Launched in 2021, The Center for Healthy Nonprofits’ TeamUp program provides a streamlined way to match nonprofits with a diverse pool of southern Arizona consulting professionals.

TeamUp provides nonprofits with up to 20 hours of fully underwritten consulting/coaching. Moving forward, the program will be dedicated to focusing support on nonprofits at key points in their lifecycle.

To ensure we can provide meaningful support and engagement, we will approve a maximum of 9 projects per cycle, with a total of 2 cycles per year.

TeamUp applications are closed, stay tuned for updates on the next cycle in June! 

Application Information

Applicant Criteria

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 Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma counties applicants.
  • Nonprofits must not have received TeamUp support within the last fiscal year (July 1, 2024 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 needing help with a significant leadership succession such as replacing a longtime executive director.
  • Nonprofits who have received previous TeamUp support must articulate how their new proposed project will build upon work that was addressed in an earlier TeamUp project.
Important Dates

Award Notifications: February 2025

Project Completion Date: June 30, 2025

Next TeamUp Cycle: July 2025

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.

Apply

Watch this tutorial for assistance in applying.

About TeamUp

The TeamUp program was launched in 2021 as the brainchild of the Connie Hillman Family Foundation, a leading philanthropic organization in our community with an exemplary track record of investing in large and small nonprofits to help build their organizations and fulfill their missions.  In operating the Foundation, Larry Adamson observed a widespread need to knock down the biggest barrier for those nonprofits that need help from consultants and coaches but lack the organizational resources to pay for that assistance.

Larry shared, “We’ve noted many wonderful nonprofits in the community doing admirable work who need the kind of boost that working with a consultant can provide. As a core supporter of other programs offered by the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona and their Center for Healthy Nonprofits, we decided to team up with the community foundation by awarding a grant to respond to this need.”

What inspires me is that these connections are often new relationships that turn into new collaborations, or new ideas that turn into new solutions for community issues or problems. There’s a real palpable sense of collaboration within the physical space or the virtual space, of all of these different groups that are meeting or partnerships that are developed through TeamUp.

— Jenny Carrillo, Alexander|Carrillo Consulting LLC

Having the right consultant working with the right nonprofit…can move mountains. That’s what’s so great about TeamUp is that they put all the power in your hands. You choose who you want to work with…there’s so much power in there because you’ve made that decision and you’ve owned it and are now open and receptive to working with that consultant

— Alba Rojas-Sukkar, ARS Consulting Services, LLC

These assessments are so essential because it really does allow someone to give you that accountability check that a leader needs, to know that your impact is making the change that you want to see.

— Anton Russell, Co-Director, The Drawing Studio

[Our TeamUp consultant] did some team-building, some implementation strategies, setting of priorities coming out of our strategic plan, and ever since then, the organization is now very stable, we’re attracting good board members who have specific skills that we need. Staff is very stable, we’ve been able to give them raises. Things are good.

— Jean Parker, Board Member, Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter & Sanctuary

[Consultants] each have really specific expertise that nonprofits need really badly and it’s the hardest thing to find…to have that available for everybody to learn, is invaluable.

— Evan Mendelson, Facilitators Learning Guild

TeamUp Fact Sheet

What organizations are eligible to participate in TeamUp?

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.

How much will the consultants be paid?

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

Do the nonprofits have to pay any of the costs?

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.

What kinds of consulting/coaching projects will be undertaken?

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.
What kinds of projects will NOT be undertaken?

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
Can a nonprofit apply for more than one project?

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

Will the participating nonprofits and projects be kept confidential?

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.

What kind of reports will be required?

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.

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