on April 5, 2025 at a location to be announced. All presenters will be finalists for Impetus Grants, and it will be made clear which will also be in consideration for the Encore Grant.

Impact100 members will then vote online to determine the recipients of Impact Grants and the Encore Grant. The number of Impetus Grant recipients will depend on the size of the grant pool for 2025. There will be one Encore Grant recipient. Impetus Grant recipients and the Encore Grant recipient will be notified on or about April 21, 2025.

We will announce all of the grant recipients at our Grant Awards Celebration on April 26, 2025.

5. Grantee Reporting

We invite Impetus Grant recipients (other than the Encore Grant recipient) to tell us about the progress of their grant proposal at our all-member Grant Recipient Update Meeting in the fall of 2025.

Before receiving their second grant disbursement, the Encore Grant Recipient will be subject to review by the Impact100 Financial Review Committee to substantiate that there has been no material adverse change to the recipient's financial condition. The Encore Grant recipient will then report on the progress of their grant proposal at the 2026 Grant Recipient Update Meeting .

We will ask all grant recipients to submit a Final Report (via our Grant Portal) at the end of their applicable grant period. Please note that a grant recipient otherwise eligible to apply for a grant in a subsequent year must have submitted such report before applying anew for a grant.



Important Dates

BENCHMARK DATE

 Grant Recipient Update Meeting  

 (10:00 AM- Noon)

  10/19/24

 Application available online

  11/01/24

 Grants Workshop & Q&A

 (virtual 4:00- 5:30 PM)

 

11/07/24

 Application due (by 8:00 PM)

  01/10/25
 Annual Meeting (10:00 AM-Noon)

 (announcement of grant  funds)

 01/25/25
 Site visit candidates notified  02/18/25

 Site visits conducted

 (in-person or Zoom)

 02/24/25 through 03/14/25  

 Finalists notified 03/24/25

 Meet the Finalists

 (10:00 AM-Noon)


 

04/05/25

  Grant recipients notified 04/21/25

  Grant Awards Celebration 

  (10:00 AM-Noon)

 04/26/24

 All dates subject to change.    Locations to be announced.


Our Trust-Based Approach

Impact100 Sonoma believes in a trust-based philanthropic approach to addressing the needs of Sonoma Valley. This means that:

  • We respect the time of our applicants. To reduce the burden on them, we have a streamlined application process and limited requirements through the grant lifecycle.

  • We strive to be fair and unbiased in our deliberation process and responsive to feedback from our applicants and our members.

  • The term of our grants allows for flexibility and we have a broad definition of what we will fund.

  • We allow grantees to adapt their spending to changing circumstances as long as they inform us of their plans and obtain prior approval.

OUR VISION

A just and thriving Sonoma Valley

OUR MISSION

Empowering women of Sonoma Valley to invest in a more sustainable nonprofit community through collective giving and responsible stewardship

Impact100 Sonoma is a member of Philanos

Impact100 Sonoma ©2024. All rights reserved



Impact100 Sonoma
P.O. Box 1958
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 939-5007
info@impact100sonoma.org


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