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CCF Targeted Capacity-Building Grant Program Questions and Answers from IYD CCF Targeted Capacity Building Grant
1. Regarding the 5 critical areas (Leadership Development; Organizational Development; Program Development; Revenue Development Strategies; Community Engagement) – does an applicant need to address all of them? An applicant only needs to address one. But you are welcome to address more than one. However, there are no extra points for addressing more than one critical area. 2. On page 2 of the RFP where it discusses a domestic violence requirement for grants relating to healthy marriage, where would I address that in my proposal? This could be included in either the Approach section or the Organizational Profiles section. This domestic violence requirement is not in the evaluation criteria but it is something HHS will be looking for when it makes final funding decisions. As an aside, IYD has been reviewing applications for our sub-award, which is patterned closely after the HHS “mini-grant,” and we are seeing quite a few applicants who are providing an extremely short Approach section. The Approach should be the heart of your grant application. It is where you describe how you are going to accomplish your objectives. 3. If an applicant is working with marriage education, what priority area does that fall under? There are 4 priority areas (at-risk youth; homelessness; healthy marriage; and rural communities). Applicants need to address one of these priority areas. The priority area can be thought of as an applicant’s “entrance ticket” into the review process. You will be evaluated only against other applicants in the priority area you selected so think about which one would be most strategic to select if you are eligible for more than one. Based on last year’s competition, during which IYD Vice President Lennie Pickard served as a Panel Review Chairperson, the most competitive priority area was at-risk youth and the winning grants in this area scored in the upper 90’s. Rural education grants were the least competitive area. Then, relating to your capacity-building activities, there are 4 critical areas (Leadership Development; Organizational Development; Program Development; Revenue Development Strategies; Community Engagement) and applicants are to address one or more of these areas (Refer to question 1). 4. What is the maximum funding level on this grant? $50,000 is the maximum. If you request more than $50,000, then you will be automatically disqualified from the competition. 5. Does the page limitation include attachments? No. There is a 9 page limitation for the project description, a 5 page limitation for the appendix. The budget, budget narrative, and all required forms are outside of these page limitations. As an aside, in last year’s competition, one of the major areas where applicants lost points was not consistently tying their objectives to corresponding activities and then to related results or outcomes. An applicant must develop objectives throughout the proposal (i.e. in the Approach section) and carry through this development to the Results or Benefits Expected section where corresponding results or outcomes are identified. 6. What is the effective start date for this grant? This depends on when HHS announces the winning applications. They are required to release the names of winners by September 30, 2006. Our recommendation is to use October 1, 2006, as your start date on Section 13 Proposed Project Start Date and September 30, 2007 as the Ending Date on SF424. 7. Does an applicant need to be registered with grants.gov? You can submit for this grant either online through grants.gov or by hard copy submission. Even if you choose to submit using hard copy, you can use grants.gov to download the application forms, type on them, save them, and print up to submit via hard copy. Grants.gov also lets you know specifically what forms are required and which forms are mandatory. According to the Grants.gov application package site the following documents are mandatory: Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) Optional Forms are: Other Attachments Form 8. Is this grant, that we are discussing, the “mini-grant”? Yes, the “mini-grant” is the nickname for the Compassion Capital Fund Targeted Capacity Building Program sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services. This is what this conference call is about. IYD runs a separate competition, the IYD capacity-building sub-award project, which is a six-month grant for a maximum of $30,000. The next RFP for the IYD award will be announced June 15 with the Letter of Intent due on July 17 and complete applications due July 31. Visit our website (http://youthdevelopment.org/articles/pr050501.htm) for more details. 9. Where does someone find out about the definition for a rural community? On page 6 or the RFP -- or under Section III. Eligibility Information, 1. Eligible Applicants – there is a web link to use (http://ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/funding/eligibilitytestv2.asp) We will also have a link to this site on the IYD website. 10. I have looked on this rural health website and am having trouble linking the census numbers to the specific vicinity, city, etc. The census website (http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en) should have corresponding maps. As an aside, as you are thinking about which priority area to select (at-risk youth; homelessness; healthy marriage; rural communities), this does not have to relate to where your organization is physically located or currently serving. It can be the area that you intend to provide services. Again, the priority area is just your “entrance ticket.” Remember that the focus of your grant should be addressing your critical organizational capacity-building needs with your capacity-building activities. 11. Can you give an example of an acceptable donor development software program that does not contain the link for donations (this link is unallowable)? You might go to your software provider and ask them which programs do not contain the link or you can see if they can remove the link for donations. Or, you might hire a website designer that can develop your website without the link for the grant period. Then, you can use non-Federal funds to hire someone to install the link for donations. 12. Does an applicant organization need to get the required financial systems in place as soon as possible in order to be in compliance for managing the grant? There is an understanding by the federal government that these rules apply mainly to larger organizations that are managing significant federal monies. The key is to work with your financial person to meet the financial requirements stated in the RFP (refer to the one page document that IYD sent out to conference call participants entitled “CCF Financial Management Systems.” ) This document will be available on the IYD Mini-grant resource website. 13. I have an organization that has at-risk youth and healthy marriage components. What priority area should I apply under? In last year’s competition, healthy marriage was a much less competitive priority area than was at-risk youth. 14. Can an applicant organization hire a grant writer with the grant funds? If the grant writer trains your staff in grant development, then that is considered capacity-building. If the grant writer just writes grants during the grant period, then that is not capacity-building. The “litmus test” for capacity-building is what do you have left over or learned after the funding period ends? If you do, then that’s capacity-building. IYD recommends that organizations interested in getting grantwriting help hire grant consultants, identify them as such, and put them under consultants in the grant budget. 15. What are the dates for the next IYD sub-award? The next IYD capacity-building sub-award competition, RFP 06-402 Capacity Building for Non-Profits Serving Distressed Communities, will be announced on June 15 with the required Letter of Intent due on July 17 and proposals due July 31, 2006. Please see the IYD website (http://youthdevelopment.org/articles/pr050501.htm) for details. 16. Can I buy curricula for my computer program under this grant? An organization cannot buy program curricula with these grant funds. Put another way, you cannot buy workbooks for students in your program. You can train your staff on your computer programs used in your services. Train the trainer type activities are allowable expenses under this grant. 17. I have a day care center and there is a list of certified architects that we must use to evaluate our current facilities. Is paying for that evaluation an allowable expense? Yes, since it is a state requirement that the structure be certified. 18. Is an organization eligible for the mini-grant if it has received federal funds previously? Yes. 19. When is the mini-grant RFP announced? It is released now and the applications are due on June 23, 2006. 20. A recent email identified three CCF grants available to faith-based and community organizations (mini-grant, demonstration grant, communities empowering youth). Will IYD offer training on the latter two grants, the demonstration grant and communities empowering youth grant? Unfortunately, no. Since IYD will be applying for both of those grant competitions, it would be a conflict of interest. 21. What would IYD recommend as an acceptable level of personnel dollars to request in the mini-grant? The mini-grant does not stipulate an amount to spent on salaries, but remember that salaries are really not capacity-building. Salary funds are only allowable capacity-building expenses when the staff person is actually carrying out, or managing, the specific grant activities. The federal government is interested in having a dedicated project director, or project manager, who is the point of contact and responsible for the award. But remember, that managing this grant is not a full-time job. As a frequent facilitator on federal grant review panels, IYD Vice President Lennie Pickard believes that anything over 20% of the budget designated for personnel is problematic for grant reviewers. 22. If our organization is part of a larger, umbrella organization such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, which has a budget over $500,000, does that exclude us from applying for the mini-grant? No. The budget size only refers to the applicant organization and if you have a separate 501(c)(3) than your parent organization, then that is fine. Also, having a budget less than $500,000 is not an eligibility criteria, but is a bonus points factor worth 5 extra points. 23. I would like to pay someone to establish a financial system and then manage it or keep it in place. Is that an allowable activity under this grant? Establishing and training someone to use it are an allowable expenses, but hiring someone to manage it or keep it in place is not capacity building. 24. Our organization is involved in feeding the hungry. Are we allowed to purchase a refrigerated truck or used trailer which would be roughly $50,000 under this grant? This was an example used in the training for reviewers of last year’s mini-grant. It is an allowable expense, but incredibly difficult to justify. It would not be advisable to include this type of item in your application. 25. Our organization would like to develop board development trainings and grantwriting trainings for our 900 member agencies. Would this be allowable under the mini-grant? This is more appropriate for the CCF Demonstration Grant which allows intermediary organizations, like IYD, to provide technical assistance and training to other organizations. For more information on the Demonstration grant program, go to http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2006-ACF-OCS-EJ-0035.html. 26. How competitive was the homelessness priority area last year? It was in the mid level of competitiveness with at-risk youth being the most competitive and rural communities being the least competitive. 27. On the federal SF424 form at the top, what does an applicant fill in for the federal identification number and applicant identifier number? Those sections are not applicable for this grant. 28. Our organization would like to hire a consultant and pay them $20,000 to do community assessment and mapping for two years. Would this be allowable? As the mini-grant is a one year grant, the consultant would have to perform their work in a year’s time and only be paid for the work conducted during the grant period. As an aside, volunteers can be paid under capacity-building grants as long as they are carrying out or managing the activities of the grant. It is not necessary to identify them as previous volunteers in your grant proposal, but you do need to refer to their expertise in performing the project activities. 29. Do we name consultants in our grant application? Yes, be specific in order to show the credentials of your consultants. If you have not yet designated them, then include job descriptions. 30. Is the $50/hour consultant fee limitation just for the IYD sub-award? Yes. 31. Is it better to pay consultants a flat fee or an hourly fee? It is better to pay them hourly and show the calculation in the budget narrative. 32. Our organization’s programs are not very sophisticated. Will this hurt us in the organization profiles section? You will not be penalized for this. There is an assumption among reviewers for capacity-building grants that organizations and related programs are new, or young, or being developed. 33. I would like to include a one-page abstract. Is this ok? As the mini-grant does not require an abstract, do not include one. 34. Should we ask for the maximum $50,000? IYD’s recommendation is to apply for the full amount. There is advantage for asking for less than the maximum. 35. We may want to include objectives in all four of the critical capacity-building areas. Would that be viewed as spreading ourselves too thin? No. It is up to each applicant to determine how many objectives they include and what critical areas these objectives relate to. What applicants will be evaluated on is how they plan to achieve these objectives (explained in Approach section) and the outcomes (explained in the Results or Benefits Expected section). 36. Our organization is new and we do not yet have 501(c)(3) status. Will this hurt us in the organizational profiles section and should we partner with an organization that has more experience? IYD recommends that any organization that does not currently have 501(c)(3) status include this as a grant activity. It is not necessary to partner with another organization. Discuss the experience of your staff and the experience of your Board members. Their experience may predate that of your organization and may be quite relevant. 37. Regarding the Community Engagement critical capacity-building area, what are some examples of acceptable grant expenses related to establishing collaborative relationships? Look at the first two examples under the Community Engagement listing – community asset mapping and community needs assessment. Both of these items are about exploring and learning about the needs of your community. Think about establishing collaborative relationships in this context and as a way of carrying out what you might have learned about the needs of your community (i.e. who could you partner with to meet a certain need). 38. Our organization is new and thus we have little experience. Should we state that we are new and consequently have no experience? Talk about your history in a positive way. For example, substitute the experience of your staff and/or Board of Directors for organizational experience as mentioned in Question 36. 39. On the SF 424 Section 11 Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project, what should an applicant fill in? Fill in “at-risk capacity-building project,” or “healthy marriage capacity-building project,” whichever of the 4 priority areas you are applying under. 40. Under this grant, can an applicant work with various consultants, such as marketing and fundraising consultants, right up to the point of actually implementing the marketing and fundraising plans? Yes. Developing a plan or strategy or systems is an allowable capacity-building expense. Implementing these plans – or carrying out related activities – is not capacity building. 41. If we hire a grant consultant and/or a financial management consultant, these should be listed in the Budget as consultants rather than personnel? Yes, personnel are those staff that you pay taxes on (fica, etc.). Remember that there are strict limitations on what personnel can do on a capacity-building grant – they have to be managing the grant activities (i.e. Project Director) or carrying out the specific capacity-building activities of the grant. 42. What is the last day that we can send IYD our mini-grant proposals for critique and feedback? The last day to submit your proposals for IYD review is Monday, June 19th. However, the sooner that you can send them in, the better. 43. Can we bring our mini-grant proposal to the upcoming IYD Grantwriting Workshop in Chicago on June 15-16, 2006, and speak with an IYD staffer there to receive feedback? Yes. IYD staff will be on-site at the workshop to assist folks with grant proposals. Additionally, there is an entire session on how to apply for the mini-grant. 44. Is there a Letter of Intent needed for the mini-grant? No. 45. Can we apply for the mini-grant and still be eligible for the IYD sub-award? Yes, you may apply for both the mini-grant and the IYD sub-award. Although for the IYD sub-award an applicant cannot have received prior federal funding through a competitive process, the applicant will not know the outcome of their mini-grant proposal by the due date for the IYD sub-award (July 31, 2006), so there is no conflict. 46. Under the mini-grant budget there is a section for key staff to attend Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sponsored workshops. What should we include in that section? This is a requirement of the mini-grant, however, last year ACF did not ask winners to come to Washington, D.C. for orientation. Regardless, include in your budget estimated travel expenses for key staff to come to D.C. and ACF will work this out with the winners once details of the orientation or other ACF sponsored workshops are determined. 47. Would purchasing computer systems to run financial management software and programs be an allowable expense? Yes. 48. Would printing a basic organizational brochure in order to raise awareness of our organization be an allowable activity under the mini-grant? Developing and designing a brochure would be allowable, but printing up the brochures is not. Printing up brochures relates to service delivery which is not what capacity-building grants are about. 49. How do I find out about the IYD sub-award program? Visit the IYD website (http://youthdevelopment.org/articles/pr050501.htm) and there are details listed there. Also, you may subscribe to our e-newsletter which provides information on all IYD programs as well as other grant programs and resources for faith-based and community organizations by sending an e-mail request to lmontgopmery@youthdevelopment.org. 50. I sent a Letter of Intent for the first round of the IYD sub-award program (RFP 06-401) but did not submit a proposal. Is a new Letter of Intent required to be able to apply for RFP 06-402 which will be announced on June 15, 2006? Yes, a new Letter of Intent is required. The Letter of Intent is due on July 17. 51. We are a small organization with one part-time staff person who we would need to become full-time to manage this grant. Could this program person interface with our Board of Directors as part of his/her duties? In order for this staff person to receive salary dollars, he/she has to be directly associated with the capacity-building activities of the grant. For example, if this staff person were training the Board as a part of your grant, that would be ok. However, if he/she were performing administrative duties to support the Board, this would be unacceptable as that is providing current services and is it not related to the grant activities. 52. We are an all-volunteer organization. Under this grant, could we pay a percentage of three Board members’ time to work with consultants to develop a financial management system? You can pay the consultants, but you cannot pay the Board members for their time to be trained. Again, you can pay a Project Director to manage the grant. 53. Is fringe necessary to pay for a Project Director? Fringe is an allowable expense, but it is not necessary or required. Your personnel on the grant should be treated like any other of your staff. In other words, if you are currently paying fringe on your employees, then you need to pay fringe on your grant personnel, but you may choose to pay with non-federal funds. 54. Can we hire a full-time Development Director as it states in the information provided by the ACF Program Officer? We are unclear on this point and why the Program Officer included this as an allowable expense as federal reviewers frown on this. Our recommendation is that it is best to hire a consultant to develop a fundraising strategy. After the grant is over, you can then hire a person to implement that strategy. It can even be the same person, if you wish. 54. On the SF 424 Section 16 Is Application Subject to Review By State Executive Order 12372 Process? What do we put for the State Point Of Contact (SPOC)? We are in Kansas. The RFP lists all states that have a State Point of Contact. Kansas is not a SPOC state, so check “Program Has Not Been Selected By State for Review” in that box. 55. Is it acceptable to hire one of our Board members to work as a consultant on this grant? This is an IRS question and they would probably not like that. However, there is nothing in the mini-grant that would disallow it. If you want to include hiring a Board member as a consultant in your proposal, remember that you do not have to identify that this person is a Board member just like you do not have to identify that a paid Project Director may be a volunteer in your organization. Only state what is directly relevant to your proposal and what the federal reviewers need to know to evaluate your proposal. 56. Once funded, is it better to request grant funds in one lump sum or as monthly disbursements? The government will allow grant recipients to request awarded monies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year through an electronic funds transfer system. Once you draw down the funds (transfer takes about 24 hours) you have 72 hours to spend or obligate it. (The government does not want grant recipients to collect interest on federal funds.) You can draw down money in advance or anticipation of expected expenditures. In other words, you do not have to wait and get reimbursed. For example, you can draw down funds on the 13th of the month for a payroll to occur on the 15th. 57. Where can I find out whether or not I am working in a distressed community? Visit the IYD Mini-Grant Resources website and it will have a link to the site where you can look up unemployment and poverty data for your area. 58. Our organization received a CCF grant last year in the amount of $15,000. Are we still eligible to apply for the mini-grant this year? Yes. It does not matter for the mini-grant whether or not you have received federal funds previously (only for the IYD sub-award). If you actually received the mini-grant last year then you can reapply this year, but you must reapply under a different priority area (at-risk youth; homelessness; healthy marriage; and rural communities).
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