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Funding Guidelines
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**
- Human Services***
*Requests for arts/culture, sports, environment, and
civic/community organizations are not generally given top priority consideration. However, a request may be considered for funding if the proposed program or service is directly related to education, is integrated into classroom instruction, has demonstrated impact and is not limited to single exposure experiences, such as performances, field trips or events.
*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 innovative/pilot/new programs that have the
potential to be expanded to other schools in the district.
**Venoco does not generally fund single/specific medical diseases.
Organizations targeting specific medical diseases will be considered in light of
impact to the local population, and scope of services rendered.
***Human services focus on underserved populations, include “safety net” (food, shelter, clothing), economic development, etc...
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 Beverly Hills 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: PLEASE SEE NEW PROCEDURES FOR GRANT SUBMISSION.
ORGANIZATIONS SEEKING SUPPORT WITHIN A PRIORITY AREA SHOULD PLAN TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS AS FOLLOWS:
- Applications are accepted and approved according to the following schedule during
each fiscal year:
| Application Deadline |
Review Date |
Grants Awarded |
Priority Area |
Examples |
| January 1-15 |
March |
April |
Health |
Direct services in support of physical and mental health, substance abuse, nutrition |
| May 1-15 |
July |
August |
Education |
Educational programs, youth serving programs with educational goals |
| September 1-15 |
November |
December |
Human Services |
Programs serving high risk, underserved populations, such as safety net services. |
- All organizations requesting funds must complete an online grant application and submit it
with all required documentation.
- 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.
- Please note: all requests, regardless of compliance with the above guidelines, are subject to approval.
- IMPORTANT: Grant submissions will only be accepted between the 1st and 15th of each funding deadline month.
- IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION AS TO WHERE YOUR REQUEST FITS, PLEASE CONTACT MARYBETH CARTY:
Application:
Organizations based in Colorado use the following link:
Colorado Application
Organizations based in California use the following link:
California Application
Users who want to continue with an application that is in process, please use the following link:
https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_1365?SA=AM
Incomplete applications will not be considered and the organization must wait until the next
application deadline to apply again.
Applications, Final Evaluation Reports and Matching Gift forms should be sent to the
correct information listed below depending on geographic area:
Contact Information:
Marybeth Carty
Community Partnership Manager
Venoco, Inc.
6267 Carpinteria Ave. Suite 100
Carpinteria, CA 93013
(805) 745-2100, fax (805) 745-1816
or via email to:
Marybeth Carty |
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