Arizona News – The Arizona Community Foundation and its donors and partners are pleased to announce grant, scholarship, and loan distributions for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. A total of $109,820,976 was awarded from funds of the Arizona Community Foundation and its six statewide regional offices in Cochise, Flagstaff, the Gila Valley, Sedona, Yavapai County, and Yuma.
Excluding impact loans, ACF and its donors distributed more than $106.6 million across 7,619 grants. Both discretionary and advised grants and scholarships were awarded in five strategic priority areas: Health Innovations, Community Improvement & Development, Environment & Sustainability, Arts & Culture, and Quality Education.
In the area of Quality Education, the Arizona Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling more than $31 million during the year, including $5.7 million in college scholarships for the benefit of 1,635 Arizona students. The Arizona Community Foundation is the state’s largest independent provider of college scholarships.
At nearly $37 million, grants in the area of Health Innovations received the largest share of distributions, which were awarded to 2,879 organizations and programs in the areas of health, health care, medical research, and a variety of human services.
Nearly $11.2 million went to 700 programs in the category of Community Improvement & Development, which includes economic development, law, justice, public safety, housing, and neighborhood programs.
$4 million went to 496 organizations and programs in the areas of Environment & Sustainability, including environmental education, renewable resources, conservation, and animal welfare.
Nearly $11.3 million was awarded to 573 Arts & Culture organizations across Arizona, including artists, music, and cultural institutions.
In addition to these grants, 146 nonprofit organizations with dedicated agency endowments managed by the Arizona Community Foundation received their annual distributions, accounting for the remaining $12 million distributed during the year.
ACF is a national leader in impact investing, through which the Arizona Community Foundation and partners USDA Rural Development, Metro Phoenix Affordable Housing Collaborative, and LISC invested an additional $3.2 million in below-market loan funding to seven organizations in fiscal year 2024.
These funds work alongside traditional grantmaking accomplishing two important goals: producing measurable social impact; and building resources for future investing. Working together with a variety of capital partners, grantmakers, and nonprofit leaders, ACF’s impact investing program produces capital solutions that are more robust than grants alone.
DURING THE FOURTH QUARTER OF THE 2024 FISCAL YEAR, the Arizona Community Foundation distributed $28,374,830 in grants and scholarships. These dollars were awarded between January 1 and March 31, 2024, in five strategic priority areas: Health Innovations, Community Improvement & Development, Environment & Sustainability, Arts & Culture, and Quality Education.
Health Innovations: A total of $8.5 million was awarded to 597 organizations and programs in the areas of health, health care, medical research and a variety of human services.
Community Improvement & Development: A total of $3.6 million was awarded to 170 organizations and programs in this category, which includes housing, community and neighborhood development, financial literacy training, legal assistance and crime prevention programs.
Environment & Sustainability: A total of $921,686 was awarded to 79 organizations and programs in the areas of environmental education, renewable resources, conservation, and animal welfare.
Arts & Culture: A total of $5.1 million was awarded to 118 artistic and cultural organizations across Arizona.
Quality Education: During this quarter, a total of $5.5 million was awarded in scholarships and education-related grants. College scholarships accounted for $160,752 awarded for the benefit of 64 students pursuing higher education in the final quarter of fiscal year 2024. College scholarships are awarded to Arizona students to attend a wide range of colleges, universities, and technical schools in Arizona and across the United States.
In addition to these grants, 28 nonprofit organizations with agency endowments managed by the Arizona Community Foundation received their annual distributions during the fourth quarter of ACF’s fiscal year, totaling $4.6 million distributed during the quarter.
The nearly $28.4 million awarded in the final quarter of FY24, across all categories, represents 1,359 grants and scholarships. Some grants are awarded at the discretion of the Arizona Community Foundation with input from board committees and diverse community panels, while others are awarded through donor advice. All grants are approved or ratified by ACF’s Donor & Community Engagement Committee whose members include ACF board representatives and other community leaders.
Established in 1978, the Arizona Community Foundation is a statewide family of charitable funds supported by thousands of Arizonans. With five regional offices serving communities across Arizona, ACF is among the top 25 community foundations in the nation with more than $1.3 billion in trust and endowment assets and is certified under the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations. Since inception, ACF has awarded more than $1.3 billion in grants, scholarships, and loans to nonprofit organizations, schools, tribal entities, and government agencies. More information is available at azfoundation.org.