Mrs. H.L. (Ruth Ray Hunt Memorial Fund Grant Cycle Spring 2014 Online Application Tips and FAQs

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1 ABOUT THE COMMON GRANT APPLICATION In an effort to respond to requests from local nonprofit organizations, Dallas Women s Foundation has joined a group of funders in North Texas and developed the Common Grant Application. When preparing responses for the Dallas Women s Foundation spring 2014 application, please tailor your responses to align with the mission and vision of the Dallas Women s Foundation: Mission - The Dallas Women s Foundation strengthens the entire community by increasing the investment in women and girls and empowering women s philanthropy. Vision - All women and girls will possess the dignity, skills, and resources to be strong, independent, self-sufficient, and contributing members of the community. The Demographic Information Form will be used to capture information for a number of questions, and is available at The completed form should be uploaded as an attachment to your application. Please use the appropriate form for your request (Operating or Program/Project).

2 APPLICATION OVERVIEW To help you prepare your application for our online system, this section contains all of the questions you will be asked to complete for your application. I. Contact Information 1. Organization Legal Name 2. Executive Contact Name Position or Title Address Phone Number 3. Proposal Contact Name Position or Title Address Phone Number 4. Mailing Address City State Zip Code 5. Physical Address City State Zip Code 6. Organization Website 7. Organization Main Phone Number II. Organization Background 1. Date Founded 2. Tax ID Number 3. DBA 4. Organization Mission Statement 5. Organization Vision Statement 6. Current Operating Budget 7. # of Full-Time Staff 8. # of Part-Time Staff 9. # of volunteers and how your organization uses them (2,000 characters or less) 10. Brief overview of the organization s background (2,000 characters or less) 11. Organizations with whom you collaborate and how (2,000 characters or less)

3 III. Grant Request Information 1. Title of Grant Request 2. Amount of Request 3. How do the goals of the proposal relate to the funder s priorities and mission? (3,000 characters or less) IV. Grant Details 1. Narrative (5,000 characters or less) Please provide information on: a) The main issues or problems this grant request addresses and details on why and how you address these issues b) Proposal details c) Evaluation and performance measures. This is your opportunity to make a persuasive case for support. 2. Provide unduplicated number to be served annually by proposal 3. Tell a story that illustrates the impact of your proposal or organization on an individual. The story should be relative to and support your request. 4. Implementation Timeline (specifically related to this request, if applicable). Please include major events, activities and when they will take place, in bullet point and chronological order. 5. Describe plans to support the proposal after the term of this grant. 6. Provide an updated list of all other entities asked to support the proposal with amounts and responses to date. When do you expect to hear from pending requests? 7. Goals, Baseline, and Target Numbers - See Glossary of Terms for definitions and examples Goals should relate to the specific grant request. More than three goals may be provided in the Grant Narrative section (IV.1). V. Executive Summary Executive Summary Please condense the content of this application into a one page document (3,500 characters or less) that could be shared, separately from the completed application, with audiences, such as Board members, who may not review requests in their entirety. This summary should mention key elements of the proposal, the overall mission and work of your organization and the impact this grant request will have. This document will, in essence, tell the story of your agency and request in a summarized form. A suggested format would include: -An introduction that includes the mission of the organization. -One short paragraph explaining the history of the agency s work in the community. -One to two paragraphs that summarizes the proposed project, including the segment of the community served. If operating support, describe the agencies core programs. -One paragraph outlining the desired outcome, benefits to the community and how you define success.

4 Attachments Please label all attachments with your organization name (abbreviations are fine), please ensure your organization s name is visible on each page, and format all pages to print A. Names and titles of key staff B. Board list and affiliations C. Program budget D. Program budget - current year budget vs. actual (if applicable) E. Organizational budget for current fiscal year including revenue by source (e.g. foundations, individuals, government) F. Organizational budget for next fiscal year including revenue by source (e.g. foundations, individuals, government) G. Most recent 990 Form H. Balance sheet and income/expense report (audited if available) for current and previous two years I. A copy of your 501c3 IRS determination letter J. Dallas Women s Foundation Demographic Form- Program Request OR Dallas Women s Foundation Demographic Form Operating Request This form is available on the Foundation website at: K. Dallas women s Foundation Financial Overview Form

5 Glossary of Terms for the Common Grant Application 1. Number of volunteers (Section II) Please provide details on how many hours the volunteers work on average, if you have AmeriCorps volunteers separate from standard volunteers, etc. The purpose of this question is to get a general overview of your organization s design. 2. Grant Purpose Definitions (Section III) a. Capacity Building: creating more, higher quality and/or more sustainable services (research, assessment, expansion, resource development, organizational development, etc.) b. General Operating support: day-to-day costs of running your organization (office space, staff salaries, marketing materials, etc.) c. Project support: a specific project/program within your organization 3. Performance Measures (Section IV) Please provide which data/information will be collected and how (surveys, test scores, media attention, awards, longitudinal studies, etc.). 4. Goals (Section IV) - Measurable statements of activities proposed in the grant request. When appropriate, please include a date for the goal to be accomplished when writing your goals. In most cases, baseline data (i.e., the current or starting level) should also be included. Exceptions include, but are not limited to, funding for the construction of a new facility and funding for a new program. Goals can be listed as: a. Outputs: Direct products of the activities proposed - usually measured in terms of volume of work accomplished for example, number of people served; and/or b. Outcomes: Benefits or changes to individuals, families, communities, etc. resulting from program participation for example, percentage of individuals with a 50% or better reduction in their symptoms. Examples: Goals without baseline data: 1. To serve 1,300 people in To raise $100,000 in additional funding by 12/31/ To complete construction of the new facility by 12/31/2012. Goals with baseline data: 1. To increase the number of children and adults served from 1,300 to 1,600 by 12/31/ To increase the number of courses offered per year from 5 to 10 by 12/31/ At least 75% of participants diagnosed with depression will show a 50% or better reduction in their

6 Online Application Tips Applicants will need to set-up an account on the Dallas Women s Foundation website to create and submit grant applications. After submitting a request to create a new account, please note that it will take one business day to access your new account. Due to software upgrades, any accounts set up prior to April 2013 will not be valid and a new account will need to be created. Each application is assigned to one address. Use the same address when returning to the online applications, otherwise new applications will be started with each attempt. If additional persons are also working on the same application, share the account login and use the same link, , and password so a new application is not started at each person s login attempts. Google Chrome is the most technically compatible browser for the best results in uploading files and completing the online application. Most file types are accepted including Word, Excel, and PDF formats For ease of completion, information can be composed in a word processor, such as Word, and then Cut and Paste into the online application. Please have the organization s Employer Identification Number (EIN/Tax ID#) at hand prior to beginning the online application. Text boxes can be expanded at the lower right-hand corner to show information as it is entered into them, but they will not expand automatically. You may save an application you start and finish it later with the SAVE option at the bottom of each page. Submit attachments on the last page of the application. The CHOOSE FILE button will allow you to select a file on your computer to upload. Once selected, click the UPLOAD button. Have all attachments available for uploading into the online application before submitting the application. Upload all attachments prior to submitting the application. If attachments are not included, the application will be deemed incomplete and will not be considered. Once an online application is submitted it cannot be retrieved for further editing or to add attachments. Dallas Women s Foundation staff is not able to retrieve an application if it is submitted in error and a new application will need to be started. After you click the SUBMIT button, you will see a confirmation message. You also will see the submitted application when you log in to the online portal.

7 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) How do I determine if my agency is eligible for funding? To be eligible to receive a grant from the Foundation, applicants must meet all of the following criteria: Organizations must have a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt designation from the Internal Revenue Service At least 50% of the clients benefiting from grant funding must be residents of Dallas, Denton, or Collin County At least 75% of the clients benefiting from grant funding must be women and/or girls Applicants for the Mrs. H.L. (Ruth Ray) Hunt Memorial Fund grants must be faith related or have a current or historical tie to a faith or religious entity. How are grant decisions made? Grant proposals are reviewed by the Foundation s staff, then by the volunteer Grant Review Committee. Committee members will site visit select agencies and will make recommendations. Recommendations are made for funding and are approved by the Dallas Women s Foundation Board of Directors. When will grant decisions be made? Applicants will be notified of final decisions in late March. An organization may receive full or partial funding, or may be denied funding. All organizations who received a site visit will be contacted. How do I submit a proposal for a sponsorship? We are not accepting unsolicited sponsorship proposals at this time. How early do I need to submit my application? We encourage all applicants to submit their application packages as early as possible in advance of the program close date to avoid last-minute complications or submission issues. However, Dallas Women s Foundation s proposal review is NOT first-come, first-served so early submission does not provide any benefit during the review process. Do you support any type of operational expenses? Yes. Dallas Women s Foundation provides grants designed solely to fund operational expenses and/or or the regular business of our grantees. To be eligible for operational funding, the entire organization must meet the requirements of 75% of clients being women and girls and 50% of clients residing in Dallas, Denton, or Collin County. Do I need to show other project support? Yes. As part of the application, you will be asked to list all confirmed and potential funding sources. The names of individual donors are not required. List these individuals under one line item titled Individual Donor Support. I have materials I want to submit along with my request for funding. How do I send them? Please submit only the requested forms. We are not able to accept brochures, DVDs, annual reports or other materials that accompany requests for funding.

8 Frequently Asked Questions FAQs (continued) What if I do not have the required attachments in electronic form? Can I make other arrangements to deliver them to you? No. In order to ensure applications are not disqualified due to lack of required materials, you will not be able to submit your entire application if the required materials are not attached to the proposal. If you do not have the documents electronically, you will need to scan the information into a PDF file. My grant was turned down. Can you tell me why? The competition for grant funds is intense and there are a number of factors that determine if a request is declined. Most frequently it is because we are unable to fund every request that we receive. Dallas Women s Foundation staff and volunteers make funding recommendations; the Foundation s Board of Directors makes all final decisions regarding approval of grant recipients. In deciding which organizations to fund, Dallas Women s Foundation staff, our volunteers, and the Board of Directors looks for programs and projects that can best meet the areas of interest outlined in the grant guidelines. We encourage those whose requests are declined to contact us with questions. Do you prefer to fund operating or program? We suggest that you determine your highest priority. If you have further questions, you may contact us directly. I don t have all the information requested in the guidelines. Can I still apply? Yes. Send the most current information you have. You may submit a Word Document stating why you do not have the information that is required. Please contact us if you have any questions. Should we wait to hear from you before applying to others? No. It is a good idea to submit applications to multiple sources of funding, as doing so will improve your chances of success. Can you help write our grant proposal? Can you review our grant application prior to submission? No. We do not provide grant writing or editing services. We encourage applicants to follow our guidelines in preparing a proposal and to call if they have questions. We refer grant writing requests to the Center for Nonprofit Management for assistance.