Strong nonprofits are essential to a thriving Orange County—and collaboration is one of the most powerful ways to strengthen them. The OC+ Fund is designed to support partnerships among nonprofits that are working together to improve services, increase efficiency, and amplify impact for the Orange County, California community.

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Timeline

  • OC+ Fund application on the Samueli Foundation portal opens: March 2, 2026

  • OC+ Fund application on the Samueli Foundation portal closes: Friday, April 24, 2026 at 5:00pm PST

  • OC+ Fund grant awards announcements: By October 2026

  • OC+ Fund grant payments processed: By December 31, 2026

OC+ Fund

Guidelines

Collaboration among nonprofits can improve service delivery, increase efficiency, and strengthen community impact. According to our Orange County Nonprofit Needs Assessment, while many organizations see collaboration as a powerful tool, significant barriers prevent deeper, more sustained partnerships. The OC+ Fund will provide grant awards that are ready for near-term implementation across three categories: Collaborative Program Delivery, Shared Service Agreements, and Integrated Organizations. All projects must be focused on implementation and the application will assess readiness for implementation (e.g., strength of existing partnership, strategic clarity and feasibility, capacity to implement). We will not fund projects to “plan for” collaboration at this time.

Collaborative program delivery is when two or more organizations jointly deliver and/or collaborate on programs or services for the Orange County, California community. We will consider requests in which partners have a clear programmatic impact goal and partnership structure defined, and need the resources to execute on program implementation.

  • Examples include:

    • Multiple nonprofits jointly delivering a program

    • Consolidating and/or aligning delivery of similar programs

In shared service arrangements, organizations combine select administrative or programmatic functions to increase efficiency, reduce duplication, and strengthen organizational capacity without fully integrating. We will consider requests to fund shared staff, office spaces, expertise, and other administrative functions such as technology.

  • Examples include:

    • Shared contracts for staff/expertise (e.g., fractional staff, retainers, contracted expertise, loaned executives)

    • Fees related to fiscal sponsorship services

Integrated organizational collaborations involve deeper structural or operational alignment, often through formal legal or financial arrangements. We will consider requests to structure and implement formal integrated organizations.

  • Examples include:

    • Merging of two organizations into one organization

    • Establishing a new joint venture

To inform your application, the Resources section below includes links to example collaboration projects.

  • Partnerships may apply for one-time grants of up to $500,000 total for a collaboration project serving the Orange County, California community

  • Organizations are welcome to participate in multiple collaborations; however, an organization may serve as the lead applicant on only one application.

  • The project may be either:

    • An existing collaboration, or

    • A new collaboration that is ready for implementation

  • The project must begin implementation within one year of application submission

  • Grant awards may be issued as:

    • A single payment to the lead applicant, or

    • Separate payments to some or all participating organizations

  • Any organization receiving funds must be eligible to receive charitable dollars

  • All payments will be made before December 31, 2026

OC+ Fund

Eligibility Requirements

To be considered for the OC+ Fund, your partnership:

  • Must already be established (i.e., specific partners already defined and agreement is in place to partner)

  • Must be ready to begin to implement your collaboration project within one year from the time of application submission

  • Must be able to receive charitable dollars (i.e., at least one organization in the partnership is able to receive a grant payment)

  • Must serve communities in Orange County, California and have at least one member of the partnership based in Orange County, California

  • Must be aligned with the Samueli Foundation’s mission and values

  • Must submit the application request through the Samueli Foundation


The following organizations and partnerships are not eligible to receive funding:

  • We do not provide funding to any organization that discriminates based on race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or veteran status. This also includes organizations that espouse hate and discrimination towards any group

  • Individuals, including those seeking scholarships or fellowship assistance

  • International organizations

  • Political, labor, or fraternal organizations involved in partisan work

OC+ Fund

Selection Criteria

The Samueli Foundation will be looking at the following criteria:

  • Organizations: We will consider the readiness and capacity of each participating organization, including the strength of the partnership, alignment of missions, leadership and Board commitment, and ability to carry out the proposed collaboration. Applicants should clearly outline partner roles, responsibilities, and decision-making structures.

  • Project: We will consider the clarity, feasibility, and expected impact of the proposed collaboration. Projects should demonstrate how working together will improve effectiveness, efficiency, or reach beyond what each organization could achieve alone. Proposals should include defined goals, timelines, and anticipated benefits to the Orange County, California community. The project should begin implementation within one year of application submission; we will not fund projects to “plan for” collaboration at this time. 

  • Funding: We will consider whether the requested funding is right-sized and tied to specific project activities. Budgets must reflect shared and organization-specific costs and demonstrate how resources will support collaborative work. Funding must support the implementation of the project (i.e., funding for “planning” will not be considered at this time).

Please note: These funds are highly competitive, and we anticipate receiving a large number of strong proposals. In the previous cycle, the number of qualified applications exceeded the resources available, meaning many worthy projects could not be funded. In many cases, this was not due to shortcomings in an application, but simply the result of reviewers having to make difficult choices among many strong opportunities.

OC+ Fund

How to Apply

The application opens on March 2, 2026. Each partnership should identify an organization to serve as the lead applicant and submit the application.

The grant application process includes the following steps:

  • Visit the Samueli Foundation portal using the button above/below

  • Create a new user account or use your existing account (for previously registered portal account users)

  • Start your OC+ Fund application with our eligibility quiz

  • Complete and submit your OC+ Fund application

All applications must be submitted through the Samueli Foundation portal. Once the application opens, you can save, print, and return to it at any time. We have also provided resources below to help you create an account, understand the questions, and get started. Due to the nature of the collaboration project requests, we may follow-up with additional questions after your submission.

OC+ Fund

Resources

The Samueli Foundation’s OC+ Fund was informed by other efforts across the country. If helpful, you may wish to consult external resources such as Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative’s Collaboration Guide and Sustained Collaboration Network’s Collaboration Roadmap.

We have also created a few key resources that will help you through the application process:

Questions

We’ve done our best to anticipate common questions in the Resources section of this website, including Frequently Asked Questions and helpful guides. We encourage all prospective applicants to review these materials carefully, as they provide detailed information about eligibility, allowable uses of funds, and the application process.

If you’re unable to find the answer you’re looking for, please reach out to us at ocplus@samueli.org.

To ensure a fair and consistent process for all applicants, we are not able to provide individualized guidance on specific proposed uses of funds. Because we expect a high volume of applications and inquiries, this website will remain the best place to find the most current information.

The Samueli Foundation may use AI-supported tools to help manage portions of the OC+ Fund application process.