Previous Cycle: 2017 CZI Community Fund

All applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Alignment with Communities’ Priority Issue Areas – Preference will be given to organizations and projects tackling the issues of education, housing, homelessness, immigration, transportation, and/or workforce development within the Fund’s eligible communities (Belle Haven, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, Redwood City).
• Potential for Impact – Preference will be given to applications that clearly articulate the challenge(s) they aim to address, their strategy and implementation plan for addressing that challenge, and a definition of what success looks like.
• Organization/Project Leadership – Preference will be given to applicant organizations whose leadership and staff (1) show demonstrated capacity to implement the proposed project, (2) have a credible track record of successfully executing programs in the communities of Belle Haven, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, or Redwood City and (3) are demographically reflective of these communities.
• Collaboration – Preference will be given to organizations that demonstrate a collaborative spirit through (1) an awareness of available overlapping and complementary services, (2) a desire to partner to increase impact, where appropriate, and (3) an understanding of local community context and the desire and ability to leverage existing community relationships and/or build new ones.
• Community Engagement – Preference will be given to organizations that intentionally and effectively engage the communities with which they aim to serve, and (2) demonstrate a long-term commitment to serving these communities.
• Fiscal Responsibility – Preference will be given to organizations that are able to demonstrate the ability to effectively receive and responsibly spend grant dollars.

Applicants must be non-profit, 501(c)(3) organizations, or organizations that have a fiscal agent or a fiscal sponsor that is a 501(c)(3) organization, school, or municipality working in the Belle Haven, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, or Redwood City communities. The CZI Community Fund does not accept applications from individuals or for the direct support of an individual. Applicants must not illegally discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin or disability.

The CZI Community Fund will accept applications through the CZI online grants management system or by mail until 5:00 p.m. PST on December 1, 2017. To apply online (preferred), visit https://apply.chanzuckerberg.com. From there, follow the application instructions provided. Applying online will allow you to safely save and resume your application and upload your organization or project budget any time before the application deadline. You will also be able to check the status of your application once it has been successfully submitted. To submit a hard copy version of the application, complete the application beginning on Page 3 of this document. Completed applications, along with accompanying organizational budget information, must be returned to the following address by 5:00 p.m. PST on December 1, 2017: Silicon Valley Community Foundation Attn: CZI Community Fund 2440 W El Camino, Suite 300 Mountain View, CA 94040 Upon submission of your application, you will receive an email confirming its receipt. All applications will be reviewed by CZI staff and evaluated based on the eligibility requirements and fund criteria. Applicants will be notified with a final decision by January 15, 2018. Approved funding requests will have a grant period of January 15, 2018 – December 30, 2018.

Q: What if I already have a grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative? Can I still submit a proposal to CZI Community Fund?

Yes! We encourage all current and past local grantees to consider submitting a proposal. However, to be eligible, your Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant must end by December 31, 2018. <em?Note: If you have a grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative that is less than $20,000, you do not need to meet this requirement.

Special Note for current CZI Community Fund Grant Recipients: If you are a current CZI Community Fund grant recipient and are awarded a grant through the second round of the CZI Community Fund, we will release the 2019 payment after we receive the final report and a budget for your 2018 grant. Please reach out to your Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant contact for more details.

Q: Can communities outside of Belle Haven, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, and/or Redwood City apply?

This CZI Community Fund request for proposal (RFP) is available only to organizations supporting communities in Belle Haven, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, and/or Redwood City.

Q: Am I able to save my application on SurveyMonkey Apply and return to it at a later date?

SurveyMonkey Apply will allow you to safely save and resume your proposal, and upload your budget documents anytime before the proposal deadline. You will also be able to check the status of your proposal once it has been successfully submitted. Due to anticipated high volume, we will not be able to follow up on incomplete or inaccurate information — please be sure that you proposal is complete prior to submission.

Upon submission of your proposal, you will receive an email confirming its receipt. Please let us know if you did not get a confirmation email by emailing us at community@chanzuckerberg.com with the subject line “Missing Email Confirmation.”


Q: Why can’t my organization submit a paper or email application?

Here at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative we are committed to straightforward, streamlined and transparent RFP processes. Through trial and error, we have learned the best way to do that is to make sure the process is the same for everyone.

That said, we recognize this process may present a barrier to entry for some organizations, and for that reason we are offering support to any organization that is unable to utilize our online system. If you or an organization you are familiar with need additional support , please contact community@chanzuckerberg.com with the subject line “Additional Support”.

Q: Why is the funding one-year?

The CZI Community Fund is designed to be responsive to the evolving needs of the local community. One year grants allow us to provide meaningful support to local organizations while keeping the fund nimble to support the most pressing needs of the organizations working to address those needs. For that reason, the CZI Community Fund is not anchor funding, and we do not consider current or past relationships when making choices about funding.

Q: How will the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative decide between awarding unrestricted and project grants?

We recognize organizations need core support to carry out their mission and leaders and staff have a much better understanding of how to allocate funds across their organization than we do. For that reason, the majority of grants from the CZI Community Fund will be for unrestricted, general support.

That said, we do anticipate a few instances where project support — funding restricted to specific activities — will be more appropriate, examples include:

A national organization that does work in the specific communities we support
Organizations that offer a broad array of activities and services that fall beyond the scope of the CZI Community Fund
Upon specific request of the organization
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will deal with the distinction on a case-by-case basis and any proposal that is awarded a project grant will have the opportunity to discuss it with Chan Zuckerberg Initiative staff.

Q. Why does my organization need to have a minimum operating budget of $100,000?

These grants are aimed at supplementing the work of organizations that are already established in these communities. We have found that organizations of this size or larger are best able to absorb grants of this size and put them to work quickly to respond to community needs.

Q: What are the budget guidelines? What documentation do I need to submit?

To reduce the burden of the proposal process while also ensuring we have enough detail to assess the financial health of your organization, we have broken the budget review process into two parts:

Proposal Budget guidelines: In addition to the budget narrative, please upload the following preliminary budget documents as part of your proposal:

Current Fiscal Year Operating Budget: your organization’s or sponsored project’s budget for the current fiscal year, including a list of your top 3 current major funding sources (including in-kind donations).
Projected Operating Budget: please upload your organization’s or sponsored project’s projected operating budget and the top 3 committed and/or projected funding sources (including in-kind donations).
For Project Proposals: If you are requesting funding for a specific project, please include a simple project budget for the duration of the project in addition to the documents listed above. (Note: this amount may be equal to the amount requested as part of the CZI Community Fund)
Please upload the above documents in the format that works best for you/your organization.

Follow-up Budget Guidelines: If your organization is selected as a finalist, we will follow-up and request additional documentation to support our internal budget analysis. Please provide the following documents upon request only — please do not submit these documents as part of the proposal process:

Previous FY Statement of Activities (Operating Budget) & Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet): Your organization’s Statement of Activities and Statement of Financial Position for the most recent (closed) fiscal year. We will accept audited, unaudited or internal versions of these documents.
For Fiscally Sponsored Projects: In addition to the items above, you will be asked to provide a Current Fiscal Year Operating Budget and Previous Fiscal Year Statement of Activities & Statement of Financial Position for the fiscal sponsor organization.
Project Budget: If your organization is receiving a project, we will request a separate detailed project budget for the duration of the project. This document should include a breakdown by revenue and expense sub-category, and should include (1) the total project budget as well as (2) Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s share of each cost category.

Q. Why has Chan Zuckerberg Initiative incorporated site visits into the RFP process?

We recognize that a proposal is only one part of an organization’s story and that we cannot get a full picture of their impact in the community by sitting behind a computer. Chan Zuckerberg Initiative staff connect with finalists face to face in an effort to deepen our understanding of each organization’s work, build relationships with the organizations’ teams, and get a better understanding of how our organizations can work together to achieve our shared goals.

Q: What can’t these funds be used for?

There are a few things that we either cannot fund or are outside the scope of the Community Fund, including:

Lobbying or contributions to political candidates
Individuals or direct support of an individual, including scholarships
Event sponsorships
Debt retirement or budget deficits
Academic or medical research
Organizations that already have general operating support or sponsored project support from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative beyond December 31, 2018

Q: Is the CZI Community Fund the only funding available to community organizations in the Bay Area?

While the CZI Community Fund is currently our only open RFP for community organizations in the Bay Area, it is supplementing — not replacing — our broader commitment to supporting the Bay Area. We will continue building strategic partnerships with local organizations, regional and national organizations in the areas of science, education, housing and homelessness, immigration, and criminal justice reform.

Q: How often will you open the CZI Community Fund for grant proposals in the Bay Area?

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is committed to partnering with local organizations in a number of ways, including through the CZI Community Fund. We expect to hold an open proposal period for the CZI Community Fund RFP once per year, and will continue to evaluate what cadence is most effective to address emerging needs. In addition, we will continue to engage community members to ensure that the fund represents the evolving needs of our local communities, and to ensure that organizations continue to be made aware of, and have access to, this funding opportunity as it is announced. If you have additional questions about the CZI Community Fund proposal process, please email us at community@chanzuckerberg.com.