The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSA) is thrilled to announce that $1,225,000 in general operating support has been awarded to 51 nonprofits to provide the flexible working capital necessary to maximize their impact and improve the quality of life in Southern Arizona. This is the largest grant round in CFSA’s 43-year history.
Jenny Flynn, CFSA’s President and CEO, shared, “This year’s CORE Grants highlight the generosity and trust between our donors and nonprofit partners and celebrate the community that makes this all possible. As we look towards next year with a new strategic plan, we are focused on our mission of building a thriving Southern Arizona through philanthropy.”
CFSA’s 2023 CORE Grants were made possible with the support of our CORE Donor Collaborators, our CFSA Field of Interest Funds, the Connie Hillman Family Foundation, and our CORE Community Review Committee. Their commitment and dedication were essential in making the sixth year of CORE Grants successful. CORE Grants have awarded $4.7 million to 115 Southern Arizona nonprofits since 2017, with significant growth in impact and reach seen each year.
Kelly Huber, Vice President of Philanthropy, shared, “We are lucky in Southern Arizona to have many amazing community members that bring their time, expertise, and financial resources to this work. Our CORE Donor Collaborators are an example of that. Their generosity and community spirit are essential to the success and continued year-over-year growth of the CORE Grants program. This year, our 21 CORE Donor Collaborators contributed nearly $600,000 to the 2023 CORE Grants program.”
This year’s grantee pool represents eight geographic areas and 17 focus areas, including Arts & Culture, Education, Healthcare, Rural Community Services, Children & Youth, and more. Forty-one percent of this year’s grantees are first-time CORE Grant recipients, and twenty-nine percent primarily serve rural communities. The average grant award for this cycle is $24,019.61 – an eighteen percent increase from 2022.
Jeaiza Quiñones Ivory, Director of Community Investments for CFSA, shared, “This year’s CORE Grants application process underwent significant improvements due to the transparency, advocacy, and adaptability of our previous applicants, review committee, and CORE Donor Collaborators. As this program grows, our team will be focused on further centering those voices and approaching this process from a trust-based philanthropy lens. This helps to ensure that our nonprofit community maintains the autonomy to utilize funding as they see fit, that there is continued access to our team, and that our grant processes evolve collaboratively and equitably.”
