Current Grant Opportunities
Our application process has moved to a new platform.
To continue, all users are required to create a new account. For detailed instructions, please view our instructional video.
2026 Grant Timeline
Applications Open March 6 – March 27
- Women’s Legacy Fund
- Robert H. Janssen Youth and Youth Sports Fund
- One Community Fund: Fueling a Vibrant Immigrant Community
- LGBTQ+ & GSA School Clubs Grant
Applications Open June 1 – June 22
- Community Grant Program (Arts & Culture, Environment, Health & Human Services, Seniors and People with Disabilities)
- Senior Dance
- BUILD (Building Unity, Infrastructure, Leadership, and Development)
- Growing Together LGBTQ+ Fund
Application Open September 1 – September 30
- LGBTQ+ & GSA School Clubs Grant
Together for SLO County: A Critical Response Fund (Closed)
Timeline
- Application open from October 3 to October 24, 2025
- Decisions announced and grants awarded in early December
Our Grants & Programs staff now offer office hours to help answer your questions. Sign up here.
A pre-recorded info session about the grant program is also available to view here.
Link to Grant Application: Click Here
A PDF version of the application questions can also be downloaded here.
Initiative Overview, Together for SLO County, A Critical Response Fund: Mobilizing Community. Sustaining Vital Services.
Together for SLO County is a targeted initiative created to protect and strengthen the safety net for our most vulnerable neighbors. Across San Luis Obispo County, nonprofits are facing deep and unexpected funding cuts that threaten essential services. Funding through the initiative provides rapid, flexible general operating grants to ensure vital resources, such as food, housing, healthcare, mental health support, childcare, and more, remain available where they are needed most.
Grant awards will range from $50,000 to $150,000, depending on the size of the applicant’s operating budget:
- Budgets under $1 million = grants up to $50,000
- Budgets between $1–10 million = grants up to $100,000
- Budgets over $10 million = grants up to $150,000
Who is Eligible: To qualify, applicants must:
- Be based in, or have operated in, San Luis Obispo County for at least 12 months.
- Be able to expend grant funds within 12 months of award.
- Be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or have a qualified fiscal sponsor.
- Demonstrate substantial funding reductions that occurred in 2025 or are officially confirmed for 2026.
- Serve SLO County residents who are among the populations most in need, including:
- Children with special needs
- Disabled populations
- Foster youth and transition-age foster youth
- LGBTQIA+ individuals
- Immigrant populations
- People living in poverty
- Individuals without access to physical, oral, or mental healthcare
- Survivors of power-based violence
- People experiencing unemployment or homelessness
Grantmaking Criteria: Together for SLO County prioritizes organizations that:
- Provide Critical Services: Delivering essential supports such as:
- Accessibility services
- Advocacy and community organizing
- Adult daycare
- Childcare
- Food security
- Healthcare services (including oral, reproductive, preventive, and early intervention services)
- Housing
- Mental health services
- Resource and referral supports
- Restorative justice
- Trauma and violence prevention
- Workforce development
- Demonstrate Long-Term Resilience
- Adapting and innovating in response to funding cuts and community needs
- Having clear strategic priorities and plans for sustained impact
- Developing innovative strategies to sustain vital services
- Embed Equity Throughout Their Work
- Designing culturally and linguistically responsive services
- Ensuring inclusive decision making and leadership structures
- Integrating equity into hiring, leadership development, and organizational practices
- Define and Measure Community Outcomes
- Tracking outcomes that matter to the communities served
- Using both quantitative and qualitative measures to demonstrate progress and impact
Beyond the Grant: Investing in Sustainability
Together for SLO County is not only about short-term relief, it’s also about long-term resilience. In addition to funding, grantees will have opportunities to participate in sustainability and organizational wellbeing supports, which may include:
- 1:1 coaching or consulting
- Peer sharing and learning opportunities
- Group workshops and trainings
- Access to sustainability and planning tools
Accountability and Reporting: Funded organizations will be expected to submit a report in early 2027
Online Application Instructions
Instructions and links to access our new grant application program will be posted here, including an orientation recording.
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.
