Mission: To be a leader in corporate giving and volunteerism,
creating partnerships with organizations that strengthen the communities in which we have
business operations and to encourage employee participation and involvement at the same
time.
We target organizations that provide services, programs and assistance to low-income,
high risk, disadvantaged and underserved populations. It is our intention to provide
support for programs and services that have a broad impact on the greatest number of
people in our community.
Funds may be requested primarily for program and general operating expenses.
Requests for fundraisers, capital and endowment will be considered on a case by case basis.
Funding Priorities: In order to use our funding resources
in the most efficient and effective way, we have identified the following categories
as our priority areas:
Education*
Health and Human Services**
Children, Youth and Families
*Requests for arts/culture, sports, environment, and
civic/community organizations will be considered for funding but only if the
proposed program or service is directly related to youth education.
*Public schools are funded at the district level instead
of individual schools in order to maximize the benefits to the most students.
Individual schools may request funding for pilot/new programs that have the
potential to be expanded to other schools in the district.
**Venoco does not generally fund specific medical diseases.
Organizations targeting specific medical diseases will be considered in light of
impact to the local population, and scope of services rendered.
Eligibility: To be eligible for consideration an
organization must:
Be located in areas in which we have business operations. These are limited to
California (South Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, and Sacramento Basin area),
and Colorado (Denver Metro area).
Qualify as an IRS 501(c)3 non-profit organization and not classified as a private
foundation. (Must be able to supply a recent IRS letter).
Have a clear mission, be effectively organized, provide a needed service to its target
population, be able to provide evidence of delivery of services and show evidence of
the impact on the recipients.
Be accessible and open to all segments of the community.
Serve the community, hire agency staff and elect board members without discrimination
based on sex, race, sexual orientation, color, age, religion, national origin or
physical disability.
The following are not eligible for funds:
Organizations located outside the areas where we have business operations.
Individuals or individual sponsorships.
Political parties, organizations, candidates, campaigns or events.
Association or membership dues.
Field trips, tours, or travel expenses (unless demonstrated as integral part
of program).
Annual meetings, conferences and conventions.
Organizations primarily promoting religious purposes; requiring participants to
be of a certain faith to participate in programs or receive services, or delivering
services with prayer proselytizing or other specifically religious activities.
Donor-advised funds, private foundations, personal trusts.
Requests deemed as "pass through" grants.
Third party fundraisers.
Individual scholarships or tuition assistance.
Private schools.
Athletic teams, booster clubs or social groups.
Fraternal organizations.
Salaries or personnel requests (unless directly related to sustainability of the
organization).
Organizations who discriminate on the basis of sex, race, sexual orientation, color,
age, religion, national origin or physical disability.
National organizations (unless they have a major presence in the local community and
a major percentage of funds raised stay in the community).
Government or public agencies (excluding public school districts).
Although an organization may meet all of the eligibility requirements, that alone
does not guarantee approval. Approval and denial of grant requests is at the sole
discretion of Venoco.
Organizations new to Venoco must contact us to determine eligibility before submitting an
application. See contact information below for the appropriate person to speak with.
Application Process:
Applications are accepted and approved according to the following schedule during
each fiscal year:
Application Deadline
Review Date
Grants Awarded
January 15
March
April
May 15
July
August
September 15
November
December
All organizations requesting funds must complete a grant application and submit it
with all required documentation. Applications may be faxed, mailed or emailed.
Generic mass mailings will not be considered for funding.
All new organizations will be required to have an initial site visit completed before
further review of the request. Subsequent site visits will be done on repeat organizations
as deemed necessary.
Requests are reviewed by a committee of Venoco employees and then forwarded to the CEO
for final approval or denial.
Multiple requests in a calendar year are not allowed. Only one approved grant per
organization per year (January through December).
Organizations will be notified in writing of the approval of the grant and will be required
to sign a contract and return it to Venoco before a check is sent.
All organizations who receive a grant of $1000 or greater (excluding employee matching
gifts) must complete a Final Evaluation Report within 90 days of receipt of grant
or when funded program or event has concluded. Reports must contain a financial
accounting of funds, along with outcome indicators. Subsequent grant applications will not
be reviewed without an up to date report on file. The organization will be required to resubmit
their application at the next grant deadline date once the report is received by Venoco. It is not acceptable to send a final report with a new grant request. A copy of the Final Evaluation
Report can be found here.
Application:
Organizations based in Colorado use the following link:
Organizations based in California use the following link:
Incomplete applications will not be considered and the organization must wait until the next
application deadline to apply again.
Matching Gifts:
Venoco believes in encouraging employees to support charitable organizations in areas
where we have business operations.The Matching Gift program provides an opportunity for the
company to join with employees in supporting organizations they have a passion for. Venoco
will match dollar for dollar any donation by an employee to any organization that meets our eligibility
criteria for corporate donations and does not fall under the ineligble list. The only
exceptions to the ineligible list is that Venoco will match donations to individual
public schools, specific medical diseases and the employee's university or college alma
mater.
The minimum matched is $10 up to the maximum of $1000 per employee per calendar year.
All matching funds are subject to fund availability and will be issued as received and
approved by the Venoco Community Partnership. Contributions exceeding the $1000 maximum amount
are subject to approval by the CEO.
Eligible Donors:
All full time employees of Venoco or any of its subsidiaries.
Non-employee members of the Board of Directors.
How to Participate:
The employee completes Part A of the Matching Gifts Program Application, signs and mails
the form along with their donation to the recipient organization.
The recipient organization completes Part B, signs and mails the form along with a copy of
the IRS 501(c)3 exemption letter back to Venoco. Forms submitted without the IRS letter
will not be processed.
It is the employee's responsibility to confirm that the form is complete and the appropriate
documentation is included.
Incomplete forms will not be matched and will be given back to the employee for follow-up.
Completed forms must be returned to Venoco within 30 days following the date of the gift.
The deadline for submission in a calendar year is November 30. Requests received after the deadline will be
matched in January of the following year.
Venoco reserves the right to not match a particular gift, donor or organization. Decisions are
final. This program may be terminated or changed at any time and without advance notice.
Applications, Final Evaluation Reports and Matching Gift forms should be sent to the
correct information listed below depending on geographic area:
Contact Information:
For California: Venoco Community Partnership
Attn: Marybeth Carty
Venoco, Inc.
6267 Carpinteria Ave. Suite 100
Carpinteria, CA 93013
(805) 745-2100, fax (805) 745-1816
or via email to: Marybeth Carty
For Colorado: Venoco Community Partnership
Attn: Bernadette Marquez
Venoco, Inc.
370 17th Street, Suite 3900
Denver, CO 80202-1370
(303) 626-8311, fax (303) 626-8315
or via email to: Bernadette Marquez
