Economic Development
Committee
TO: THE HONORABLE ECONOMIC DATE: may 22, 2025
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS
FROM: PARKS, RECREATION AND COMMUNITY WARDS: ALL
SERVICES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: fISCAL YEAR 2025/2026 CITY SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM, julY 1 – december 31, 2025, Value of $140,537 ISSUES:
Receive, review, provide input on and recommend City Council approval of staff recommendations for the City Sponsorship Program support in the form of monetary funding and/or in-kind contributions of $140,537 for charitable and community events, which are produced by local non-profit organizations for the six-month period of July 1 – December 31, 2025.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the Economic Development Committee:
Receive, review, and provide input on staff recommendations for the City Sponsorship Program for the six-month period of July 1 to December 31, 2025; Recommend that City Council approve City Sponsorship support, pending final budget approval for Fiscal Year 2025/2026, in the form of monetary funding and/or in-kind contributions of $140,537 for charitable and community events, which are produced by local non-profit organizations; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to make non-substantive changes to the recommendations.
BACKGROUND:
The City Sponsorship Program (Program) provides local non-profit organizations with the opportunity to apply for City funds and/or in-kind services twice each fiscal year. The July 31 deadline covers applications for charitable and community events and meetings for the following January 1 – June 30 funding cycle. The January 31 deadline covers applications for charitable and community events and meetings for July – December.
Individual organizations will be notified of the process via e-mail notifications in May and June, prior to the July 31, 2025, deadline, and staff will lead a Sponsorship 101 webinar in June. The City Sponsorship Program Agreement, Guidelines, and processes are posted on the City’s website and included as Attachment 1.
The Program is administered by the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and the application review process begins with the Arts & Cultural Affairs Division. Staff reviews applications for eligibility, then forwards the requests to the appropriate City Departments and compiles the subsequent recommendations. Following Council Committee approval, the Council Committee reports to the full City Council for final approval.
Fund availability from the Arts & Cultural Affairs Division Budget is as follows:
Arts & Cultural Affairs Budget for City Sponsorship, Fiscal Year 2025/2026 Proposed Cash Sponsorship from Arts & Cultural Affairs Budget for July – December, 2025/2026 Proposed Cash Sponsorship from Riverside Public Utilities Budget for July – December 2025/2026 Total Proposed Cash Sponsorship for July – December 2025/2026 $152,082
$69,000
$5,750
$74,750
DISCUSSION:
City Sponsorship
The sponsorship applications were evaluated by various City departments, based on each organization’s ability to create or enhance its events in the spirit of the City of Riverside Strategic Plan, as outlined below. Other factors that are considered include projected attendance, event/organization history, event budget, City Sponsorship history, and location of project in an underrepresented ward (see rubric on page 3).
Forty-two (42) local, non-profit organizations have applied for monetary and/or in-kind sponsorship during the current application process for events to be produced from July 1 – December 31, 2025, and thirty-nine (39) organizations are recommended as sponsorship recipients (Attachment 2). Of the three declined applications, two were scheduled outside the funding period and the third was also outside the funding period, as well as outside City boundaries. A component of the recommendations for sponsorship includes in-kind sponsorship awards from the Fire Department; Police Department; Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCSD); and Riverside Public Utilities.
New applicants for this funding cycle are: Arts Connection, Baboon Stewardship, Ballet Resource Active Volunteer Association (BRAVA), The Care Project, La Sierra University Church, Project Boon, and Vitality Development Foundation. Brief summaries of all applicants’ mission statements are included with this report (Attachment 3).
The events and projects recommended for funding play an integral role in the City’s quality of life. Total projected attendance for these efforts is estimated by the organizers at 285,725, representing and serving every age group and a broad cross-section of the City’s people (and pets!). Included in these projects are programs promoting literacy, health/fitness; arts; food security; and celebrations of history and culture.
A summary of the recommended sponsorship values for July 1 – December 31, 2025, appears below:
Recommended Funding for July 1 – December 31, 2025
Cash Sponsorships (Arts & Cultural Affairs)
Cash Sponsorships (RPU)
Total Cash Sponsorships
Total Value of In-Kind Sponsorships
Total Value of Cash & In-Kind Sponsorships
July 1 – December 31, 2025
$69,000
$5,750
$74,750
$65,787
$140,537
All impacted Department Heads concur with this report: Chief, Fire Department (RFD); Chief, Police Department (RPD); Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCSD); and General Manager, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU).
All participating Departments use the following rubric during the review of eligible applications:
Projected Attendance
Previous Attendance (if applicable)
History of Service to Community (Y/N)
Connection to Specific Sections of the Strategic Plan
Eligible Monetary Request (50%, 35%, or 20%, based on Sponsorship Guidelines) Projected Cost per Participant
Cultural Program (Y/N)
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (Ability/Culture/Ethnicity/Families/Seniors/Children & Youth) Council Ward
Availability of Requested Resource (Y/N)
Table Sponsorship
No expenditures for table sponsorships were reported during the previous six-month period.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
The City Sponsorship Program supports the Arts, Culture, and Recreation goals of Envision Riverside 2025 by assisting with events and projects that cover all elements of Goals 1.1 and 1.2: learning, arts, culture, recreation, senior programs, and partnerships, as well as facilitation of requests for in-kind sponsorship related to various City amenities. Because of the diversity of requests, the Program also addresses Goal 1.5: programs and services related to literacy, health, and education for all ages. Community Well-Being (Goals 2.3 – 2.5) are addressed through programs related to development of a sense of community, community engagement, neighborhoods, and partnerships.
This item aligns with the following Cross-cutting Threads:
Community Trust:
Each round of City Sponsorship funding is documented fully in the reports that are presented to the Economic Development, Placemaking & Marketing/Branding Committee and to the City Council, including each request item and each staff recommendation item.
Sponsorship 101 workshops are offered to prospective applicants every six months to ensure that they are informed of the processes and requirements.
Equity:
As staff members evaluate applications, they give particular attention to organizations that seek to serve populations representing the diversity of Riverside.
Access is a key factor in the evaluation process; each event or project must include significant outreach, with a preference for events and projects that are offered at no cost to the participants, and those applicants that cannot do that must eliminate significant barriers to entry, usually by offering free or reduced admission prices for specific populations (children, students, veterans, and seniors).
Fiscal Responsibility:
The City Sponsorship program is included in the Arts & Cultural Affairs Division operating budget, placing it directly within the sphere of accountability that encompasses each staff member’s work, through the supervision of City Management, to the City Council.
The events and projects do not, generally, provide revenue directly to the City budget; however, sales tax revenue is generated through budget expenditures related to the production of each event or project and through the commerce generated by an event or project participants.
Additionally, these Sponsorship dollars are leveraged through the funded projects to provide community-enhancing activities throughout the calendar year, which multiply the value and impact of those dollars.
On average, the nonprofit organizations that spend the City’s Sponsorship dollars utilize about one City dollar per each person who receives services, based on the estimated number of individuals served through these Sponsorship-funded programs and across a broad spectrum of causes.
4. Innovation:
Because the Program operates through two rounds of funding each year, there is broad opportunity for applicants to innovate in response to community needs, new trends, and fresh inspiration.
The frequency of the application process encourages innovation, because it mitigates risk in a way that a project of longer duration cannot, and that frequency also allows for flexibility in response to emerging needs in the community.
The Program provides opportunities (primarily during the Sponsorship 101 Training) for nonprofits to interact, opening doors to innovation through collaborations and partnerships.
Sustainability & Resiliency:
Funded projects promote the health of our nonprofit community, which makes this an investment in the capacity of the nonprofit community, as well as an investment in each life served by that community.
The nonprofit organizations in our community represent such broad and diverse areas of interest that they serve as a barometer of need in the community.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of the City Sponsorship recommendations represents a total investment of $140,537, with $69,000 in monetary contributions from the Arts & Cultural Affairs Division of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and $5,750 in monetary contributions from Riverside Public Utilities. In-kind services (including facilities) are valued at $65,787. Sufficient funding is available in FY 2025/26 budget in the General Fund, Arts & Cultural Affairs Division City Sponsorship, Account Number 5240000-450302 and the Electric Fund, PU-Customer Engagement, Community Support, Account Number 6020000-456022.
Prepared by: Margery Haupt, Deputy Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department Approved by: Pamela M. Galera, Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
City Sponsorship Program Agreement/Guidelines
Staff Funding Recommendations for July 1 – December 31, 2025 Mission Synopses for Applicant Organizations
Presentation
City Sponsorship Program – July 1 – December 31, 2025 Page 5