Skip to content

Funding Guidelines and Priorities

Guías y Prioridades para los Fondos

We define social change as change that addresses the systemic, root causes of social (economic, environmental, political, and racial) inequalities in an effort to alleviate those inequalities but also the underlying conditions and circumstances that cause and sustain them.

The Fund for Santa Barbara is unabashedly progressive and is looking to support projects that address the systemic root causes of social inequalities. We support projects with a strong systemic change component.

El Fund de Santa Barbara es desvergonzadamente progresista y está buscando apoyar proyectos que abordan las raíces sistémicas de las injusticias sociales. Apoyamos proyectos con un fuerte componente de cambio social.

Definimos al cambio social como el cambio que aborda las raíces sistémicas de las injusticias sociales (económicas, medioambientales, políticas, raciales) con el objetivo de aliviar aquellas injusticias y condiciones y circunstancias subyacentes que las causan y sostienen.

Funding Guidelines

Directrices para el otorgamiento de fondos

Funding Priorities (not applicable to YMC)

​​Prioridades de financiamiento

We do not fund

No financiamos

Eligibility Criteria

Guías y Prioridades para los Fondos

General Eligibility Criteria

Multi-year eligibility criteria

Youth Making Change eligibility criteria

Must be youth-led (age 12-24) Youth are leaders in all aspects of the project, including the writing of this grant application.

  • Must meet the Funding Guidelines
  • Must operate in a democratic manner, responsive to and directed by the group of people you aim to serve; Teens in the community must benefit from your project, not just the planning team
  • Must attempt to fix a problem affecting youth by providing a solution
  • Must be located in Santa Barbara County
  • Must have a sponsoring organization, such as a school or community group with a Tax ID Number or Employer Identification Number (EIN) and an organizational bank account
  • Budget and Planned Activities must fall within the funding timeframe for which the proposal is submitted
  • Must not be a currently funded grantee (Racial Equity Fund & Mickey Flacks Social Housing Fund grantees excluded)
 
A strong project also includes (optional): 
  • Research to find out the most pressing needs in your community.
  • An opportunity for you and other youth planners to develop valuable skills and knowledge.
  • An opportunity for other youth in the community to develop valuable skills, knowledge, or experience.
  • A plan to keep your project running for a year or more.

Racial Equity Fund eligibility criteria

This fund aims to effect the culture and policy for systemic change necessary to advance racial equity and justice, and reverse the legacy of slavery and effects of racism in Santa Barbara County.

  • Must be a historically oppressed, marginalized and underrepresented-led group
    • Must support community members directly harmed by the racist policies and marginalized by systemic racism
  • Must include as a core mission the goal of addressing systemic racism
  • Projects must take place in the County of Santa Barbara
  • Have a Tax ID Number, Employer Identification Number (EIN), or a fiscal sponsor
  • Have an organizational bank account (or a fiscal sponsor’s)
  • **REFSBC funding cannot be used for lobbying, legal strategy or 501(c)4 work

Other funding programs