Grant Making Criteria

2009 Focus Areas: Health & Social Services, Education & Research

2009 Target Populations: Children (Birth-18 years), Military

Rancho Santa Fe Women’s Fund provides funding for North San Diego County and San Diego city area projects that address at least one of the following criteria: 

• Responses to urgent and critical need;
• Bold new ventures;
• New approaches to time-worn problems. 

The Rancho Santa Fe Women’s Fund funds broadly, choosing organizations that, in the opinion of our members, are able to make the best use of awarded grants.  Funding for special projects and operational expenses are considered; funding for endowments, capital campaigns, and projects outside the member-designated geographical area are not considered.  Member referrals are given special consideration, as are proposals that offer opportunities to leverage other funds and forge partnerships that will increase the impact of Rancho Santa Fe Women’s funds.

• Only organizations that qualify as 501(c) (3) entities under the Internal Revenue Service code will be considered for funding.
• Management of the organization and project should be in the hands of reliable, ethical, and experienced personnel.
• Project plans should demonstrate the ability to achieve results or should supply sufficient rationale to warrant the given amount of risk.
• Organizations that discriminate on the basis of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religious belief will not be considered for funding.

Submit a Letter of Inquiry

We invite nonprofit organizations to submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) to enter into our annual grant process.  The Grant Committee will determine which organizations will be invited to submit a Request for Proposal (RFP).  For the 2009 grant cycle, LOIs are due by September 26, 2008.  You may fill out an LOI form online or download an LOI form and mail it in.

LOI TIPS:

• Review grant guidelines to make sure your project is eligible for funding.
• In the narrative, be clear and focused about how your organization would make the best use of up to $50,000.  Don’t try to suggest too many different possible projects; focus on one per LOI.
• Due date for the LOI is September 26, 2008.  Late submissions will not be considered.
• An email confirming receipt of your LOI will be sent in October; please contact Debbie Anderson if you don’t receive one.
• Request for Proposal (RFP) letters will be sent in mid-November; if you don’t receive one (with accompanying confirmation email) you can assume your organization has not been selected for further consideration in the 2009 funding cycle.
• We unfortunately are not able to give feedback on reasons why specific LOIs do not go forward to the RFP stage, given the large number of LOIs and the logistics of the Grant Committee format.

Download PDF: 2009 Member Suggestion Form

Download PDF: 2009 Letter of Inquiry Form

Request a form by phone at 858-756-6557

Complete form and mail or fax to:
Rancho Santa Fe Women's Fund
P. O. Box 811
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
fax 858.756.6561

Contact Debbie Anderson if you have questions about the RSFWF grant process by email or by phone at 858-756-6557.

2008 POOLED FUND AWARDS: $295,000

The Angel’s Depot
Senior Food for a Week program: $45,000
www.theangelsdepot.org

The Angel's Depot serves San Diego County residents who are 60 and older earning less than $900 per month. Each food box provides enough nutritious, non perishable food for 21 meals easily prepared at home. Many seniors are able to make their monthly food box last for more than a week. The program is designed to provide nutritional support during that crucial time towards the end of each month when low income seniors have a particularly difficult time affording both food and medicine.

Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA
Operation Hero/Camp Flashhh: $45,000
www.camppendletonasymca.org

Operation Hero and Little Hero programs are for children 5-12 years old who are experiencing temporary difficulty in school. Operation Hero gets military children back on track academically and socially by emphasizing the four core values of honesty, caring, respect and responsibility. Skills are offered in developing interpersonal relationships, mentoring, and tutoring of the child’s school subjects. Camp Flashhh is a summer camp for Camp Pendleton military families with children who have disabilities or special needs.

Canine Companions for Independence
Assistance dogs for disabled veterans: $40,000
www.cci.org

This is a targeted outreach program to disabled military veterans in North County. Two “proto teams” will serve as visible examples in the North County veteran community and help pave the way for other veterans and rehab professionals to benefit from CCI’s services. The results will be in dramatically improved independence, morale, motivation and hope for the heroic veterans of our community who are adjusting to life with a disability.

Fresh Start Surgical Gifts
Surgery Weekend: $30,000
www.freshstart.org

Fresh Start’s Surgery Weekend program addresses the challenge of providing specialized healthcare to children with correctable deformities such as cleft lip and palate and those afflicted due to abuse, disease or the aftermath of a serious accident. Reconstructive surgery is provided as well follow up care including speech therapy, laser treatments, dental care, etc.

Juvenile Court Book Club
Book Club for incarcerated teens: $45,000
www.juvenilecourtbookclub.org

Funding for books in support of the monthly book clubs at county facilities where juveniles are incarcerated. The program is designed to inspire literacy and a love of reading to at risk youth. JCBC offers this approach in the effort to turn these teens around through literature and thought-provoking discussions with volunteers from the community.

San Diego Chamber Orchestra
Music Memory program: $45,000
www.sdco.org

Music Memory is a nationally recognized music education and appreciation program. The curriculum is presented in an aural-visual format during a four year program for children in 3rd through 6th grades. Each year the children receive an in-depth study of 16 selections of classical music covering the five historical periods: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary as well as jazz, opera, and Broadway song selections.

Scripps Health Foundation-Encinitas
Remodel of Assisted Daily Living (ADL) Room: $45,000
www.scripps.org

Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton have teamed to develop a day treatment program for military patients with closed brain injuries. The hospital will remodel the current ADL Room to create a state-of-the-art rehabilitation room that meets the needs of brain injury patients. With input from physicians, therapists and designers, the room will be completely renovated to improve its functionality, look and feel. The renovated ADL room will greatly enhance the therapy of these military outpatients, be a national model for brain injury rehabilitation and research, and a lasting inspiration to our injured Marines and sailors enrolled in the Military Brain Injury Program.

2007 POOLED FUND AWARDS: $230,000

Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego
Operation Bigs: $45,000
www.sdbigs.org

Operation Bigs provides mentors with a military background to school children who have one or both parents in the military who may be deployed. Operation Bigs matches a sympathetic caring adult who understands their situation, to spend one on one time together, to help with school work, sports or projects, with children who have been identified as "at risk".

Burn Institute
Child Burn Survivor Support Program: $35,000
www.burninstitute.org

To provide support for three programs: "Camp Beyond the Scars", matching children with older burn survivor mentors, and the School Re-Entry program. This project aids the physical, emotional and mental recovery process for burn victims and also educated their classmates to hopeful prevent other burns from happening.

Fostering Opportunities Dollars for Scholars
College scholarships for foster student: $45,000
www.mydollars.org

This project provides college scholarships to students who have "aged out" of the foster care system. Funding is for tuition and books and students will attend North County schools such as CSU San Marcos, Palomar College and Mira Costa Community College. Volunteer mentors are also arranged to act as surrogate parents to assist with career exploration, goal setting, problem solving, and everyday life skills.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Beta Cell Regeneration research project: $40,000
www.jdrf-sandiego-news.org

A research project aimed at regenerating insulin-producing (beta) cells in people who have diabetes, as opposed to transplanting cells from organ donors or other sources. The goal is to trigger the body to grow its own new insulin producing cells, either by copying existing ones or causing the pancreas to create new ones.

Kids Included Together, Inc.
Sustaining Inclusion in North County: $25,160
www.kitonline.org

This program builds the capacity of KIT alumni affiliates to sustain their inclusion programs. Boys & Girls Clubs of San Dieguito, Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad, Christian Youth Theatre, and the Rancho Family YMCA will receive support. Children with disabilities will participate with peers without disabilities in after school activities.

Neurosciences Research Foundation
How Synapses Influence Brain Networks: A Cellular Physiology Approach: $40,000
www.nsi.edu

A research project to better understand the underlying principals of brain function. The goal is to formulate new approaches to the prevention and treatment of brain disorders and dysfunctions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

2006 POOLED FUND AWARDS: $165,000

Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside
Gangbusters: $25,000
www.bgcoceanside.org

To support expansion of the program to allow additional outreach to identify youth who could benefit from the Gangbusters program.  Specifically, this year, the Club was invited by the Oceanside Unified School District to collaborate with them onsite at two middle schools as a response to escalating problems there and in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Cal State San Marcos
Mobile Arts: $15,000
www.csusm.edu

Center ARTES is taking the lead on an extremely unique program by forming this partnership with AVID students, their teachers, and Cal State student teachers assigned to AVID settings.  The ARTS Mobile program provides children and their teachers’ direct access to the arts.

CCHAT Center
Family Conversations: $25,000
www.cchatsd.org

The proposed Family Conversations program brings together a team of professionals to provide weekly group support sessions and individual counseling for the emotional support and education of families of deaf children.

Community Resource Center
Transitioning to Independence: $25,000
www.communityresourcecenter.org

To support a new program designed to help women fulfill their goal of independence by offering rental assistance and continued supportive services in an off-site location. These services include individualized case management plans, individual and group counseling, life skills classes and support groups, transportation help thru bus passes and vouchers, employment preparation training, and legal advocacy and assistance.

Family Literacy Foundation
United Though Reading: $15,000 
www.unitedthroughreading.org

To support the United Through Reading program, a quality of life program that helps active duty military personnel and their children stay connected during deployment through the medium of reading aloud on videotape.

Jewish Family Service
Mentoring Mothers: $25,000
www.jfssd.org

To expand the Mentoring Mothers Program which matches mature female volunteers, for a minimum of one year, with teen mothers in order to offer guidance, enrich self-esteem, and counsel them on the benefits of completing high school and continuing their education.

Kiwanis Oceanside Pacific Foundation
Defibrillators Project: $10,000
www.oceansidepacific.org

To fund the purchase of  five (5) AED's (Automated External Defibrillators) around the city at public buildings such as the Library, High School Gym, County Buildings and non-profit locations.

Vision of Children
Innovative Research Project: $25,000
www.visionofchildren.org

To fund a critical study to analyze the electrophysiology of Ocular Albinism, using volunteers with OA from in and around Southern California. The proposed treatment has the potential to reverse disabilities caused by countless hereditary vision disorders.  VOC is currently the only organization in the world that supports OA studies.

 

2005 POOLED FUND AWARDS: $100,000

Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA
Stuart Mesa PreSchool: $25,000
www.camppendletonasymca.org

To fund the Mommy and Me preschool classes which focus on kindergarten readiness and positive parent and child interaction. Three 90 minute sessions per day Monday though Thursday are offered September through July for children from 18 months to five years of age. 

Casa de Amparo
Child Development Center: $25,000
www.casadeamparo.org

To support the Child Development Center (CDC) which provides childcare and educational opportunities to children ages 18 months to 5 years who are at risk of abuse and neglect. CDC offers at-risk preschoolers and toddlers safe, reliable child care and high quality preschool education five days a week from 7 am to 5 pm.  Children, from all ethnic backgrounds, learn, play and heal in an environment that teaches them to interact with and respect other children and cultures.

San Diego Youth & Family Services
Teen Choices: $25,000
www.sdycs.org

To expand Teen Choices, a health and legal advocacy program dedicated to improving the overall health and well being of at-risk youth (including youth in the juvenile justice system) nine to thirteen years of age (grades 4-8). Teen Choices exists to foster resiliency in youth who have come to the attention of the criminal or dependency court system, school counselors, teachers, intervention officers, social workers and public defenders. The ultimate goal of the program is to stabilize the lives of these youth so that they can finish school, go on to college and/or become productive members of society.

T.E.R.I., Inc.
Fitness, Therapy & Recreation Center: $25,000
www.teriinc.org

To fund the Fitness, Therapy and Recreation Center which is used for individualized therapy programs to improve balance, coordination, flexibility and strength and reduce sensory integrative problems.  The therapy center will ultimately include a rock climbing wall, a variety of mats for stretching and range of motion, a vestibular swing, therapy balls, a Bobath ball unity, obstacle/fitness course, passive exercise equipment, and other therapeutic supplies