Arizona Veterans' Donation Fund - Grants

November 3, 2023

Update Large Grant applications are now open. The Arizona Veterans' Donation Fund-Large Grant has increased from a maximum request of $75,000 to $100,000.

What is the Arizona Veterans' Donation Fund?

The Arizona Veterans' Donation Fund (VDF), established in 1999 by the Arizona legislature (A.R.S. § 41-608), funds programs that benefit Veterans and their families throughout Arizona. Arizona State law specifies that tax-deductible donations to, and monies held in, this account can never revert to the State General Fund.

The VDF consists of monies, gifts and contributions donated to the department and donations made through the purchase of Veteran, Women Veteran, and Freedom Special License Plates. The assets held in the account can only be used to benefit Veterans in the State of Arizona through small grants and large grants, each with their own documented application process.

Eligibility

Grantee may be a 501(c) charitable organization, local government, consortia, Native American Tribe, private sector, school/school districts, for-profit, or state government. Preferable to ADVS, the Grantee has a primary mission of providing benefits to Arizona’s Veterans and is compatible with ADVS’ objectives determined by the Director, or designee. ADVS encourages collaboration by entities to form community partnerships to submit joint VDF Grant proposals, whenever doing so would improve the collaborating entities’ ability to deliver useful services to Arizona Veterans.

If you are seeking individual financial assistance, please go here for information about the Military Family Relief Fund.
If you are seeking grants to assist with starting a Veteran-Owned small business please visit Small Business Administration: Veteran-Owned Businesses here.

How can my organization apply for grants from the Veterans Donation Fund?

Memorandum

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services (ADVS) is issuing this memorandum to all potential applicants for Veterans Donation Fund (VDF) grants for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. ADVS is focused on ensuring that applications address social determinants of health (SDOH) for Arizona Veterans. Applications must pertain to at least ONE of the categories of SDOH which includes: basic needs, employment, family and social support, finances and benefits, higher education, housing and homelessness, legal, mental health and substance abuse, physical health, and spirituality. ADVS encourages all VDF applicants to submit grant applications that address upstream prevention so that Veterans and their families do not escalate into a crisis. Applications that propose to provide direct services for Veterans will be prioritized over applications that provide indirect services to Veterans. Direct services are defined as services being provided for and for the benefit of the individual Veteran. For example, assistance with paying past due rent and/or utilities. Indirect services are not intended to provide services for the direct benefit of the individual Veteran. For instance, requesting funding to conduct a study to understand Veteran homelessness is an indirect service. The study itself does not affect a Veteran experiencing homelessness, but could provide insight into direct services that could be provided that would affect a homeless veteran's housing outcome. AZDVS intends to award $300,000 in VDF small grants and $1,500,000 in VDF large grant awards for FY 2024-2025, for a total of $1,800,000.

VDF Grants of $4,999.99 or less (Small Grant)

A VDF Small Grant application can be downloaded in fillable-PDF format below:

VDF Small Grant Application 2024-2025.pdf

Small Grant Proposals must be accompanied by a Budget Worksheet. For your convenience, a VDF Budget Template is below:

VDF Budget Worksheet 2024-2025.xlsx

Small Grant Proposals must be accompanied by a W9 For your convenience, this form can be downloaded below:

AZ W-9 blank

Spreadsheets of a similar format by Grantee will also be accepted.
Budget worksheets submitted should show line-item breakdown of all revenue and expenses for which the organization is applying for VDF grant.
Small Grant Proposals are accepted throughout the year, dependent on availability of funding.
Notification of the Department’s decision will be made within 30 days upon receipt of the completed proposal.

VDF Grants of $5,000 - $100,000 (Large Grant) Click here to apply

All Requests for Grant Proposals of $5,000 - $100,000 must be submitted through eCivis, a cloud-based grants management system.

Proposals will be accepted from Friday, December 6, 2024 through Friday, January 3, 2025 ending at 5:00pm (Arizona). For detailed instructions on applying for a grant from the VDF Fund using eCivis please review the application submission process attached with the RFGP. For reference, eCivis “Grant Application Submission” Guide is available here: https://grants.az.gov/grants-and-ecivis-resources/ecivis-user-guides

Follow-up:

For information or questions regarding grants of $5,000 or more please contact the VDF Program Manager at (602) 234-8429 or via email at: [email protected]. Please do NOT use this email address to submit grant proposals; all large grant proposals MUST be submitted through the provided eCivis link.

Important VDF Links (click each to download)

The Arizona Department of Veterans' Services is also seeking volunteer facilitators for the VDF Large Grant Review Committee.

It is required that we have at least three reviewers for each application. Volunteer reviewers are grouped with Staff Facilitators who guide them through the review and record their recommendations to the Director of ADVS for a final decision. Each year we invite members of the Veteran community to serve as review committee members for the VDF Large Grant applications.

The Review will be held virtually through Google Meets on January 6, 2025 from 8AM to 4PM and we are looking for 30-40 volunteers. Because this meeting is entirely virtual we must ensure that our volunteers have appropriate technologies as well as availability for training on how to review the applications within the eCivis grants portal.

To participate in the Review, you must be able to attend the entire review session, this may take the entire day depending on the amount of applications and the number of reviewers we have available. You must also be available to attend the training that will be provided, this will take approximately 1 1/2 hours, 1 week before the review is scheduled. This training is tentatively scheduled for January 3, 2025.

Please note that if you are a VDF Large Grant applicant, you can still participate. Each volunteer will fill out a conflict of interest statement where you will list any of the organizations that you are involved with and will ensure that you are not put in a group reviewing those applications.

Responses will be accepted up to December 30, 2024.

For more information or to fill out a volunteer application, click HERE.

Additional Grant Opportunities Click Here to Apply

Interested applicants can apply for the following VSA Program grants:

Starlink Solicitation

The purpose of this grant is to oversee the deployment of 50 Starlink units to expand the telecommunications and satellite internet capabilities of rural tribal nations to increase veterans' access to services and benefits. Supportive Initiatives must be compatible with the following objectives:

Veteran Employment
Veteran Health/Mental Health
Legal
Women/Minority Veteran-Specific Issues
Veteran Homelessness
Tribal or Rural
Transportation
Social Determinants of Health

Action Plan to End Veteran Homelessness

The Arizona Department of Veterans' Services (ADVS) provides critical, statewide coordination and technical assistance to services and organizations serving Veterans. This includes activities such as the Arizona Veteran StandDown Alliance, and outreach events that support homeless and at-risk military Veterans in Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham/Greenlee, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai, and Yuma Counties.

Arizona Hall of Fame Grant

The purpose of this program is to support programs, projects, and events that will benefit Arizona's veterans. Through this program, the funding agency intends to engage the community and veterans services organizations in the efforts to inform Arizona's 600,000 veterans about benefits and lawfully assist them in their claims for benefits. Generally, supported initiatives must be compatible with the following objectives:

Veteran Employment
Veteran Health/Mental Health
Legal
Women/Minority Veteran-Specific Issues
Veteran Homelessness
Tribal or Rural
Transportation
Social Determinants of Health

Veteran Toolkit

ADVS is committed to implementing the Veteran Toolkit, which includes providing programs and services focusing on community-based organizations. The Veteran Toolkit was established to bridge the gap between the first couple of weeks of employment and the Veteran's first paycheck. It allows Veterans to obtain crucial equipment to be successful in their new careers.

ADVS with the assistance of potential Sub-Recipient is looking to continue the Roadmap to Veterans Employment. This strategy outlines various initiatives to assist Veterans with obtaining employment. As often is the case, the Veteran has been unemployed or underemployed, and may not have the funds to buy the required protective equipment, tools, or supplies needed for work.

Is there someone I can speak to regarding ADVS grants?
Yes. Contact the VDF Grant Program Manager through one of these channels:

Telephone: (480) 617-8912
Fax: (602) 297-6687
Email: [email protected]
Regular postal mail:
Attn: VDF Grant Program Manager
Arizona Department of Veterans' Services
1688 W Adams Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007