Neighborhood Organization Grant Program
On Sept. 30, 2025, the City Council reformed how the City distributes funding to neighborhood organizations and established a new Neighborhood Organization Grant Program. The Council created a new, opt-in program with specific guidelines governing allowable uses of City funds, designed to ensure funding is used for community-building events while promoting transparency and accountability.
A total of $49,000 is budgeted for the FY 2025-26. Individual grant award amounts will be determined by the City Manager’s Office based on the number of households represented within each participating organization’s boundaries.
In order to be considered for funding, applicants must meet the following minimum eligibility requirements:
- Represent a commonly recognized neighborhood within Santa Monica;
- Possess current tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Service Code (http://www.irs.gov) or Section 23701(d) or 23701(f) of the California State Franchise Tax Code (http://www.ftb.ca.gov);
- Have an active board of directors or officers, selected in accordance with association bylaws, who meet regularly, with meetings open to the public;
- Hold at least one general membership meeting annually;
- Maintain a membership list of at least 50 active members (residing at separate addresses) or 10 percent of eligible households within the neighborhood boundaries as defined in the bylaws, whichever is less.
- Request and submit demographic data for both membership and board composition.
- Submit a complete Neighborhood Organization Grant Program Application, including a Proposed Use of Funds Plan.
Grant funds are intended to support community-building events and activities and may only be used for pre-approved expenditures consistent with the goals and requirements of the Neighborhood Organization Grant Program.
All funds awarded during the fiscal year 2025-2026 grant cycle are to be expended by June 15, 2026. Organizations will be required to provide a Final Closeout Report and return any remaining grant funds in accordance with the Grant Reporting Requirements section of this fiscal year 2025-2026 Neighborhood Grant Application. Final Close Out Reports for the 2025-2026 Grant are due June 30, 2026.
Applications for the fiscal year 2025-2026 Grant Program are available below:
Neighborhood Organization Grant Application
No public funds are used for campaign purposes and the views of the neighborhood organizations do not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Santa Monica or its officials.
To view a map of the neighborhood organization boundaries as a PDF, click here.
2024-2025 Neighborhood Organization Grant Recipients: