Corazón Grants provide flexible funding to established nonprofit organizations deeply rooted in Southern Arizona that play a significant, sustained role in the communities they serve. These grants give organizations the freedom to use funds where they are needed most—whether responding to emerging issues, strengthening salaries and benefits, investing in technology and infrastructure, or building communications and fundraising capacity—all in service of stronger, healthier, and more resilient organizations. Corazón Grants are rooted in mutual trust and the belief that organizations understand their own needs and are best positioned to decide how to use resources to achieve meaningful impact.
Why Corazón?
Corazón expands CFSA’s competitive grantmaking to larger nonprofit organizations that fall outside CORE’s eligibility range. It also responds to what we are hearing from nonprofit partners about an increasingly uncertain funding environment. Alongside Comunidad and CORE, Corazón gives CFSA another way to provide flexible funding to nonprofit organizations operating at different scales across Southern Arizona.
Corazón Values
Corazón Grants recognize and invest in established nonprofit organizations that play a significant and sustained role in Southern Arizona. Eligible organizations are evaluated not only on organizational strength and effectiveness, but also on reach and impact, the trust and relationships they have built, and how their leadership and presence contribute to a stronger Southern Arizona.
Corazón applications are scored by volunteer community reviewers according to a rubric reflecting the following values:
- At the Heart of Community: Organizations are a trusted presence in the communities they serve. They respond to community aspirations, needs, and challenges and foster relationships, belonging, well-being, and access to opportunity.
- The Heart of Community Leadership and Partnership: Organizations strengthen Southern Arizona beyond the direct delivery of their own programs and services. They build meaningful partnerships, contribute expertise, foster collaboration, and demonstrate leadership within their communities, fields, or sectors.
- The Heart of Organizational Strength and Enduring Impact: Organizations demonstrate the leadership, governance, financial stewardship, adaptability, and organizational capacity necessary to sustain meaningful impact over time.
- Learning from the Heart of the Work: Organizations evaluate their work in ways that are meaningful to their mission and use data, evaluation findings, and other forms of learning to inform decisions, adapt their approaches, and strengthen their work over time.
Important Dates
- November 2, 2026 - Application Open
- November 29, 2026 - Application Due (11:59 PM MST)
- November 2026 - March 2027 - Applications Reviewed
- March 2027 - Award Notifications
- April 2027 - Grants Funded
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in good standing, or an established Southern Arizona affiliate or chapter of a qualifying 501(c)(3) organization, and must have operated in Southern Arizona for at least five years. Fiscally sponsored projects and individual programs or departments of another institution are not eligible.
- Applicants must have an established governing board.
- Applicants must be based in Southern Arizona or have an established Southern Arizona operation that meets the affiliate criteria below. For purposes of this grant, Southern Arizona includes counties south of the Gila River, including Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Santa Cruz, Yuma, and portions of Pinal County.
- Applicants must be current in all reporting to CFSA.
- Applicants must have current annual operating expenses greater than $2 million.
- 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, or sports teams.
Corazón is designed for organizations that demonstrate a significant and sustained role in Southern Arizona through their community presence, relationships, reach, impact, and organizational strength.
What if I am affiliated with a national or statewide organization?
Organizations affiliated with a statewide or national entity may be eligible for Corazón if they maintain a substantial, established operation in Southern Arizona. We recognize that organizational structures vary, and national or statewide affiliation alone does not determine eligibility.
To qualify, your Southern Arizona operation must:
- Have annual operating expenses greater than $2 million, separate and identifiable from the expenses of the broader statewide or national organization;
- Have an established physical and staffing presence in Southern Arizona;
- Have local leadership with meaningful responsibility for Southern Arizona operations, strategy, partnerships, and resources; and
- Demonstrate a significant and sustained presence, reach, impact, and set of community relationships in Southern Arizona.
Applicants must be able to provide a separate operating budget for their Southern Arizona work. A program or service area of a larger organization that does not have a distinct Southern Arizona operating structure will not be eligible.
General Grant Guidelines
- Corazón grants are $50,000 for a one-year grant period, with the opportunity for a conditional $50,000 renewal for a second year.
- Awards made by CFSA’s various grant committees support organizations that comply with applicable federal and state laws and do not discriminate in employment practices, volunteer opportunities, or delivery of programs and services based on race, religion, gender, or gender identity (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender individual), gender expression, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, citizenship, ethnicity, familial status, socioeconomic status (economic circumstances), color, creed, sex (including pregnancy), phases of parenthood, national origin, marital status, veteran status (past, current, or prospective service in the armed forces), genetic information, physical characteristics or appearance, mental or physical disability, or any other status prohibited by applicable law.
How to Apply
All applicants must create an account in our grant portal before applying.
To view a tutorial video on how to submit an application using this platform, please click here.
Helpful Information on Corazón
What is Corazón?
Corazón is CFSA's newest competitive grant opportunity. It will provide $50,000 grants, conditionally renewable for a second year, to nonprofit organizations with annual expenses over $2 million that demonstrate a significant and sustained role in Southern Arizona.
Why is CFSA increasing support for large nonprofits instead of putting more resources into smaller organizations?
Corazón is not intended to represent a shift away from smaller nonprofits. CFSA is maintaining distinct competitive pathways for organizations at different scales: Comunidad for small and emerging organizations, CORE for established midsized organizations, and now Corazón for larger anchor organizations. Corazón fills a gap that previously existed above CORE's $2 million eligibility ceiling and responds to significant funding uncertainty affecting organizations across the sector.
If CFSA wants to show support for smaller nonprofits, why isn't Comunidad open to new applicants this year?
This year is a transition year for Comunidad. Rather than ask the current cohort to compete again or begin another one-year cohort while the program model is changing, CFSA is extending renewal support to all 13 current grantees. The open competitive process will return in Fall 2027 with a model designed to provide greater continuity: anticipated $5,000 grants with conditional renewal for a second year.
What about the federal funding and policy environment led CFSA to create a new opportunity for larger anchor organizations?
CFSA has been hearing from nonprofit partners about uncertainty, delayed or disrupted funding, and the difficulty of planning in a changing federal environment. Nationally, nonprofits that rely on federal grants have also faced changes and proposed changes to federal grantmaking rules, as well as reported financial instability and challenges related to federal funding. Corazón is one way CFSA can provide flexible local philanthropic support during that uncertainty. At the same time, the program addresses a separate, longstanding gap for organizations that had grown beyond CORE eligibility.
Does Corazón specifically serve Hispanic or Latino organizations?
No. Corazón is not an identity-specific or Hispanic-serving grant program. The name Corazón - 'heart' - reflects the program's focus on nonprofit organizations that serve as important anchors at the heart of Southern Arizona communities. Organizations are eligible based on the program's nonprofit, geographic, financial, and organizational criteria, not the ethnicity of the people they serve.
What does CFSA mean by an 'anchor organization'?
An anchor organization is not simply a large organization. Corazón will look for organizations that demonstrate a significant and sustained role in Southern Arizona. Indicators may include deep community relationships and trust, meaningful reach or impact, important services or infrastructure, strong partnerships and collaboration, sustained regional presence, and leadership that contributes to the strength of the broader community.
Why should an organization with a multimillion-dollar budget need a $50,000 grant?
Budget size does not make an organization immune to sudden revenue loss or financial disruption. Flexible philanthropic funding can help retain staff, sustain services, bridge an unexpected funding gap, respond to changing community needs, or give an organization room to adapt. The value of a grant is not measured only by the percentage of an organization's total budget it represents.
Is Corazón only being created because of changes in federal funding and policy?
No. Current funding uncertainty makes the need especially timely, but Corazón also addresses a structural gap in CFSA's grantmaking. Organizations that grew beyond CORE's $2 million eligibility ceiling previously had no comparable CFSA competitive grant opportunity.
Is CFSA reducing CORE to fund Corazón?
CORE remains a significant annual investment and a cornerstone of CFSA's competitive grantmaking. CORE grantmaking has historically been around $1 million annually, and CFSA will continue to strive for approximately that level of investment while also maintaining Comunidad and creating Corazón. The total amount available and number of grants awarded through any competitive program can vary from year to year based on available resources and community needs.
Will there be fewer CORE grantees?
The number of CORE grants can vary from year to year depending on available resources, the applicant pool, grant amounts, and the review process. CORE will continue to represent a significant annual investment in Southern Arizona nonprofits.
Why not simply expand CORE eligibility above $2 million?
CORE was designed for established midsized organizations, and nine years of experience have demonstrated the value of maintaining that focus. Organizations operating at substantially different scales can have different financial structures, governance complexity, community roles, and funding environments. A distinct Corazón process allows CFSA to use questions and review criteria appropriate to larger anchor organizations without changing what CORE was designed to do.
Why is Comunidad changing?
After three years of Comunidad, CFSA has an opportunity to build on what it has learned and move the program further toward sustained, trust-based philanthropy. The future model is intended to provide greater continuity and reduce repeated application burden through conditional second-year renewal.
Why are current Comunidad grantees receiving renewal grants this year?
This is a transition year for Comunidad. Rather than open another competitive round while the program model is changing, CFSA is extending renewal support to all 14 current grantees. The program will reopen for competitive applications in Fall 2027 under its new model.
Does conditional renewal mean a second year is guaranteed?
No. Conditional renewal means grantees will not need to participate in another full competitive process for Year 2, but renewal will depend on continued eligibility and CFSA's established reporting requirements.
Is CFSA moving toward multi-year funding?
Where it makes sense and resources allow, CFSA is exploring ways to provide greater continuity. Conditional renewal in Corazón and the future Comunidad model reflects that direction. CORE will continue as an annual competitive program, preserving a unique annual opportunity for Donor Collaborators to invest alongside CFSA and amplify the priorities identified through community review.