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CORE Grants

Since 2017, CFSA has granted over $7.3 million to more than 150 nonprofits in Southern Arizona through its CORE Grants program.

CORE Grants provide nonprofits with the unrestricted funding necessary to maximize their impact and improve the quality of life in Southern Arizona. CORE Grants provide flexibility for organizations to use dollars as they see fit to address emerging issues, boost salaries and benefits, invest in technology and infrastructure, and build communication and fundraising strategies, all leading to a healthier, more innovative, and more robust organization. Lastly and most importantly, CORE grants are rooted in mutual trust with the philosophy that organizations understand their unique needs and can achieve and demonstrate their impact. 

To learn more about this year’s application process, click here to RSVP for the CORE & Comunidad Virtual Information Session on Wednesday, October 15th at 11:00 AM via Zoom. This session will be recorded and emailed to all registrants, and posted below.

Application Information

Applicant Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
  • Applicant must be a 501(c)3 in good standing and have been operating for at least 2 years or apply using a fiscal sponsor. 
  • If applying with a fiscal sponsor or as a program of a larger university or university foundation, fiscal sponsor or university must be 501(c)3 in good standing, based in Southern Arizona.  
  • Applicant must be based in Southern Arizona (we welcome applicants from all counties south of the Gila River, including Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Santa Cruz, Yuma, and some of Pinal County). 
  • Applicant must be current in all reporting to CFSA. 
  • Applicant must have an annual operating budget between $100K and $2M. 
  • Grants are generally not made to individuals, for–profit organizations, government entities, capital fund drives, agency endowments, debt reduction, individual schools, religious organizations for sectarian purposes, pure sports teams. 
Grant Rubric

CORE Grants are scored according to a rubric representative of the following CORE characteristics.  

  • Community: Nonprofits play an integral role in their local community, have a keen awareness of its needs, and are continuously evolving and growing to meet those needs.
  • Organizational Sustainability:  Nonprofits have a business model that provides on-going financial support for their organization. They have boards and staff that are skilled, diverse, and knowledgeable and have shown longevity and a desire to move the organization forward to achieve the best results. 
  • Results:  Nonprofits utilize different methods of evaluation and information-gathering to inform decision-making and organizational improvement as well as develop appropriate services to the community OR expand organizational knowledge of advocacy issues (if relevant.)  
  • Effective Programs:  Nonprofits can clearly speak to the importance of their missions and programs and strategically align their programmatic or advocacy work with the larger good of the communities that they serve. 
Important Dates

October 1, 2025 – Application Open 

November 14, 2025 – Application Due (5:00 PM MST) 

November 2025 – April 2026 – Applications Reviewed 

April 2026 – Award Notifications 

April 30, 2026 – Grantee Celebration   

June 2026 – Grants Funded 

To Apply

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona has moved to a new and improved grant portal! To apply, all applicants must create a new account on the portal. Accounts can be created at any time, but applications will not be available until October 1, 2025.

Apply

Watch this tutorial for assistance applying.

En Español

Desde 2017, CFSA ha otorgado más de $7.3 millones a 150 organizaciones sin fines de lucro en el sur de Arizona a través de su programa de Subvenciones CORE.   

Las Subvenciones CORE brindan a las organizaciones sin fines de lucro el capital de trabajo flexible necesario para maximizar su impacto y mejorar la calidad de vida en el sur de Arizona. Estas subvenciones ofrecen flexibilidad a las organizaciones para utilizar los fondos según lo consideren adecuado para abordar problemas emergentes, aumentar salarios y beneficios, invertir en tecnología e infraestructura, y desarrollar estrategias de comunicación y recaudación de fondos, lo que conduce a organizaciones más saludables, mas innovadoras y mas robustas. Finalmente, y lo más importante, las subvenciones CORE están fundamentadas en la confianza mutua bajo la filosofía de que las organizaciones comprenden sus necesidades únicas y pueden lograr y demostrar su impacto.   

Para obtener más información sobre el proceso de solicitud de este año, acompáñanos en una sesión virtual informativa para solicitantes el Miércoles 15 de Obtubre a las 11:00 AM. Esta sesión será grabada y enviada por correo electrónico a todos los inscritos. Haz clic aquí para registrarte. 

Criterios de elegibilidad  

  • El solicitante debe ser una organización 501(c)3 en regla y haber estado operando durante al menos 2 años o aplicar a través de un patrocinador fiscal.   
  • Si aplica con un patrocinador fiscal o como un programa de una universidad o fundación universitaria más grande, el patrocinador fiscal o la universidad deben ser una organización 501(c)3 en regla, con sede en el sur de Arizona.   
  • El solicitante debe estar basado en el sur de Arizona (aceptamos solicitantes de todos los condados al sur del río Gila, incluyendo Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Santa Cruz, Yuma y parte del condado de Pinal).   
  • El solicitante debe estar al día con todos los informes requeridos por CFSA.   
  • El solicitante debe tener un presupuesto operativo anual entre $100,000 y $2,000,000.   
  • Generalmente, no se otorgan subvenciones a personas, organizaciones con fines de lucro, entidades gubernamentales, campañas de recaudación de fondos para capital, dotaciones de agencias, reducción de deudas, escuelas individuales, organizaciones religiosas para fines sectarios, o equipos deportivos.   

Fechas importantes   

  • 1 de Orbubre de 2025 – Apertura de solicitudes   
  • 14 de Noviembre de 2025 – Fecha límite para enviar solicitudes (5:00 PM MST)   
  • Noviembre 2025 – Abril 2026 – Revisión de solicitudes   
  • Abril 2026 – Notificaciones de premios   
  • 30 de Abril de 2026 – Celebración para los beneficiarios     
  • Junio 2026 – Fondos otorgados   

Para aplicar   

La Fundación Comunitaria del Sur de Arizona se ha trasladado a un nuevo y mejorado portal de subvenciones. Solicitantes deben crear una nueva cuenta en el portal. Las cuentas se pueden crear en cualquier momento, pero las solicitudes no estarán disponibles hasta el 1 de octubre de 2025.

CORE Donor Collaborator Information

To expand the impact of the CORE Grant Program, CFSA partners with generous community members we call Donor Collaborators. These Donor Collaborators make a gift to the CFSA’s Community Impact Fund and then work with staff to observe our competitive grantmaking process, to learn about community needs and the nonprofits providing critical services, and to connect with others. Donor Collaborators amplify the impact of CORE Grants, providing nonprofits the critical unrestricted support they need.

Are you interested in learning more? Click the Donor Collaborator Interest Form to share your giving interests and connect with staff.

I think non-profit organizations are smart. They know the best ways to promote their missions. They just need the resources to do it. By being a Core Collaborator, I believe the resources I provide will be used in smart ways to support the people, the programs, and the causes I care about.

This will be my 3rd year as a Collaborator. As a relative newbie to Tucson, my goal was to gain an overview of our charitable landscape and perhaps uncover a few new nonprofits to support. Collaborator training has shown me depth to the grantmaking process that has been valuable in defining and refining my charitable choices.  

Previous CORE Grant Recipients

2025
2024
2023
2022

* These grants were made possible thanks to our generous 2022 CORE collaborators.

2021
2020
2019
2017

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View All Grants

*These grants were made possible thanks to our generous CORE Donor Collaborators.

CORE is made possible in part by a grant from the Catalyst Fund, a grantmaking program of Fidelity Charitable ®

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