City of Rohnert Park

The Small Grants Program is the Rohnert Park Foundation’s community grant program. Its purpose is to focus resources on and provide funding to areas of need in the community of Rohnert Park, which enhance new partnerships with community members, nonprofits, foundations, public agencies, and similar entities and sustain or enhance the community. Rohnert Park city staff will administer the Small Grants Program on behalf of the foundation. Funding of the program comes from Second Amended and Restated Memorandum of Understanding by and between the City of Rohnert Park and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR), dated June 27, 2023. 

Eligible Costs. The following provides examples of eligible costs for programming and community projects:

1. Program support
2. Education
3. Community Artwork
4. Community beautification projects

Examples of ineligible costs:

1. Actions taken outside the grant performance period,
2. Indirect overhead business expenses of the grantee’s fixed or ordinary operating costs such as rent, insurance, etc…
3. Mortgage payments,
4. Property taxes or utilities (this does not apply to costs included in the overhead policy submitted and approved with the grantee’s application),
5. Outside project site boundaries, fundraising, food or grant writing.
6. Salary, benefits, and administration costs exceeding 10% of the total grant amount.

The maximum grant award is $10,000. Up to $300,000 of awards may be granted in this cycle of funding. The amount of grant award will be determined in part by an applicant’s justification for the amount of the request.

Nonprofit organizations who intend to deliver a service or offer a project in Rohnert Park are eligible for funding. Eligible nonprofit organizations must qualify under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All applications will complete an “Eligibility Screening Form” to determine eligibility.

1. The Grant Administrator performs initial review of grant applications. If there has not been staff pre-consultation, it is recommended that an applicant engage in consultation with the Foundation staff, specifically the Grant Administrator, to determine whether any concerns or deficiencies in the application exist. If an application is deemed incomplete, the applicant will be notified at the e-mail address supplied in the application within two weeks of review. The Grant Administrator reviews applications for consistency with the intent of the Small Grants program, specifically, to benefit or improve the Rohnert Park community. As part of the policy review, an applicant may be requested to submit additional information about any part of its project.
2. The Small Grants Review Committee will review the application and other pertinent documents prepared by the grantee and other pertinent information about the project, and determine whether to recommend the grant application for consideration by the Executive Director and Foundation board. If the Review Committee deems an application ineligible, the applicant shall be notified in writing and the applicant may appear at the Foundation board meeting and comment on the Review Committee’s decision during the public comment period.
3. When the Review Committee has recommended an application should be presented for consideration by the Foundation board, Foundation staff will prepare a staff recommendation for consideration by the Foundation Board. Foundation staff shall then recommend the grant application for consideration by the Foundation Board at a Foundation Board meeting. The start date for the grant agreement will be the date upon execution of the grant agreement.
4. All grant applications will be objectively scored using the updated Grant scoring rubric.
5. An applicant should be aware, however, that notwithstanding staff comments and recommendations, all decisions regarding grant applications are at the discretion of the Foundation Board.
 
 

In order to provide a diverse use for these funds, an organization can only receive one grant per grant cycle.

The Foundation board and Executive Director have determined that a two year grant cycle is adequate time to complete a project.

Yes. If an organization’s project is selected, a grant contract can be established through a fiscal agent organization. Keep in mind that by signing the grant contract, the fiscal agent agrees to comply with the contractual terms including fiscal reporting, records retention, and the final reporting schedule.

In general, Small Grants projects are intended to be available to as many members of the Rohnert Park community as possible. However, the reality of most projects is they target certain groups (e.g., student conferences), are located in non-public areas (e.g., on a school campus, or in a building that normally limits access to business hours), or have some other natural restrictions (e.g., are performed in a protected habitat). For this program, the Foundation seeks to understand how accessible your program is to the general public in the context of selecting a diverse portfolio of awards that best benefit the interests and character of the Rohnert Park community.

The evaluation committee seeks to understand the feasibility of a proposed project. Projects that demonstrate that they have secured the proper permissions and any partnerships needed to conduct the project will be scored favorably. For example, if an applicant proposes to install a park bench, the proposal should describe how the organization has or will secure permission from the park’s operator. As part of the evaluation process, the committee may reach out to the partners needed to conduct to the project in order to confirm that the project has the permission to proceed, if funded.