NonProfit News Pod: Thinking About Applying? SMUD Shine Awards Deadline Is July 31. There's Still Time.

Jeff Holden: [00:00:00] Welcome to this nonprofit podcast, NewsPod, where we amplify the voices of nonprofit leaders and their organizations making a difference in their communities. I'm joined by Kevin Burdick, sustainable community partnership specialist at SMUD, to talk about the application window that has now been open for a month for the SMUD Shine Awards.

Kevin, welcome. 

Kevin Burdick: Thanks for having me, Jeff. Always a pleasure. 

Jeff Holden: This is our third episode of three where we are encouraging the community, the nonprofit community in the Sacramento County region, to really look at what the opportunity exists for them and their projects with the Shine Awards. We still have the full month of July, which I think the application window closes on the 31st, correct?

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, at the end of the month, on the 31st. 

Jeff Holden: And for everybody's benefit, we have done a very [00:01:00] comprehensive episode in May. I'll have that in the show notes as well, as well as a, an update for the application process that we did in June. But here we are now in July, and what would you say to the people who maybe haven't started the application process yet?

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, I would say to them, you know, it's never too late, uh, one, to start the application. There's definitely a lot of time. There's a lot of support that we have here at SMUD as well. Uh, we're hosting a few webinars and an in-person session this month, uh, for organizations to hear from us on the program, walk through the application.

We'll show you the questions that we ask and provide any support, especially for technical assistance of how to upload a budget, what documents you need to add to your application and, and make sure that your application is successful. And I'll just say for anybody listening, submit something. This is a wonderful program that's going into its 10th year.

It's supported so many amazing nonprofits in the community. Even if you're not sure that your [00:02:00] project is a fit for us, we can certainly find a fit. So just submit an application, get started, hear from us on ways that we can help you as well. It, 

Jeff Holden: it certainly warrants the investigation, if nothing else, and to start that process because you're gonna recognize in the process that maybe back in June or May you didn't know you were gonna be able to fit into the application window.

But it's so worth it. You are, you are supporting nonprofit organizations with hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, and that's a significant amount and can reduce the cost of a project by so much. Not to mention the reduction in the cost of the project, but by doing the investment in whatever it is the project is, you're also gonna be saving energy costs.

So this is a sustainable project investment. This is not something that's short-term, one time, we fi- you know, finish the project and it's over. 

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, it's truly for us that a lot of these projects [00:03:00] become true partnerships. Like, we work with these nonprofits throughout the entire year. Oftentimes, you know, they are supporting doing their own programs that support our customers here in Sacramento County anyways.

So the opportunity for it to be a Shine partner is tremendous, and oftentimes it grows into additional relationships here at SMUD and additional partnership opportunities that we didn't even know about, you know, when they originally applied. So this is just a wonderful time to get involved with us in the Sustainable Communities Department through the Shine Award program.

Jeff Holden: And I do wanna stress, even if you're not 100% certain, get started. Get into the program because you've seen so many opportunities that started as a Shine Award application that actually spun out, didn't fit the qualifications for Shine, but you still had the opportunity to work with that organization to fund that project 

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, we have so many amazing nonprofits in the community that have applied, and maybe it just wasn't the right fit for them, or maybe we [00:04:00] found funding through another mechanism here at SMUD or through other partners throughout the city and the county.

I'll use just a quick plug for, you know, an amazing organization we attended a ribbon cutting for back in June. Uh, CCHAT, they started off as a partner for us, had applied for some energy efficiency upgrades for their facility in Rancho Cordova. Over the years, became a partner where we helped them with those upgrades, and then now they became a pilot partner for our solar storage battery project.

So now they have solar panels on their roof, they have a battery backup to generate power from, and now they're saving about 80% on their monthly utility bill, which is incredible. So that's real dollars that are going back to them to reinvest and to hopefully increase their capacity, hopefully just kind of lower the burden of high costs that are happening now.

So there's a lot of great opportunities. All you gotta do is just start the relationship with us. 

Jeff Holden: And that's really what this episode is about. It's not about the details of the program specifically. We've done two episodes on that. This is the month of July. The [00:05:00] program closes, the w- application window closes on the 31st of this month.

If you've even been thinking about it, this is the extra nudge to say, "Do something. Step in, lean in a little bit, see what the opportunities are. It's not a waste of time." And you've seen, I'm sure, many organizations dabble, dabble, dabble, and then the next thing you know, they're trying to come in and they're coming in late in the month and it's, it's a hurried process.

Doesn't mean it's not gonna be successful, but don't do that. If we can save you the time- Yeah ... to get in front of it, at least give you the full month to take your time to do the application, y- you would certainly encourage anybody to do it that way, correct? 

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, totally. And we just wanna hear from the organizations of how can we make your lives a little bit easier?

Like, you know, that, uh, question's a little bit open. You know, here at SMUD, we are your utility partner. We're, we have a very specific line of business, and we can't do everything. But we certainly have enough partners in the region to figure out a really good [00:06:00] solution, and one good way is to get involved with us through the Shine Awards program to do that, um, and really develop a, a partnership.

So this is really the time, and again, if you apply, this is still something where we're still gonna read your application, we're gonna learn about more ways that we can assist you and do more amazing things in the community. So yeah, nothing wrong with applying. We're gonna read it, and we're gonna review it, and hopefully we're gonna award some new Shine awardees, but this is really the time to submit something and get our attention.

Jeff Holden: You know, in the grand scheme of things too, you may actually learn something about your project that maybe you weren't aware of that didn't get covered in some of the, you know, the due diligence or the infrastructure associated to whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. Whereas you have these, these experts that can step in and recognize some of those e- either nuanced or opportunities or missed opportunities that maybe weren't caught in the prior process.

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, and sometimes, you know, we have applications that, you know, are so well-intended when they apply in June or July, and then by the time the next [00:07:00] calendar year rolls around and they're approved as Shi- as a Shine awardee, maybe their project changes. And we, again, we, our staff sits down with them, uh, once they're in the, the Shine family, the, the cohort, and we'll work with them to make sure that their Shine project is delivered, um, in, in the most, you know, re- culturally responsive way, in the most impactful way.

Um, so that's just a little plug to know that we understand that sometimes forecasting, you know, what the 2027 calendar year looks like can be a little challenging. Um, but we're here to help, and they, our Shine partners, they're some of our best friends, and we get to see all the amazing work that they get to do and, and support them in any way we can.

Jeff Holden: Well, and I know they certainly become advocates after they've gone through the process, received their award, and then seen the effect of what it is that they've done in operation. So from that perspective, you know, what a, what a tremendous accomplishment for all parties involved. Let's give everybody the [00:08:00] application site again so that they know, and I will put it in the show notes along, like I said, with the June episode and the May episode.

But if you would tell us, where do we go again? 

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, perfect. So it's www.smud.org/shine. On that page, you'll see a ton of information just on the top there. You'll see a link to the application where you can create an account and open up an application. You can also see our kind of like, you know, the program requirements, uh, some of the simple stuff, the, the terms and conditions, so to speak.

You'll also see a schedule of our upcoming webinars where we walk through the application together with nonprofits to show them, you know, what questions we're asking, why we're asking those questions, and then it has our contact information as well. So you can reach out, you know, with any questions about the program or if your project is a fit or, you know, how do I open up the application, where we're truly there to help.

Jeff Holden: Well, Kevin, this is the third and final news pod we'll be doing on the Shine Awards for 2026. And I, I do wanna [00:09:00] stress, yeah, maybe you're getting tired of me pushing this, the Shine Awards thing, but as a conduit to the nonprofits to be able to say there's this opportunity, we feel so significantly about it, not just because of the funding that it provides that particular nonprofit, because it's great for our community.

You know, it's great for energy consumption, it reduces their costs of energy, and it's environmentally, you know, a good thing to do as well. So for what you do, for what SMUD does, for how you're helping our nonprofit ecosystem, thank you, thank you, thank you 

Kevin Burdick: Yeah, we appreciate that. You know, SMUD obviously has been a, a true partner in the community for almost 80 years now and has done such amazing things.

And there's so many nonprofits. You don't, you don't go to a nonprofit event anymore in Sacramento without seeing SMUD's logo somewhere, right? And, you know, truly we are huge supporters in this region, and the Shine Awards is just one way that we support our, our community. But truly, we can make some significant impacts with the amount of funds [00:10:00] that we have available for this program.

Jeff Holden: SMUD Shine Awards. You'll be able to find the link in the show notes as well. Thanks for listening. If you like our program, please subscribe, give us a positive review, and share with someone you know. This nonprofit podcast, NewsPod, is a production of Hear Me Now Studio