TeamUp Grant

Applicants must fit the following criteria:

• Nonprofits must have annual budgets of $600,000 or less.
• Nonprofits must have 501(c)(3) status.
• Nonprofits must be based in Southern Arizona communities south of the Gila River. We welcome applicants from Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma counties.
• Nonprofits must not have received TeamUp support within the last cycle (January 1, 2025, to present)

This program seeks to benefit nonprofits at key points in their lifecycle– in transition, growth, decline, or considering alliances/mergers with other nonprofits, including:

• New board and/or staff leadership.
• Transition from working boards to governing boards.
• Organizations in need of new strategic plans or a new committee structure.
• Startups with an IRS determination letter and an inaugural board.
• Organizations anticipating the need for help with a significant leadership succession, such as replacing a longtime executive director.
• New nonprofits looking to build an inaugural board (must already have an IRS determination letter).
• Nonprofits that have received previous TeamUp support must explain how their new proposed project builds upon the work addressed in an earlier TeamUp project.
• Nonprofits that have not received a TeamUp, CORE, or Comunidad Grant in this cycle will be given additional consideration.

Application Opens: June 2nd, 2025

Application Closes: June 30th, at 5:00 PM Arizona Time

Award Notifications: July 2025

Project Completion Date: December 30, 2025

Next TeamUp Cycle: January 2026

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.

Apply

Watch this tutorial for assistance in applying.

Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status in Southern Arizona based in communities south of the Gila River. We welcome applicants from Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma counties.

All the consultants who join our consulting network will agree to a standard fee of $150/hour.

Up to 20 hours of consulting/coaching will be fully underwritten; if an organization wishes to continue the engagement of the consultant, additional fees will be assumed by the nonprofit.

Projects will be short-term, limited to 20 hours of consultation. The timeline will be agreed upon between the nonprofit and consultant; TeamUp projects should generally be completed within a six-month period. While there are stated priority areas for funding, the types of projects could include, but not be limited to the following:

1. Information and Referral—Provide sample documents, resources in the community for do-it-yourself projects, IRS requirements, and potential fiscal sponsors.
2. Review and Comment—Upon request, the consultant reviews and provides comments on governance documents such as bylaw revisions, committee charters, job descriptions for board members and volunteer leaders, personnel policies/employee handbooks, DEI statements, and code of conduct.
3. Assessment and Action Steps—Consultant does an assessment to evaluate development plan and materials, marketing plan materials/website, DEI-related policies, procedures, and practices, etc. The consultant provides feedback and recommendations for the organization to consider/implement.
4. Leadership Basics—Consultant may work with board/staff to do self-assessment followed by interactive work that may include board or staff retreats, plans to diversify the board and develop a succession plan.
5. Coaching—Consultant provides guidance to CEO/ED, Board Chair, and board leadership, focusing on newly appointed and those in transition.
6. Transformational Projects—Consultant engages with leaders desiring capacity building to help their organizations advance to the next phase of growth; providing counsel to organizations interested in organizational restructuring; and guiding organizations in need of a vision/mission.

Some longer term, complex projects or unique challenges may be better suited to a direct contractual relationship with a consultant, such as the following:

1. Filling what would otherwise be a staff job, such as interim executive director or manager
2. Conducting an Executive search
3. Managing Capital campaigns/endowment campaigns
4. Executing fundraising events
5. Designing/building websites; implementing information technology projects
6. Designing graphics/layout for marketing materials (logos, brochures, annual reports, letterhead)
7. Writing grant proposals

A maximum of one project per fiscal year may be considered for approval.

The Center will maintain a list of nonprofit organizations that participate in the program which will be reported to the investors in the program.  However, in reporting to funders, including the board members and committees of the Community Foundation which provide oversight, the projects will be described in a summary fashion by NTEE codes, budget size, geography, and other characteristics that will tell if we are achieving our goals of diversity and inclusion.

We are hyper-conscious of the reticence of nonprofits to reveal areas of weakness because their fear that knowledge might disqualify them from future grants.  We want to assure you that the Center programs and its director are not involved in grant-making decisions and we will not be required to reveal confidential information about your organization to our funding sources.  Of course, the consultants have a professional code of conduct which means that they respect and honor confidential information they learn through their engagements.

At the completion of the project both the consultant and nonprofit will submit their own concise online reports on the project, its successes, their level of satisfaction and identifying what they believe the next steps should be.