FAQS

FAQs

Questions:

1)   If an organization is small, under-funded and volunteer driven, including the leadership board, can the organization hope to be chosen for the sub-award? 
2)   It seems getting money is contingent on answering questions we don’t have the answers to. How do we write an effective grant for something we are acknowledging is a weakness? 
3)   Will training in January help with filling out RFP? (Referring to live support on Tuesdays and Thursdays) 
4)   Can we use sub-awards to hire personnel? 
5)   Are Brand new organizations eligible to receive grant award? 
6)   What if the Board Chair is the Executive Director? 
7)   Can organizations resolve their budget for 2008 via fax resolution if they haven’t met to approve it yet, to qualify with proper paperwork? 
8)   Explain margin and font requirement for application.
9)   How many pages total are allowed for grant application? 
10)   Can a specific program within a larger parent program or organization be eligible to receive funds if other organizations within larger parent organization provide religious programming?
11)   How do I decide where to apply money to?  I need help everywhere, what is a good way to prioritize need? 
12)   Does applying for large sub-award disqualify from receiving a smaller sub-award if rejected for larger? 
13)   Do we need to be a registered 501 3c? 
14)   Does not being in Metro Atlanta hurt my chances of being selected? 
15)   What is the definition of a new organization? 
16)   Can a for-profit apply? 
17)   Will all trainings be held in Metro Atlanta? 
18)   How long with the coaching and mentoring last? (Beyond year 1, and through 3 year grant process?) 
19)   What are fringe benefits? (in reference to federal budget reporting) 
20)   Can all organization board members come to trainings?
21)   How does the receipt and reimbursement policy work? 
22)   Can sub-award money be used to hire another consultant or evaluator to give input on organizations capacity building needs? 
23)   If an organization that has been selected drops out, will the next in line be bumped up and awarded a grant? 

Answers:

1)   If an organization is small, under-funded and volunteer driven, including the leadership board, can the organization hope to be chosen for the sub-award? 

Yes, however organizations taking part in the “Learning Community” and given “sub-awards” are expected to have the capacity to manage the resources given.

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2)   It seems getting money is contingent on answering questions we don’t have the answers to. How do we write an effective grant for something we are acknowledging is a weakness? 

 We understand that the reason for the CCF Program is to build capacity, however the application process needs to “tell your story” and show what is needed to be built on.  Also the greatest weight in the grading process in on Program Information and the need for Capacity Building. 

Grading is as follows:

  • TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS = 105
  • ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY (10 points)
  • NEED (20 points)
  • CAPACITY BUILDING (30 points)
  • PROGRAM INFORMATION (30 points)
  • ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT (10 points)
  • BONUS POINTS – for applicants who have not previously received federal funds (5 points).

It is important to answer ALL sections of the RFP.  Do not reply with “N/A” or not applicable.  Provide some type of response to each section and question.

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3)   Will training in January help with filling out RFP? (Referring to live support on Tuesdays and Thursdays) 
Yes, however you need to have your vision and something started.  The Tuesday / Thursday Technical Assistance is to assist and answer questions.  The Technical Assitance staff will only be able to assist with your vision and your ideas about your organization.

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4)   Can we use sub-awards to hire personnel? 
In certain instances, sub-award funds may be used to partially fund salary (and partially fund benefits).  The maximum award is $20,000.  The staff position must build the capacity of the organization and not be funding direct service delivery.

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5)   Are Brand new organizations eligible to receive grant award? 
Yes. 

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6)   What if the Board Chair is the Executive Director? 
This does not preclude the organization from participating.  However, the MODERN Project Team does not consider this as a best practice for non-profit organizational management. 

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7)   Can organizations resolve their budget for 2008 via fax resolution if they haven’t met to approve it yet, to qualify with proper paperwork? 

Yes.

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8)   Explain margin and font requirement for application.
Times New Roman 12 is the required font.  We are not specifying margins, but encourage applicants to use the standard margins (1” top and bottom and 1.25” left and right) of most word processing programs to ensure all text fits the pages.

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9)   How many pages total are allowed for grant application? 
12 including the Cover letter and 4 page application plus attachments. 

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10)   Can a specific program within a larger parent program or organization be eligible to receive funds if other organizations within larger parent organization provide religious programming?
Yes as long as the annual operating budget of the parent organization is less than $500,000 and the organization meets all other organizational criteria.  The SafeHouse CCF program will ONLY consider those applications that meet the Federal requirements found in 45 CFR 87.1.

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11)   How do I decide where to apply money to?  I need help everywhere, what is a good way to prioritize need? 
What would have the greatest impact in building your capacity?  Start there ...

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12)   Does applying for large sub-award disqualify from receiving a smaller sub-award if rejected for larger? 

No.  The committee will make decisions within a range as found in the RFP:

TYPE OF AWARD NUMBER OF AWARDS AMOUNT OF AWARDS
Basic Development

10

$1,000 to $5,000
Intermediate Development

10

$5,001 to $10,000
Advanced Development

5

$10,0001 to $20,000


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13)   Do we need to be a registered 501 3c? 
It is not necessary to be registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the Internal Revenue Services.  However, organizations (both faith and community-based) must be registered with the Secretary of State as non-profit organizations.  If you need information on registering with the State of Georgia as a non-profit, please call 404-656-2817 or visit http://www.sos.ga.gov/corporations/.

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14)   Does not being in Metro Atlanta hurt my chances of being selected? 

No, however  the Geographic Area that we are targeting is as follows: 

The Atlanta Metropolitan area is the primary service with a focus on Fulton and Dekalb Counties.  However, groups from other areas within the State of Georgia may apply. Organizations must be based in the State of Georgia and provide services to Georgians.


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15)   What is the definition of a new organization? 
Each organization has its own unique development process.  We prefer to think of start-up organizations as those that are newly formed and in their early phases of development.  There are organizations that have been around for several years, but have not matured and from an organizational perspective face the same challenges as start-ups.

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16)   Can a for-profit apply? 
No, participation is limited to non-profit organizations.

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17)   Will all trainings be held in Metro Atlanta? 
All trainings will be held at SafeHouse Outreach at 89 Ellis Street.

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18)   How long with the coaching and mentoring last? (Beyond year 1, and through 3 year grant process?) 
In the first year, most activities are occurring between March and September.  In subsequent years, we may be able to launch earlier, but still end with the Federal Fiscal year of September 30. 

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19)   What are fringe benefits? (in reference to federal budget reporting) 
Fringe benefits include the costs of reasonable and customary benefits associated with personnel salaries, such as employee contributions for FICA, unemployment compensation, workers compensation, insurance, and/or retirement plans.

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20)   Can all organization board members come to trainings?
No, there is a limit of two representatives at each training session.  The Executive Director (or Chief Executive) should attend each session and may involve other as appropriate and that may include selecting a Board member that would benefit from the training to come to that training (THE BOARD CHAIR MUST ATTEND THE BOARD TRAINING)

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21)   How does the receipt and reimbursement policy work? 
You request a Purchase Order OR have receipts for any expenditure.

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22)   Can sub-award money be used to hire another consultant or evaluator to give input on organizations capacity building needs? 
No.  The MODERN Project provides an initial assessment and coaches to assist with the development of a Technical Assistance (TA) Plan for each organization.  The sub-award funding should be used for capacity-building.

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23)   If an organization that has been selected drops out, will the next in line be bumped up and awarded a grant? 
No, That is why we are targeting 25 for the Learning Community.

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