Decision-Making Process

Decision-Making Process

The goal of the Community Impact Grant Program is to increase impact and build strong relationships with our partners to help make a difference in our community. We have developed a thorough grant application review process to carefully consider each request.

Grant Subcommittees

The grant subcommittees, composed of board and community members, review the larger grant proposals (requesting over $20,000) and make recommendations to our board. These dedicated volunteers have opened up the grantmaking process to be truly community-driven and allow us to leverage the expertise of a larger group.

Staff’s role focuses on assisting grantseekers, staying in touch with nonprofit organizations and community issues, screening applications for completeness, and facilitating information between the grant subcommittees and applicants.

2023 Grant Subcommittee Members

Celia Barberena, *Colby Pereira, *Deneen Guss, *Francine M. Rodd, John Scourkes, Kathie Cain, Laura Gamble, Meg Clovis, *Rene Mendez, *Romero Jalomo, and Steffanie Gamecho.

*CFMC Board member

Fund Allocations

Funding for the Community Impact Grants Program comes from a variety of field of interest and unrestricted funds managed by the CFMC. These funds are all endowed, meaning that the amount of funding available for CI grants is dependent on market performance in a given year.

Field of interest funds are established by donors who are interested in supporting a given area, such as education, health, culture, the environment, and or seniors. Donors also may limit grantmaking from their fund to a geographic area and/or client population.

The priority areas in the Community Impact Grants Framework were developed through a series of workshops with nonprofits and community members and are reflective of the variety of intentions with which donors established these funds. CFMC staff and grant subcommittees work to match the available funds in each priority area with effective program addressing critical community needs, while honoring the intentions of donors.