Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation Sponsorship Process

Steps Necessary for the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation to Establish a Pre-approved Grant Relationship With an Independent Party (project)

The following describes the steps necessary for the Sanctuary Foundation to establish a pre-approved grant relationship with an independent party. This is sometimes referred to as "regranting." The basic concept is that an independent party develops a "project" and then communicates with the Sanctuary Foundation for approval of one or a series of grants. The Sanctuary Foundation funds the project only to the extent that money is received from donors.

1. The person or organization that wants to do the project presents a written grant request to Sanctuary Foundation ("the sponsor"), describing a specific program to be conducted.
   
   
2. Sanctuary Foundation evaluates the grant proposal to determine whether the project is charitable and carries out Sanctuary Foundation's tax-exempt purposes.
   
   
3. Sanctuary Foundation's Board of Directors reviews and approves the project as furthering Sanctuary Foundation's exempt purposes. In a Board resolution, Sanctuary Foundation states its conclusions and approves a grant to the project, to be funded to a certain amount, or to the extent that Sanctuary Foundation receives outside funds for the project. Thus, before funds are solicited from donors, foundations, or government agencies, Sanctuary Foundation has pre-approved the project as its grantee. It is important that the project be approved or ratified ultimately at the Board level rather than merely by staff.
   
   
4. Sanctuary Foundation and the project sign a written grant agreement setting forth all the terms and conditions that apply to the project's use of the grant and relations with funding sources. The specific work to be performed by the project using grant funds should be spelled out in a grant agreement or in a cover letter.
   
   
5. The project, Sanctuary Foundation, or some combination of the two, solicits funds for the specific grant to be made by Sanctuary Foundation to the project. Sanctuary Foundation's bylaws provide that such solicitations shall be made only on the condition that the Sanctuary Foundation retains complete control and discretion over the use of all contributions it receives. That element of sponsor discretion and control should be made known, in writing, to the funding sources.
   
   
6. As Sanctuary Foundation receives donations and grants for the specific project, the money is taken into income by Sanctuary Foundation and then disbursed as a grant to the person or organization conducting the project, subject to the terms of the grant agreement.
   
   
7. The project makes periodic written reports to Sanctuary Foundation, in accordance with the grant agreement, showing its actual expenditures of grant funds and its progress toward accomplishing the purposes of the grant.

For Further Information
If you have any questions about the MBSF, you may email Linda Rosinski (admin@mbnmsf.org) or call (831) 647-4209. If you would like further information about the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, feel free to call the Sanctuary office at (831) 647-4201 or go to their website at http://montereybay.nos.noaa.gov.