Roseville grants panel applies $30,000 cap, approves funding recommendations for 2025–26 cycle

The City of Roseville Grants Advisory Commission voted unanimously among commissioners present to approve funding recommendations for the FY 2025–26 Citizens Benefit Fund (CBF) and Roseville Employees Annual Charity (REACH) grant cycle, committing the full available pool of $288,010 to ranked applicants.

The commission’s action follows a full-night workshop on April 8, 2025, during which commissioners reviewed 32 applications, found five not qualified, and discussed whether to cap large operational grants. Staff told the commission the total requested across qualified applications was $587,677 and that available funds were $284,710 from the Citizens Benefit Fund plus $3,300 from REACH funds (total $288,010).

Commissioners said the reduced budget compared with previous years made it difficult to fully fund many requests. After extended discussion and several recusals for specific organizations, the panel reached a majority agreement to apply a $30,000 cap to large mission/operational support requests. Chair Neva Parker read the commission’s final funding recommendations into the record and commissioners present recorded a roll-call approval.

Why it matters: the Citizens Benefit Fund and REACH awards support direct services and local nonprofits in Roseville and Placer County. With fewer dollars available this cycle, the commission prioritized fully funding the highest-ranked applications up to the new cap and partially funding a set of mid-ranked applicants, rather than giving small amounts across a larger number of groups.

What the commission decided: commissioners said they would fully fund the top-ranked small-request applicants and apply the $30,000 cap when considering larger operational support requests. The panel fully funded multiple top-ranked organizations (the commission described these as the top seven in their ranking after applying the cap) and provided partial awards to the next group of ranked applicants (ranks eight through twelve), leaving lower-ranked groups without funding this cycle.

During the meeting, several nonprofit leaders spoke in public comment. Gary McDonald, executive director of Stand Up Placer and Lighthouse Counseling and Family Resource Center, emphasized the scale of need in Roseville and noted Lighthouse’s local expansion. “For every dollar that we spend, 96¢ has gone to programs for the last 5 years,” McDonald said, urging the commission to consider capacity-building requests. Cam Mayen of the Asian American Pacific Islander Association of Placer County thanked commissioners and said the organization would treat the result “as a learning opportunity.” Ed Kazimeric, executive director of Youth for Christ Campus Life, and Jamie Hazen, executive director of the Roseville Police Activities League, also addressed the panel about program impacts and thanked commissioners for their work.

Process and next steps: commissioners and staff emphasized that the recommendations are subject to city council review. Staff said the council will consider the commission’s recommendations at its May 21 meeting; if the council confirms them, checks will be presented to awardees on Tuesday, Aug. 12. Commissioners said they plan to revisit application guidance and scoring procedures at an upcoming meeting to improve transparency and consistency for future cycles.

Votes at a glance: the commission recorded roll-call votes approving the funding recommendations as presented. Commissioners present recorded unanimous affirmative votes on the motions to approve their group funding recommendations; several commissioners recused themselves from discussion and votes on specific organizations and did not participate in those individual votes.

Funding totals and clarifications: the commission considered 32 applications, 5 were deemed not qualified, and 27 were scored. The aggregate dollars requested by scored applicants were approximately $587,677. The commission had $284,710 available from the Citizens Benefit Fund and $3,300 from REACH funds, for a total award pool of $288,010. The panel adopted a working cap of $30,000 on mission/operational support awards for this cycle to allow funds to reach more organizations while still fully funding some top-ranked requests.

The commission’s discussion and the full list of recommended award amounts will be included in the staff report to the Roseville City Council on May 21, 2025.

Ending: Commissioners and staff thanked the nonprofit applicants and the public for participating and said they would share process feedback and final award notices after council action.