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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 community.
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 PDT
OC+ Fund grant awards announcements: By October 2026
OC+ Fund grant payments processed: By December 31, 2026
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 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 up to $500K total for a collaboration project that serves the Orange County community. The project can be an existing collaboration or a new collaboration that is ready for implementation. The project should begin implementation within one year of application submission. Grant awards can be made as a single payment to the lead applicant or as separate payments to each participating organization. Payments will be made before December 31, 2026.
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., each organization in the partnership that will receive a grant payment must be able to receive charitable dollars)
Must serve communities in Orange County, California and have at least one member of the partnership based in Orange County
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 [KP6.1]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
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 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 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).
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.
Additional resources with guidance on how to apply to the OC+ Fund will be added once the application opens.
We tried to anticipate all your questions in the Resources section, including Frequently Asked Questions and supporting guides. If you can’t answer your question using these resources, our team is available to help. You can reach them at ocplus@samueli.org.
The Samueli Foundation intends to use AI tools to help us manage the OC Plus Fund application process.