We are now offering Impetus Grants for up to $25,000 as our ongoing small-grants program for the foreseeable future. Applicants may request funding to strengthen and sustain their core mission activities.

One important change this year is the introduction of a new grants management software system, which will improve the nonprofit application experience, as well as our grant review, follow-up and tracking. Please view the tutorials available and register via our online portal as soon as you are able. You may view the online application there before you even decide to apply.

Other changes for 2023 are:

The 2023 grants timeline will take place from January through April. Please take special not that the Impetus Grant applications are due approximately two weeks earlier than last year, January 13 2023, by 8PM. To see all dates and deadlines for the current year, click here.

Impact100 has always asked about an organization’s mission, and we trust them to know the needs of, and how to best serve, their clients and constituents.

However, we recognize that in order to best fulfill this mission, the organization’s needs may not conform to a specific program or project, but may be more fundamental. We fund broadly, so we ask each applicant organization to tell us its plan to use our grant funds and how our grant funds will allow the organization to grow and flourish into the future.

Although Impetus grants can be awarded for up to $25,000, organizations should be realistic about their grant request amount. The organization should be able to support its grant request amount as demonstrated by a sound and justifiable budget in relation to the current overall size and operational capacity of the organization. While an organization may apply for up to $25,000, we encourage smaller or newer organizations to consider a smaller request that is aligned with their overall budget, expected funding sources and overall financial position.

Impetus Grant Review Committees (GRC) and the Financial Review Committee (FRC) are made up of volunteer members of Impact100 Sonoma. We strive to make Grant Review Committees unbiased and ensure that members involved with a nonprofit organization do not review that organization’s application. The Financial Review Committee reviews all financial documents submitted and makes a report to the Grant Review Committees. Grant Review Committees review and discuss the applications, select site visit candidates and ultimately select finalists to present to the entire Impact100 membership. The membership votes to select Impetus Grant recipients. Read more about the process here.

While we don't have specific funding priorities, we truly intend that all our grantmaking decisions contribute to our vision of A Just and Thriving Sonoma Valley.

Yes. Impact100 encourages collaborations. One of the collaborating organizations must be the lead, applying on behalf of the collaboration as if it were an individual organization. The lead organization must be willing to take on all the potential rights, responsibilities, restrictions, and liabilities of the entire grant if the grant is awarded. See definitions here.

If an organization is on a sit-out year, they are still able to apply as part of a collaboration, as long as they are not the lead organization.

An organization may only apply for one Impetus Grant unless it applies for one grant individually and for another one as part of a collaborative or partner grant.

Because Impetus Grants will continue into the future, we are reinstating our alternate-year funding cycle, starting in 2023 with organizations that received grants in both 2021 and 2022. These organizations may not apply for a 2023 Impetus Grant (unless they are the secondary applicant of a collaboration). If you are unclear whether this requirement refers to your organization, please contact us.

2022 Impetus Grant recipients that did not also receive a grant in 2021 may reapply for 2023. By the time of our 2024 grant cycle, all grant recipients should be back on a standard alternate-year rotation. Remember, funds are allowed to be spent over the course of two years.

No. 2023 recipients of full Impetus Grants will be ineligible to apply in 2024 (unless as secondary applicant of a collaboration).

Impact100 is in the process of determining whether we'll have another type of grant avaialable in 2024, but for Impetus Grants, this will be the requirement going forward.

Fiscal agency is a relationship between a tax exempt non-profit organization (the agent) and a smaller nonprofit organization that may or may not have tax-exempt status. The agent does not have ultimate authority over the grant funds.

Fiscal sponsorship is a relationship between a tax exempt non-profit organization (the sponsor) and a charitable project or organization that does not have tax-exempt status. The sponsor has ultimate authority over the grant funds. No fees may be paid to a fiscal agent or a fiscal sponsor with the grant funds received from Impact100 Sonoma

Please note the different financial documentation required from a fiscal agent versus a fiscal sponsor outlined in the application itself.

Yes. We will fund capital expenditures for an Impetus Grant request that is clearly related to the objectives of the proposal.

Yes. We will fund construction or renovation if it is clearly related to the objectives described in the proposal.

Yes.

Yes.

No, please submit your application online in the manner described in the Application Process, through Impact100's online application portal. Please note that we have included a final pre-submission checklist at the end of our application, so you can ensure you have submitted your application IN FULL.

No, only submit the materials requested in the Application Process.The applicant will have the opportunity to share more with us if the applicant is selected to have a site visit.

The number of grants depends on how many Impact100 members we have for 2022. We will not be certain of that number until late in January 2023.

Impact100 prides itself on its ability to maintain an objective stance toward all applicants. Therefore, we do not offer feedback on proposals during the grant application cycle. We will hold a Grant Workshop and Q&A on November 10, 2022 via Zoom. All organizations known to us will recieve an invitation. If you are new, please contact admin@impact100sonoma.org to request an invitation.

For specific questions regarding grant guidelines, processes or forms, contact:

Impact100 Sonoma oversees distribution of funds through grant agreements and reports.

A nonprofit grant recipient signs a grant agreement letter stipulating that the nonprofit agrees to use the funds in accordance with the grant request and Impact100 Sonoma's procedures. The grant agreement also requires the nonprofit to submit a report when all of the funds are expended on the project. Any substantial change in the plan must be requested and approved by Impact100 Sonoma to ensure that the funds are being spent in accordance with the purpose of the grant. Find report forms here.

Additionally, grantees will be invited to give a short presentation to our members and their guests at our Grant Recipients Update meeting. Grantees will be notified of that meeting date by the fall of 2023.

Yes, Impetus Grants will be distributed in one lump sum. Grant recipients will have up to two years to spend the funds.

Yes. We will allow for some flexibility, as long as the recipient contacts us and asks for permission to carry out the revised plan.

Please carefully review Impact100 Sonoma’s Eligibility Requirements here. Among other things, the applicant must be a tax-exempt organization, be in operation for at least 24 months prior to applying for an Impetus Grant, and expend 100% of funds awarded by Impact100 Sonoma in Sonoma Valley. Organizations may not be a faith-based or political organization.

Additionally, we cannot begin review until all pieces of the application are received, including financial documents.

Impact100 Sonoma receives many more applications than we can fund each year. They are all compelling and valuable and we wish that we could fund them all. Each committee discusses applications in depth and selects the ones they believe will have the most benefit to our community as finalists to be voted upon by the entire Impact100 membership.

We often speak to applicants if they are not selected as a grant recipient and usually encourage them to reapply the following year.