A vetting process is necessary due to the fact that there is a limited amount of grant money allocated to our diocese by grant making institutions known as foundations or raised by our diocese through the Annual Diocesan Appeal.
School requests are prioritized first by the Office of the Superintendent of Catholic Schools and department requests are prioritized first by the Moderator of the Curia. These requests as well as parish requests are vetted by the Grants Review and Oversight Board and are either approved or declined to proceed with the grant application process.
Parishes, Departments & Non-Profits make their request known to the Grants Review & Oversight Board by a notice of intent to apply for a grant, emailed to the Board chair, Fr. Alfonso M. Guevara and cc to the Development Director, Rosie Rodriguez.
A preliminary review by the Development Office assists the applicant in pairing the request with funding priorities and deadlines. These requests are presented to the GROB Chair or, if warranted, to the full board at their next meeting.
The GROB is convened to review the requests & make recommendation to Bishop Flores on which requests to move forward, delay or decline. Notification & next steps are communicated to applicants after Board meeting. Technical assistance is provided as needed to those seeking grant funding.
It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that diocesan policies are observed in relation to any grant request. For example, a bricks and mortar project will be subject to diocesan policies for construction projects. A school curriculum grant will be subject to TCC and diocesan regulations. All grant recipients will be required to submit accountability reports to funders and/or Development Office.
When approved for submital, applicant is cleared to apply online or by mail. Technical support by Dev. Office will be provided upon request. When declined, other options may be presented to applicant. Requests to Kenedy Memorial Foundation are submitted online on individual accounts. Scanlan Foundation, Catholic Extension, Committee on the Home Missions, Campaign for Human Development are submitted by the Development Office. Annual Diocesan Appeal, Bishop’s Annual Dinner and Local Campaign for Human Development requests are submitted to the Development Office at the San Juan Pastoral Center.
The Development Office maintains contact with all funders. The status of your request to outside funders will be communicated to you by the Development Office. Funding from diocesan sources will be announced by the GROB.
Once funding is received, applicant is expected to track expenses with a spreadsheet & copies of receipts. These should match the project budget submitted for the request.
Unspent Funds must be reported immediately. Notify the Development Office if grant funds will not be fully expended as requested. Balance will be considered frozen until GROB determines appropriate action.
A year from date of funding or as soon as grant is fully expended, whichever is first, a report form must be submitted to the Development Office for the foundation which provided the grant or the diocese. Technical assistance is provided as needed for the formulation of this closing report.
The word “stewardship” is the English translation of a secular Greek term formed from two words: ”manage” and “house”. A steward is someone who manages someone else’s house, that is, all they possess. New Testament writers use the words “steward” and “stewardship” to make the point that all people are God’s stewards, because everything that exists belongs to God. But in relation to God, no one ultimately owns anything. God is the owner of everything that exists. God created it, and it is God who continually keeps it in existence. In this sense, we are all God's stewards!