CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
February 6, 2024 {{section.number}}d
CONSIDER REVISIONS TO CITY COUNCIL POLICY NO. 28 COMMUNITY GRANTS AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 COMMUNITY GRANT PROGRAM
DOCUMENTS
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve administrative changes to City Council Policy No. 28 – Community Grants, consider policy alternatives to amend the Community Grant Program process and authorize the release of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 Community Grant Program documents.
BACKGROUND:
Since 2000, the City of Coronado has awarded grants to local non-profit organizations in support of Arts and Culture, Community Pride/Sense of Place, Economic Development, and Social Service activities. On May 7, 2019, the City Council adopted Policy No. 28 – Community Grants, which established formal guidelines for the program.
Each year, the City Council reviews Policy No. 28 and draft program documents prior to the release of the notice of available funding to community organizations. Once the application period opens, interested organizations can use the online portal to submit their applications for five types of grants: One-Time Purchases, Seed Money, Services, Special Events, or Recurring Events/Activities. After a thorough review by City staff and independent grant readers, grants are considered and awarded by the City Council following the adoption of the Fiscal Year budget in June. A complete overview of eligibility and the grant application process can be found in Attachment 2.
Last year, the City Council received $2,155,503 in grant requests and awarded $1,015,000 in community grant funds to 36 unique programs across 23 organizations.
ANALYSIS:
The Community Grant Program enhances Coronado’s local nonprofit organizations by providing strategic investments in a variety of community, cultural, and economic development activities.
Staff continues to monitor the program and look for ways to streamline the administrative functioning.
Staff is recommending approval of three minor administrative adjustments. In addition to these proposed changes, two substantive modifications are outlined below for City Council consideration. All applicable administrative policy changes are included in redline form within Attachment 1, and if approved, will be incorporated into the policy.
Staff recommends approval of the following administrative changes for Policy No. 28:
1) Proctor additional discussions with grant readers if score discrepancies occur.
Last year, staff modified the grant reader program by allowing the grant readers to provide optional comments and a funding suggestion for each reviewed application. The additional transparency of this process made clear that some applications received discrepant scores, which negatively impacted their funding recommendation. To improve this process, staff will implement an additional collaborative opportunity where grant readers can discuss their scores with one another. This model mirrors the approach used for various City of San Diego grant programs, where grant readers engage together and reach a consensus on a score or funding amount for each grant.
Given that the Community Grant Program operates with four independent categories, staff recommends the City Council to consider Substantive Change #2: Set Funding Allocation to Each Grant Element, in conjunction with this proposed administrative change. These adjustments in tandem aim to provide grant readers with clearer information on available funding, facilitating more effective analyses.
2) Rename the Social Services grant element to Community Services.
In 2022, staff conducted a survey among previous grant applicants to assess the program’s functionality from the applicant’s perspective. Some provided feedback that the existing grant categories and scoring rubrics do not adequately capture the unique programs and initiatives for which their organization seeks funding – negatively impacting their application score.
In response to this feedback, the City Council approved nominal changes to the definition and goals of the Social Services grant element, broadening the category to be more inclusive of various social, human, and community services. As currently written in Policy No. 28, the goals of Social Service grant requests are to promote human or social services to youth, minority groups, families, seniors, veterans, and/or disabled residents; promote leadership and engagement in the community through mentoring and social development; encourage friends, equality, acceptance, compassion, and empowerment throughout the community; and support recreation and empowering activities to people of all abilities.
To better accommodate a diverse set of applicants, the City Council may consider changing the name of the Social Services grant element to Community Services.
There is also an opportunity to review each grant element’s goals and scoring guide (see Attachment 2) to ensure alignment with current City Council priorities. If the City Council determines that the definition or goals should be adjusted, Policy No. 28 and the associated rubrics will be edited prior to grant materials being distributed. 3) Introduce a narrative question that prompts applicants to describe how their organization has utilized their prior year funding award.
As part of the grant application, applicants are required to respond to narrative questions that correspond with the grant element’s associated scoring rubric (refer to Attachment 3). To enhance the evaluation of grant applications, staff proposes the inclusion of another narrative question that requires returning grant applicants to describe how they have utilized their funding from the previous funding cycle. The introduction of this question aims to empower grant readers, staff, and the City Council to more effectively assess whether funding is being applied in accordance with the program’s defined goals.
Staff recommends City Council consider the following substantive policy changes for the Community Grant Program:
1) Establish a lower funding cap per organization.
Last year, the City Council approved a $150,000 funding cap per organization and $100,000 funding cap per grant application, as codified in Policy 28. To address the continuous increase in demand for community grants, and the finite level of funding available, staff recommends implementing a $100,000-$120,000 funding cap per organization.
In FY 2023-24, the average request submitted by organizations was $67,359, and for individual programs was $43,110. Notably, six organizations requested the maximum amount of $150,000, totaling 89% of available funding. The top ten largest grant requests constituted 136% of available funds. In comparison, the average award at the organization level was $42,492, and at the program level was $28,194. For a more detailed summary of the FY 2023-24 grant awards, refer to Attachment 4. Establishing a lower cap may alleviate the imbalance between submitted requests and available funds.
2) Appropriate funding to each grant element.
Currently, there is no requirement to appropriate funds evenly or proportionally across the four grant elements. Over the past three years, funding requests and allocations have notably increased in the Arts and Culture and Community Pride/Sense of Place grant elements, while funding for Economic Development and Social Services has decreased.
Grant Element
2023
Proportion
of Grant
Request
2023
Proportion
of Awarded
Funds
2022
Proportion
of Awarded
Funds
2021
Proportion
of Awarded
Funds
3-Year
Average
Awarded
Funds
Arts and Culture 33.30% 30.68% 29.26% 22.54% 27.49%
Community
Pride/Sense of Place 23.30% 31.65% 28.23% 23.97% 27.95% Economic
Development 11.80% 14.96% 17.47% 21.72% 18.05%
Social Services 31.60% 22.71% 25.04% 31.77% 26.51%
If desired, the City Council may consider appropriating funding for the grant elements at the threeyear average funding level. This means that each grant element would receive the associated percentage of the total appropriated grant amount. Alternatively, the City Council could opt for an even allocation across the four elements (25% each), or another amount that aligns with council priorities.
This policy option seeks to enhance the distribution of funding to better align with the City Council’s program goals. Moreover, setting an appropriation for each grant element will assist grant readers during the review process by providing a clearer understanding of funds available to be awarded.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Per City Council Policy No. 28 – Community Grants, FY 2024-25 grant funding will be set at 1.45% of General Fund revenue. Proposed policy changes will not result in a fiscal impact to the City.
ALTERNATIVE:
The City Council could direct staff to implement a policy that combines various aspects of the options listed above or could decide to not adopt any of the above suggestions.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT:
Not Applicable.
PUBLIC NOTICE:
No notice required, but all previous grant applicants were notified via email of this item.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. City Council Policy No. 28 – Community Grants Redlined
2. Community Grant Program Overview, Rubrics, Instructions, and Timeline
3. FY 2024-25 Community Grant Application
4. FY 2023-24 Community Grant Awards
Submitted By: City Manager's Office / Kelli Maples