Current Grant Opportunities
Our application process has moved to a new platform.
To continue, all users are required to create a new account.
Link to Grant Application Portal: Click Here
2026 Grant Timeline
Applications Open March 6 – April 1
- Women’s Legacy Fund
- Robert H. Janssen Youth and Youth Sports Fund
- One Community Fund: Fueling a Vibrant Immigrant Future
- GSA School Clubs Grant
Applications Open June 1 – June 22
- General Community Grants Program (Arts & Culture, Environment, Health & Human Services, Seniors and People with Disabilities)
- Senior Dance
- BUILD (Building Unity, Infrastructure, Leadership, and Development)
- Growing Together: An LGBTQ+ Fund
Application Open September 1 – September 30
- GSA School Clubs Grant
One Community Fund: Fueling a Vibrant Immigrant Future – Opens March 6
Timeline
- Open: Friday, March 6, 2026 – 9am
- Close: Wednesday, April 1, 2026 – 5pm
- Award Notification: early June 2026
- Payments Processed: early June 2026
Contact
- Who to contact: Chelsea Ruiz, One Community Program Manager, chelsea@cfsloco.org
- Link for office hour scheduling- Bookings with me – – Outlook
- Office hours: Fri, March 6 – Fri, March 20 and Mar. 30 – Apr. 1.
Program Overview
- Funding Opportunity and Award Range: Flexible, general operating funds to support immigrant-serving organizations working in San Luis Obispo County who are resiliently facing unprecedented need combined with increasingly scarce and diminished funding opportunities. The total amount of funding that will be awarded is at least $100,000 with minimum grant awards of $10,000.
- Eligibility:
- Immigrant-serving 501c3s or fiscally sponsored organizations working in SLO County
- Organizations must demonstrate alignment with our values and commitment to serving our targeted communities for support.
- Funding Decisions will be based on these Grantmaking Criteria:
- Centering Voices and Perspectives of Communities Served: How your organization engages with the people your organization serves to solicit and incorporate feedback in your work (i.e., hiring staff with lived experience, board members and volunteers with lived experience, etc.)
- Community Access and Impact: How your organization identifies barriers to accessing available services and resources. If you have direct access to the community and are a trusted source that is eliminating barriers, tell us about how you do that. If you parter with other trusted organizations in order to reduce barriers, tell us who you partner with and how that reduces barriers. End, tell us what is the resulting community impact of these actions? (How does what you’ve described actually reduce barriers and increase access to services?)
- Partnerships: How does your organization coordinate and collaborate with other nonprofits and important community partners?
- Adaptability / Thriving in Adversity: Org’s current financial situation, challenges facing, and how your organization is adapting to remain sustainable over the long-term. (Creative solutions for fixed or variable costs such as staffing, new partnerships, expansion of volunteers, additional fundraising efforts, etc.)
- Using Substantiated Data: Describe the trustworthy data your org collects and uses to inform your work. This can be information directly from community members and/or other quantitative data sources or a combination of the two. Explain how that data is integrated into your organization’s work.
Link to Grant Orientation Video – One Community Fund Grant Orientation Recording.mp4
Link to Grant Application: Click Here
Women’s Legacy Fund – Opens March 6
Women’s Legacy Fund’s mission is to be a catalyst for philanthropy that improves the lives of women and girls in San Luis Obispo County.
Timeline
- Open: Friday, March 6, 2026 – 9am
- Close: Wednesday, April 1, 2026 – 5pm
- Award Notification: early June 2026
- Payments Processed: early June 2026
Contact
- Who to contact: Alysia Kruspky, alysia@cfsloco.org
- Link for office hour scheduling: Bookings with me – Alysia Krupsky – Outlook
Program Overview
The Women’s Legacy Fund awards grants for nonprofit programs that advance the well-being of women and girls in San Luis Obispo County. In 2026, the funding pritories include:
- Affordable Housing
- Building or expanding capacity to tackle the challenges of housing affordability
- Decreasing the number of women and girls experiencing homelessness
- Narrowing the gender pay gap as it relates to the cost of living
- Childcare
- Increasing and stabilizing the childcare workforce
- Advocating for local childcare policy
- Expanding affordable options for quality childcare
- Health Care
- Improving access to healthcare
- Reducing barriers to care for non-English speaking residents
- Lowering the number of girls experiencing emotional distress and suicidal ideation
- Economic Security
- Increasing access to short-term crisis support and basic needs during financial hardship
- Supporting workforce entry, reentry, advancement, and wage growth opportunities
- Building long-term economic mobility through financial literacy and postsecondary education
- Funding Opportunity and Award Range: During the 2026 grantmaking cycle, the Community Foundation anticipates awarding approximately 3-6 organizations a total of $125,000. Grants may be up to $20,000 for one-year programs, and up to $40,000 for two-year programs. Two-year proposals are intended for efforts that require extended timelines such as planning and hiring in year one, followed by implementation in year two. All complete and eligible proposals will be reviewed, and applicants will be notified of funding decisions by June 15th.
- Eligibility:
- Organization must have a current tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(3) and/or 509(a)(1) or a current memorandum of understanding outlining fiscal sponsorship partnership to apply.
- Organization’s programs or services must primarily benefit San Luis Obispo County residents.
- Organization must provide services to women and girls.
- Funding Decisions will be based on these Grantmaking Criteria: The Community Foundation will fund applications based on the following criteria
- Centering Voices and Perspectives of Communities Served: How does your organization collect feedback from women and girls, and how is that information incorporated into your programs, policies, or day-to-day work
- Community Access and Impact: How does your organization identify the barriers faced by women and girls, and in what ways are you working to reduce those barriers to expand access to opportunities in San Luis Obispo County? Please share examples of impact.
- Utilizing Substantiated Data: Please describe the relevant data, research, or community-informed sources that guide your work, including the What Do Women Need? report. Include examples of how this information is used to inform program design, decision making, or evaluation.
- Alignment with Funding Priorities: How well does the proposed program align with the Women’s Legacy Fund focus areas: Affordable housing, Childcare, Healthcare (including mental health), and Economic security.
Link to Grant Orientation Video – Women’ Legacy Fund Grant Orientation .mp4
Link to Grant Application: Click Here
Robert H. Janssen Youth & Youth Sports Grant: Opens March 6
Timeline
- Open: Friday, March 6, 2026 – 9am
- Close: Wednesday, April 1, 2026 – 5pm
- Award Notification: early June 2026
- Payments Processed: early June 2026
Contact
- Who to contact: Alysia Kruspky, alysia@cfsloco.org
- Link for office hour scheduling: Bookings with me – Alysia Krupsky – Outlook
Program Overview
The Robert H. Janssen Youth & Youth Sports Fund supports programs that enrich the lives of youth (ages 6-18) in San Luis Obispo County through active participation in youth activities and sports.
Grants are available to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that provide youth activities or youth sports programs, with an emphasis on hands-on participation. Funded programs should expand access and create opportunities for youth from all segments of the county, regardless of income.
These grants will fund direct program costs, including program personnel, equipment, materials and supplies, facility fees, training, evaluation, and other expenses that directly support program delivery. Community-based programs are given priority over membership-based programs
- Funding Opportunity and Award Range: During the 2026 grantmaking cycle, the Community Foundation anticipates awarding approximately 12 organizations a total of $120,000, with a maximum grant award of $10,000. All complete and eligible proposals will be reviewed and all applying agencies will be notified of a funding decision by June 15th.
- Eligibilty
- Organization must have a current tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(3) and/or 509(a)1 or a current memorandum of understanding outlining fiscal sponsorship partnership to apply.
- Organization’s programs or services must primarily benefit San Luis Obispo County residents.
- Organization must provide services to youth ages 6-18 years old
- Funding Decisions will be based on these Grantmaking Criteria:
- Program purpose
- What need or gap does your program address for youth in the community? Why is this program important, what difference does it make for young people to have this program?
- Youth & decision making
- How do you understand the needs of the young people you serve? How does youth input or feedback shape your activities?
- Use of experience and information
- What experience, feedback, or information helps ensure that your program is run well and reflects current best practices?
- Access & barrier reduction
- How does the organization identify barriers to participation (such as physical, intellectual, cultural, or financial barriers) and what steps are taken to reduce or remove them?
- Positive youth development
- How does your program intentionally support positive youth development? Please reference the Search Institute’s 40 developmental Assets and identify two assets your program fosters: one internal asset and one external asset. For each asset:
- Name the asset
- Describe what program activities support the development of that asset.
- How does your program intentionally support positive youth development? Please reference the Search Institute’s 40 developmental Assets and identify two assets your program fosters: one internal asset and one external asset. For each asset:
- Program purpose
Link to Grant Orientation Video –Janssen Grant Orientation.mp4
Link to Grant Application: Click Here
Online Application Instructions
Instructions and links to access our new grant application program will be posted here.
Contact the Grants & Programs Department at grants@cfsloco.org if you have any questions about eligibility, program fit, or the grantmaking program.
For questions related to the Community Grant Program Applications, contact Michelle Fries, michelle@cfsloco.org.
For questions related to the Field of Interest Grant Program, contact Alysia Krupsky, alysia@cfsloco.org.
For technical questions about the application or the portal, contact Emily Narveson, emilyn@cfsloco.org.
