VDF Large Grant Program

The Arizona Veterans' Donation Fund, established in 1999 by the Arizona legislature under A.R.S. 41-608, provides funding for programs that benefit Veterans and their families throughout Arizona. The fund is administered through the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services. The VDF Large Grants opportunity supports awards from $5,000 through $150,000, with total grant funding of $2,000,000 allocated for the program. No matching contribution is required. The opportunity is focused on services and programs benefiting Arizona Veterans and their families and reflects the department's objective of supporting organizations whose activities are compatible with the goals of the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services. Applications must address at least one identified category of social determinants of health for Arizona Veterans. The listed categories are basic needs, employment, family and social support, finances and benefits, higher education, housing and homelessness, legal, mental health and substance abuse, physical health, and spirituality. The Arizona Department of Veterans' Services encourages applicants to emphasize upstream prevention so that Veterans and their families receive assistance before circumstances escalate into a crisis. The department also prioritizes proposals providing direct services for the benefit of individual Veterans. An example of direct service is assistance with past-due rent or utilities. Activities such as conducting a study of Veteran homelessness are characterized as indirect services because the study itself does not directly affect the Veteran receiving assistance, even though its findings could inform future services. Eligible grantees may include 501(c) charitable organizations, local governments, consortia, Native American Tribes, private-sector entities, schools and school districts, for-profit entities, state government, and academic institutions as reflected in the solicitation's eligible-applicant information. The department prefers grantees whose primary mission includes providing benefits to Arizona Veterans and whose activities are compatible with Arizona Department of Veterans' Services objectives as determined by the Director or designee. Collaboration is encouraged, and organizations may form community partnerships and submit joint VDF grant proposals when collaboration would improve their ability to deliver useful services to Arizona Veterans. The source does not state additional organizational size, operating-history, fiscal-sponsorship, or faith-based eligibility requirements. Large Grant proposals must be submitted through eCivis, the cloud-based grants management system identified by the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services. The application period opened October 16, 2025 and closed December 1, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Arizona time. Applicants are directed to review the application submission process attached to the Request for Grant Proposals and may also consult the eCivis Grant Application Submission Guide available through the Arizona grants website. Grant proposals may not be submitted by email. The supplied material does not identify a separate letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, notice of intent, or other pre-application gating requirement, and it does not provide a detailed list of required narratives, attachments, application questions, or other application components. The available material indicates that review of Large Grant applications involves review committees with at least three reviewers assigned to each application. Volunteer reviewers work with staff facilitators who guide the review and record recommendations to the Director of the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services for a final decision. Reviewers complete conflict-of-interest statements, and individuals associated with applicant organizations are not assigned to review those organizations' applications. The source indicates that the review is conducted virtually through Google Meet, with reviewer training provided approximately one week before the review session. However, the review date is stated only as a later date to be announced, and no applicant award-notification date, award-start date, or grant performance period is provided. For information or questions regarding grants of $5,000 or more, applicants may contact the VDF Program Manager by telephone at (602) 234-8429 or by email at VDF@azdvs.gov. The source specifically instructs applicants not to use this email address to submit proposals because all Large Grant proposals must be submitted through eCivis. The solicitation also identifies rdavis@azdvs.gov as a Contact/Help email and identifies the ADVS-VDF Large Grants Project Coordinator as the program contact, but it does not provide a person's full name for that role. The supplied material does not explicitly state that the Large Grant competition recurs annually or on another defined schedule, so no future cycle is projected from the prior deadline.

Address at least one identified social determinant of health category; emphasize upstream prevention; prioritize direct services benefiting individual Veterans; align the proposal with ADVS objectives; consider collaborative proposals when collaboration improves services to Arizona Veterans