Strong Community Partners

By providing funding to partners to perform their daily operations or work on specific initiatives, we ensure progress is made at the community level. Sometimes this means providing programmatic funding to organizations or using our position as a philanthropic organization to bring other funders to the table. The goal is always the same: providing resources to nonprofit partners that work to make our communities healthier. 

TAP Discovery Process  

During this past fiscal year, Vitalyst provided capacity building support to 31 Arizona nonprofits and coalitions. We do this by connecting nonprofits with trusted consultants who can help these nonprofits enhance their expertise. This can include fundraising support, strategic planning, and/or leadership development among other things. 

TAP Team of consultants  

The Discovery Process allows the Vitalyst team to connect organizations with the best-suited consultant for each nonprofit organization’s needs. We call this group the TAP Team of Consultants. The TAP team has now grown to a very diverse group of 164 consultants who are available to assist nonprofits and coalitions throughout the state.  

Systems Change Grants  

Systems Change grants are designed to support collaborative work that transforms systems and improves the health of our communities. The grants are three-year awards ranging from $150,000 – $175,000 in total.  

This year, Vitalyst invested nearly $700,000, and partnered with the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and The NARBHA Institute to fund four grants. These grants will address trauma-informed youth coaching (Border Youth Tennis Exchange), intergenerational support for young men (Boys to Men Tucson), establish a coordinated trauma-informed response system (Construyendo Círculos de Paz (Constructing Circles of Peace)), and  establish inovations in rural substance use recovery (Steps to Recovery Homes). 

Spark Grants  

Spark Grants are designed to support organizations with a desire to collectively affect change in their communities. Eleven grants totaling $214,00 were awarded to Arizona-based collaboratives that are working to spark creative, systemic ways to improve community health. 

The Spark Grants were given to the following organizations:  

• ASU Foundation – Arizona Commission for Deaf & Hard of Hearing  
• Arizona Town Hall;  

• Body and Soul Sovereignty, United 
• Covenant Health Network 
• Down Syndrome Network 
• Lincoln Institute for Land Policy 
• Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Arizona 

• One‐by‐One Foster & Kinship Solutions 
• Sun Produce Cooperative 
• The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI) 
• Eyes on Learning.  

Public Policy and Advocacy Grants  

Based on the Vitalyst’s Collaboration Continuum Survey, the greatest need was for help on advocacy to shape public policy. In response to this, we created the Vitalyst Advocacy and Public Policy effort to hire consultants to coach nonprofits on advocacy techniques. This spans the gamut from sharing information and conducting research to grassroots or direct lobbying. Regardless of the tactics, public policy must be responsive to community needs, and community-based nonprofits play an invaluable role in ensuring these needs are reflected in meaningful public policy. 

Vitalyst provided five Public Policy and Advocacy Grants throughout the past year. These grants were given to partners Children’s Action Alliance; Tucson Housing Foundation; Southwest Human Development; ALL in Education; and the Affordable Housing Advocacy Alliance.  

To view a comprehensive list of all 2022 Vitalyst grants, click here.