Santa Cruz Gives

Nonprofits with current 501(c)3 status in good standing (or have a qualified fiscal sponsor) AND who have a project benefitting Santa Cruz County are invited to  apply to participate in Santa Cruz Gives:

Here is the process:

1. Review the relevant information listed on this website, and on the Santa Cruz Gives FAQ.
2. Submit applications by the deadline -  September 7, 2024.
3. Propose a project benefitting Santa Cruz County.

Selected nonprofits are notified around of September 25-27, each year.

Unfortunately, not all qualifying organizations that apply can be selected. Participation is limited in order to ensure a successful campaign for all.

The Santa Cruz Gives committee selects from the eligible organizations that:

• submit applications by the , deadline -  September 6, 2024;
• are a nonprofit with current (nonprofits must be a 501(c)3 status;
• propose a project benefitting Santa Cruz County.

The selection committee attempts to choose projects that:

• cover as many of the categories of community needs as possible (education, youth, seniors, food/nutrition, education, the environment, the arts, animals, etc.)
• represent diverse and innovative projects within the categories (we avoid selecting similar projects)
• benefit the county’s various geographical communities
• present a clear and specific project
• present a compelling appeal to donors
• demonstrate potential for success: organization’s successfully leverage their own communication channels (email, social media, network of supporters, etc.)

Unfortunately, not all qualifying organizations that apply can be selected. Participation is limited in order to ensure a successful campaign for all.

Yes!
The best advice we can offer is to look at the leaderboard on SantaCruzGives.org to identify the previous year’s successful nonprofits (total number of donors as well as total funds) - review  individual nonprofit pages to get a sense of what the public responded to.

In addition, you'll want to be sure you have:

1. An inspiring mission statement
2. A compelling Big Idea
3. A clear and concise description of your work
4. Willingness to engage your own donors and direct fundraising to Santa Cruz Gives - and if you've participated in Gives before, this was evident in your own campaign efforts.

Donations are distributed to participating organizations in early February.

There are three funding portions to Santa Cruz Gives:

1. Challenge Grants:
   Pre-campaign funds provided by a nonprofits existing donors. Challenge grants are a "challenge" to donors to match the amount. These donations are part of a pre-campaign initiative and provide organizations a head start on their annual fundraising. Organizations keep 100% of challenge grants (aside from online transaction fees not covered by donors, at a rate of approx 3%).
2. Donations:
   Funds raised during the live campaign. 10% of these donations are withheld to cover campaign costs, including the transaction fees charged by credit card companies.
3. Santa Cruz Gives Campaign Fund and Matching Funds:
   These are corporate, sponsor, and large charitable fund gifts provided by partners and philanthropists. These gifts cover the costs of running a large scale online fundraising campaign and provide a "Matching Fund" for participating organizations.The Matching Fund is distributed proportionately amongst participating nonprofits, after campaign expenses (such as the Santa Cruz Gives website, banking fees, etc) are paid. The distribution is based on the percentage of total donations that each organization receives during the campaign. For example, if a nonprofit receives 3 percent of the total donated funds (challenge grants + individual donations), it will receive 3 percent of the matching funds.