Grant Application
Learn about our Grant Process
Step 0: Create your Nonprofit account to stay informed!
Step 1: Attend an Impact100 SRQ Forum or Training to learn all you need to know about applying for one of our $100,000+ grants.
The workshops are nonprofit events for all nonprofit organizations serving Sarasota and Manatee Counties.
Step 2: Plan your initiative.
Consider a clearly defined problem your organization is working to solve. Think about what other organizations are doing to try to solve the problem too. Consider partnering with them to design an initiative with a viable, sustainable, and impactful solution.
Step 3: Submit your Grant Eligibility Form online before the deadline.
This step must be completed so that your organization's eligibility may be reviewed and confirmed.
Only nonprofits that have 1) submitted an Eligibility Form online by the deadline, and 2) meet our initial eligibility review will move on to the next step in our Grants Review Process for the current year.
The Eligibility Form will be accessible in 2022 from February 23rd until April 13th. You must complete this form before April 13th in order to be a part of the initial eligibility review in the 2022 grant cycle.
Step 4: Submit your Grant Application online by the deadline.
Once your organization has met our initial eligibility review, your organization will be sent an electronic link via email to complete the online application. Only initiatives submitted through the online application by the deadline will be reviewed.
Step 5: Host a Site Visit if selected.
After you submit your application, a committee for each Focus Area (FAC) consisting of Impact100 SRQ members meets to fully review the grant applications. After a thorough assessment of the proposed initiative, submitted financial statements, and other documents, the FAC members determine which of the nonprofit applicants will move forward to receive a site visit.
Step 6: Attend Meet the Finalists.
At the conclusion of the review process, each FAC will choose the finalist(s) for their Focus Area. Finalists will be notified by phone. All other applicants will be notified by email prior to Meet the Finalists, a public event where Impact100 SRQ announces who the finalists are from each Focus Area. Plan to attend to cheer on or to be cheered on by Impact100 SRQ members and your fellow applicants.
Step 7: Finalists Submit Your Wish Lists
All finalists are encouraged to submit a wish list of items that could benefit your organization. Wish lists will be posted on the Impact100 SRQ website for one year, giving possible donors an opportunity to fund listed items.
Step 8: Present at our Annual Celebration if you are a selected Finalist.
Each grant finalist will provide a five-minute presentation of their proposed initiative to our members at our Annual Celebration. Each voting member of Impact100 SRQ will use those presentations and summaries of the finalists’ initiatives to cast a single (and equal) vote for the nonprofits of her choice. Grant recipients are determined by majority vote and announced at the close of the meeting.
Grant recipients have the unique opportunity to plan two events: one to showcase their funded initiative and the other to reach the Impact100 SRQ membership with updates and details on the impact of our investment in your initiative.
Step 9: Provide Reports and Evaluation, if you are a Grant Recipient.
Prior to the release of grant funds, each recipient must complete the Impact100 SRQ Grant Agreement. Each Grantee is assigned a GrantLink Representative who will work with the Grantee to ensure all goes to plan post award. Grantees will be required to submit quarterly reports on implementation progress and a final report once funds are fully expended to their GrantLink Representative.
For information on the application process, please email grants@impact100srq.org.
Grant Application Financial Information
Application Required Documents:
- Initiative Budget (using the Initiative Budget Form provided)
- IRS Form 990’s for the last two years filed (if required)
- Financial Statements for the past two complete fiscal years, including Income Statements and Balance Sheets (audited, if available)
- Financial statements (Income Statement/Balance Sheet) from last completed fiscal year to present year-to-date
- Organization’s budget for the current fiscal year
- Year-to-date actual vs budgeted financials for the current fiscal year
Guidance for Initiative Budget Form
- Budget Form should provide sufficient information so that we know exactly how the grant funds will be spent
- Budget should be realistic and reflect all the expenses of the proposed initiative
- Budget should reflect the expenses that support the initiative, as described in the application
- Budget should be itemized in the provided expense categories
- Budget total cannot be less than the grant amount
- All totals should be calculated correctly
- Initiative Budget Narrative included in the application should address every category of expense in more detail and describe the nature of the expense and how it was determined
- For any capital expenses, a minimum of two comparative supporting quotes or bids must be provided
- If the initiative is dependent on receiving other sources of funds, indicate which sources are committed vs pending, provide commitments, date(s) expected to receive, as well as your plan for securing pending funds in the Budget Narrative
Grant Eligibility
Only nonprofits that have submitted an Eligibility Form by the deadline can submit a grant application for the current year. The Eligibility Form must be submitted online.
The Eligibility Form will be accessible from mid-February to mid-April every year.
This is a rolling process, and you will be sent a link to apply once eligibility has been confirmed.
The Eligibility Form will open for the 2022 giving year on February 23rd. It will close on April 13, 2022.
Organizations eligible to apply for Impact100 SRQ grants must confirm the organization is:
- Defined as a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
- Primarily serving Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties
- Registered with the Florida Division of Corporations as a nonprofit corporation
- Registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, unless the Organization is exempt
- Be free of legal actions declared; including current and pending conflict unless legal actions are a component of the organization's operating model
Projects eligible for Impact100 SRQ grants must:
- Primarily serve residents of and expend funds in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties
- Be a capital project, a new program, or a clearly defined expansion of an existing program
- Have a total initiative budget equal to or greater than the full Impact100 SRQ grant amount. Grant projects submitted with budgets over the Impact100 SRQ grant amount must show the ability to fund the entire initiative with documentation of committed funds.
- Expend funds within 24 months of the November award date
- Be able to provide most recent Financial Statements for the last 2 full years prior to grant application submission.
- Capital initiatives must include current bids/estimates received from vendors
- Provide a detailed plan for the sustainability of the initiative
- Be designated by the applying nonprofit organization for one of the following Focus Areas:
Arts & Culture: High impact programs or initiatives that cultivate, develop, and enhance culture and the arts in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.
Education: High impact programs or initiatives that further the educational process or improve access to education for children and/or adults in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.
Environment & Recreation: High impact programs or initiatives that restore, preserve, revitalize, or enhance the facilities or natural resources (including for recreational use); or improve the welfare of animals in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties, including those that encourage research, public awareness, and education relating to the environment and conservation of our natural resources.
Family: High impact programs or initiatives that strengthen and enhance the lives of children and families living in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.
Health & Wellness: High impact programs or initiatives that improve the physical and/or mental health and wellness of people living in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.
Impact100 SRQ will not provide grants for:
- Debt reduction, operational deficits, interim funding, bridge funding or endowment funding
- General operating expenses or overhead expenses that support the organization's current operations and programs. Only operating expenses that support the new or expanded initiative will be funded by Impact100 SRQ. Detailed allocation of funds required
- Existing overhead expenses and ongoing salaries for existing staff
- Grants to individuals
- Any type of arrangement whereby funds are held temporarily or in perpetuity and not expended within the 24-month period required by Impact100 SRQ
- Replenishment of previously existing endowment funds
- Partisan, legislative, or political activity or any activity that could be controversial, divisive or polarizing in nature.
- Initiatives of individual churches, synagogues or other religious institutions will not be funded unless a separate tax-exempt entity that is not under the umbrella of the church, synagogue or other religious institution exists for receiving Impact100 SRQ funds
- Benefits of the initiative must be available to any person, regardless of religious beliefs or practices
- Benefits of the initiative must not be dependent on any person being required to participate in any religious activity, ceremony, or service
- Capital improvements or renovations to property for the grant initiative if the organization does not own or have a written lease or other valid written agreement of at least five years with the property owner/landlord
- Grant recipients of an Impact100 SRQ grant awarded in the last two grant cycles
As we continue to grow and evolve, Impact100 SRQ reserves the right to change its eligibility criteria without notice at any time.
Important Dates For Nonprofits
October 5, 2021 Nonprofit Forum Virtual Event co-hosted with Manatee Community Foundation and Results1st at 8:30am
November 6, 2021 Annual Celebration at Art Ovation from 1-4 pm
November 16, 2021 Grant Applicant Training from 9-11 am at Manatee Performing Arts Center
February 17, 2022 Virtual Nonprofit Workshop - Grant Application Training 1pm via Zoom
February 23, 2022 Eligibility Form Opens
March 8, 2022 The Big Reveal at Nathan Benderson Park
March 9, 2022 Application Opens
April 13, 2022 Eligibility Form closes at 5pm for 2022 Grant Cycle
May 2, 2022 Application Closes at 12:00 pm (Noon)
October 2022 Meet the Finalists
November 6, 2022 Annual Celebration
Join our Nonprofit Database and stay informed!
For more information about grants, contact grants@impact100srq.org