There is always more to learn about how to research and find the best grant opportunities and funders for your organization. But what happens when it’s time to talk to that potential funder? What do you say? How do you get their attention and fuel their curiosity? How can you talk about your nonprofit without overwhelming them with details?

With the passage of the CARES Act and other COVID-19 response funding packages there has been a surge in stimulus-sourced grant opportunities, the likes of which have not been seen since 2008-2009 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Out of the nearly $2 trillion CARES Act package came a number of direct allocations or entitlements, as well as competitive grant opportunities totaling approximately $234 billion and acting as a means for local and state governments, healthcare and education providers, and other organizations to prepare for- respond to- and maintain continued operations during the global coronavirus pandemic. Of this amount, the US Department of Education alone was granted $30.75 billion in funding to support continued K-12 and higher education efforts. 

While not a new notion, the desire to avoid hasty generalizations within one’s grant proposal is ever present. We are all guilty of it. Facing character or page limits, we often try to distill complex ideas down to as few of words as possible while still making our message clear. We make broad-based statements such as, “surveillance cameras can help our police department reduce crime”, “video conferencing equipment will empower our hospital fight the opioid epidemic”, or “1:1 classroom technology is necessary for successful education in this digital age”. However, there is a huge problem with these kinds of statements. They are weak arguments that do not tell the funder anything of actual substance.

The 2020 grant landscape contains dozens of education, workforce development, and public safety programs offering priority consideration for projects deployed inside a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ). This classification originates with the US Department of Treasury and - at its core - has absolutely nothing to do with grants. Zones are selected by individual State Governors as a way to bring private financial investment into distressed communities. So you might find yourself wondering, “why does language about QOZ tax breaks and capital gains continue to pop up in our grants world?”

The 2020 federal fiscal year started on October 1 and once again we are operating under a continuing resolution instead of a budget. Fortunately, federal agencies (as well as experienced grant professionals) can look to the recent past to navigate the situation. Take a deep breath and relax because the grants landscape is much more predictable than it seems, even in the absence of a federal budget. The following Q&A is intended to help grant-seekers “read the tea leaves” when it comes to grant programming in 2020.

n reality, nearly 95% of all law enforcement agencies in the US have less than 100 full-time officers on staff (Reaves 2015). Three quarters serve communities of less than 10,000 residents. These small, usually rural, jurisdictions face the same crime problems as their counterparts in urban locations, but they must do so with lower budgets, less staff, and insufficient equipment 

Not surprisingly, demand for the pilot round of SVPP funding in Summer 2018 far exceeded the available supply of grant dollars. Only 45% of the 200+ submitted applications were funded, and competition for the 2019 grant cycle (applications due May 31st) is anticipated to be even more fierce. These steep odds have districts across the US asking – What is the Department of Justice looking for? How can we stand out from the pack? In searching for answers to these questions, it is beneficial to review previous awards.

Interested agencies can anticipate seeing two full years’ worth of funding (2018 and 2019 allocations) combined into the same solicitation – potentially offering upwards of $200M for US law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire officers. It is unclear at this point if the COPS Office plans to include similar priority considerations for this new funding cycle as they had in 2017. As it currently stands, however, the courts have determined that any repeat attempt to give preference for applicants that address illegal immigration will be permitted.

Recognizing the potential implications of large scale data breaches at the federal government, Congress began allocating funds to improve the antiquated systems of its 76 agencies in 2016. The most recent budget included more than $14 billion for these cybersecurity-related investments

In response to overwhelming positive feedback given by you – our readers – to this previous article, we’ve compiled a companion list of (new or pending) grant funding for an additional 15 states below. Don’t see your State on this list or its companion piece from our last issue? Don’t fret! We expect even more states follow suit in the coming years. While you wait, check out the Department of Education or Department of Justice websites for other federal program offerings that may arise. You may even consider contacting your State Administering Agency (SAA) for information on school safety funding coming down the pike for your area.

In the wake of recent high profile school shootings across the US, Congress passed the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act in June 2018. The bill included key provisions to improve school safety initiatives, providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize mental health crises, respond to violent attacks, mitigate risk exposure, and prevent future acts of violence. The $75 million in funding allocated to the STOP School Violence Act in 2018 is dedicated to three brand new grant programs.

On the same week more than 200,000 students and teachers marched on Washington to protest gun violence in schools, Congress and President Trump signed into law the 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill. The bill – which funds all federal programs for the remainder of the fiscal year - includes key provisions for expanding K-12 school safety programs.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 includes modest to significant increases across the board, increasing defense allocations by $26 billion and non-defense domestic appropriations by $33 billion. In total, Congress passed a budget that essentially rolls back the draconian cuts that were instituted in 2013 - known as sequestration - surpassing the administration’s request by $143 billion.

The current grants landscape features several law enforcement programs with language prioritizing projects that respond to a “precipitous increase in crime.”

When preparing a grant proposal there are several key elements that go into the final product. Often, the narrative – or project description – section is that which receives most of the applicant organization’s time and attention. Indeed, there have been ample articles written here, and elsewhere, providing tips and tricks for developing a proposal narrative. But an equally important piece of the proposal is often over looked: the budget. As such, we wanted to take moment to share three Q &As from...

It’s no secret that the practice of grant seeking is pretty involved. It consists of countless hours of work: researching state, federal, and foundation funding sources; sorting through various opportunities to choose those that best match your project’s goals, funding needs, and timeline; figuring out what aspects the funder specifically requires for your project; collecting partnership agreements; not to mention actually writing the proposal! Moreover, few organizations are fortunate enough to have the means for keeping a full-time grant professional on staff. So what is an organization to do?...

Imagine this scene: You find yourself sitting at the computer, coffee in hand. The project details your team has spent weeks carefully plotting are printed and neatly stacked in the center of your desk. The plan is ready, the budget set. All that’s left to do is type the grant narrative. You open a fresh Word document and are met with that awful blank page… We’ve all had that moment of dismay – It’s daunting to start a grant proposal from scratch. Well-written narratives contain an overwhelming...

Whether you’re just starting out as a grantseeker or have been working in the field for years, and whether you work in education, government, or healthcare, you should find some useful information and insights in this issue of FUNDED – our biggest issue yet!You can download the issue directly at http://grantsoffice.com/Portals/0/funded/issues/FUNDEDNov2017.pdfHigher education takes the lead with highlights of two NSF grant programs that support research infrastructure-building initiatives across...

Back in April 2017, our Grants Office LLC team members – Elizabeth Evans and Ashley Schultz – were featured in the Campus Safety (CS) Magazine. CS Magazine serves campus police chiefs, security directors, IT personnel, emergency managers and executive administrators involved in the public safety and security of major hospitals, schools and universities in the United States. See the full text of their article below. Check out http://www.campussafetymagazine.com/ to learn more!

With the application process for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program complete for state agencies, it’s time for small- to medium-sized law enforcement agencies across the US to prepare for their state’s pass-through competition. 

...it’s who.     At least that’s true in the world of public safety.  Most in the public safety realm are well aware of the annually administered, direct, federal grants, such as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the Justice Assistance Grant Local Solicitation.  These grants are a “straight shot” from applicant to funder—that is, the applying entity submits an application directly to the funding agency—no middle person.     However, there are a myriad of programs from the Department...

    The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) should be released any day now and it’s time to start thinking about your application for this year.       In a previous issue of FUNDED I covered the basics of AFG, so if you’re unfamiliar with this funding opportunity, you may want to refer back to the aforementioned article before proceeding.       In this issue we will focus on best practices and tactics for making your department’s application more competitive.     First, you’ll want to ready...

On Monday, September 21st 2015 the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the awardees of the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Body-Worn Pilot Implementation Program that was first publicized in May of this year.    

For those unaware, the Body-Worn Pilot Implementation Program supports the implementation of body-worn camera (BWC) programs in law enforcement agencies across the country. The intent of the program is to help develop, implement, and evaluate a BWC program...

...it's who.At least that’s true in the world of public safety. Most folks in the public safety realm are well aware of the annually administered, direct federal grants, such as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the Justice Assistance Grant Local Solicitation. These grants are a “straight shot” from applicant to funder—that is, the applying entity submits an application directly to the funding agency—no middleperson.However, there are a myriad of programs from the Department of Homeland...

The May 2014 issue of FUNDED is now available for download.

 

 

Some grant programs change very little over time. If you wanted to know in 1984, for example, where fire departments got their funding to improve their firefighting operations, the answer would be firefighter grants, which, aside from a name change, are strikingly similar to the 2013 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program grants, both of which trace their legislative authorization to the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of school safety...

Project Safe Neighborhoods was initiated during the Bush administration and continues to provide funding to reduce gun and gang violence across the country. Technology is frequently a part of these innovative and data-driven approaches to achieving improved situational awareness and suspect identification, as well as expanding access to criminal history records.

Tribal Homeland Security Grants fund a laundry list of security, preparedness, and response capabilities, and it is incumbent on the applicant organization to decide how best to use their funds to achieve their operational objectives.

Because it is understood in so many different ways by so many different constituencies, no discussion of public safety can proceed meaningfully without a provisional definition of the term. For the purposes of this article, we will define public safety as a range of services provided to a defined community to prevent, deter, and respond to man-made and non-manmade threats facing its citizens and their property.  Public safety agencies include a wide range of institutions from municipal agencies to independent non-profit organizations and even for-profit companies that provide policing, fire suppression, and emergency management services.

The US Fire Administration administers three major funding programs each year. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program is the most well known, followed by the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and the Fire Prevention and Safety Programs. All three were reauthorized in the recent National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (P.L. 112-239), and we’re expecting to see a fairly significant amount of funding coming out for each of them for 2013 and beyond. Learn more about these programs at www.firegrants.info.

Agencies around the country initiate technology projects in different ways and for different reasons. For some, technology is a way of keeping current and of ensuring that stakeholders have access to the latest and greatest in services. For others, a governing body may mandate a greater focus on technology, in the broad, undefined way governing bodies sometimes have. Still others are won over by a compelling case for return on investment or quality improvement. Or a technology salesperson may have let you know that the current technology has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced.

Across the U.S., private foundations are experiencing an ever-increasing demand for grant funding.  Unfortunately, for many of these agencies, the supply of funding has diminished in recent years. Among hundreds or even thousands of unsolicited grant proposals, few new applicants are able to close the deal by receiving an award. Despite this bleak reality, there are several steps your organization can take to strengthen your approach to foundation funding and increase your likelihood of being among the elite organizations awarded with grant support.

By Ali Palmieri

May 2012

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program has been a staple in the public safety landscape since it was created in 2005. With its range of program areas including law enforcement, planning, evaluation, technology improvement and crime victim and witness initiatives it is a program that is appealing and accessible to grantseekers. JAG is the leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions.

The Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) was developed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2010 to consolidate the DOJ's existing Tribal-specific grant programs into one combined application package. Thus, the overall program is comprised of several individual programs or "Purpose Areas." CTAS is intended to foster a comprehensive approach to public safety and victimization issues by encouraging tribal governments to collaborate efforts and plan a community-wide strategy for addressing a variety of law enforcement and justice issues.
The 2012 Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation was announced on January 18, with a deadline of April 18, 2012. Over $100 million is available through this program, providing funds to support tribal public safety and justice initiatives such as community policing and tribal youth programs.

In the aftermath of the 2001 attacks, the nation’s collective quest for safety spawned a quick rise to prominence for U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Established in the Homeland Security Act of 2002, DHS supports the various security efforts and programs that contribute toward the broad yet vital mission to “secure the nation from the many threats we face.” But with the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget now solidified, many of those tasked with ensuring the nation’s security may be doing so with much less federal grant money in their pockets.

By Stephen R. Galati, Contributing Writer
December 2011

When one thinks of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant programs and the risk of terrorist attacks, the first thought may be that government and public agencies are the primary targets. Although these agencies may hold higher visibility and threat risks, they are certainly not the only viable targets for acts of terrorism. Since the horrific attacks against the United States on September 11th, many nonprofit organizations, such as ones operating religious facilities and places of symbolic value, have become involved with infrastructure-hardening and emergency preparedness activities. The events of the last decade have served as a paradigm change in our collective understanding of national security.

To various degrees, the American people and regulatory bodies have always had an appreciation for humanity’s effect on nature’s well-being. Beginning in the late 1960s, and continuing today, we have successfully created numerous laws and expectations that formalize the notion that a federally-funded project to promote human progress must not come at the expense of environmental, historic, and cultural resources.

According to a 2009 report from the Pew Center on the States, a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, more than 7 million people are in jail or prison, or on probation or parole. With one in every 31 adults under some form of correctional control, the economic costs and burdens associated with this statistic are no doubt overwhelming. Compounding this issue is the fact that too often successful prisoner reentry—the process of leaving prison and returning to society—isn’t solely correlated to a specific release date.

With terms like interoperability, collaboration, and standardization saturating the pages of guidance documents across the funding landscape, there is often an associated focus on supporting initiatives that, for lack of a better term, make sense. For many communities across the county, rural and urban alike, utilizing video conferencing to support various public safety-related needs will fit that broad requirement.

In recognition of the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently released its progress report highlighting the achievements that the Department and its many partners have made in carrying out the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations. Created in late 2002, this Commission was chartered to prepare a complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks and to provide recommendations intended to strengthen our nation’s well-being and defense from future attacks. Additional information on this August 2004 report is available at www.9-11commission.gov/report/index.htm.

There are all kinds of disasters that require emergency response. Some of them occur naturally like pandemic influenza and hurricanes. Others are man-made disasters such as exploding bombs and other terrorist attacks. No matter the cause, health care providers play an essential role in the aftermath of these events, caring for the sick and wounded. In addition, health care entities play a major role in preventing certain catastrophes like the spread of infectious diseases. States and other regulatory agencies require hospitals and other health care organizations to be prepared for and able to respond to such emergencies.

Goodbye, Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS). Hello, National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS). The HSAS, first implemented in response to the September 11th attacks, was designed to “inform all levels of government and local authority, as well as the public, to the current risk of terrorist acts.” As many of us know, the previous system was built on a five-level, color-coded threat condition indicator that attempted to assign a color according to the current threat level. Latent with unrealized benefits, this colorful experiment has officially ended as of April 2011. In its place we find DHS writing a new chapter of homeland security preparedness.

By Vince Siragusa
May 2011

As an indication that federal lawmakers are increasingly committed to deficit reduction and reining in spending, the recent congressional compromise trims $38.5 billion over the remainder of federal fiscal year 2011. Inevitably, those asked to do more with less will continue to be called upon to follow up on this daunting assignment. While thrifty public and private organizations have long ago trimmed the proverbial fat from their operational costs, many homeland security grant programs, no longer exempt from the broader discretionary spending freezes, will now be required to meet the same task. Let us take some look at what we can expect in Department of Homeland Security spending in 2011.

Protecting valuable infrastructure has always been a mission for communities and those responsible for their safety. From medieval moats harboring castles down to the high-tech surveillance, training, and weapons in today’s world, efforts are infinite in their attempt to avert the loss of lives and property that can come as a result of natural disasters, man-made hazards, and terrorist attacks.

In only its second year of the current structure, the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) was recently released by the Department of Justice. Unique in its layout, the CTAS program combines a multitude of tribal-specific grant opportunities into one solicitation with one due date. Tribal applicants now are responsible for one submission for up to 8 program areas, where previously separate applications were due for each program at varying times during the year. Tribes are also eligible to receive multiple awards for projects that span several purpose areas.

As the new calendar and fiscal year 2011 begins, many grant programs are being reminded that they are only as valuable as the actual projects they support. Those consistently lacking results often find their government appropriations dwindle, if not dry up entirely. With everyone positioning their stake for a finite, albeit ever-growing level of federal funding, many grantmaking agencies demonstrate their value by leveraging investments in various projects that represent not only immediate community benefits but also the greatest potential for a long-term return on investment. Grantseekers therefore have an opportunity in the new year to strike while the iron is hot. Savvy applicants will likely consider one of the following project components in their FY2011 applications.

Over the course of proposal development, applicants are often challenged by indentifying eligible equipment and solutions as part of their submission process. Programs like the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) are very flexible in their procurement allowances. Other programs, much more nebulous with offering information on allowable solutions, rely heavily on the grantee’s ability to identify solutions most appropriate for project goals.

One of the nation’s more popular grant programs, the Justice Assistance Program (JAG), has opened for 2010. This Department of Justice (DOJ) program allows states, tribes, and local governments to support a broad range of activities based on local needs and conditions. The JAG program, first funded through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, was the product of a merger between the former Byrne Memorial Formula Program and the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Program. The rationale for combining the two programs was to create a single funding mechanism intended to simplify the application and administration process. In many ways, the merger also provided the grant recipient greater spending flexibility. This flexibility has resulted in thousands of municipalities and departments having the ability to steer JAG money toward any number of public safety areas where there is a need for support.