Part A: Local Prevention Grants Program Program Guidelines 15 March 2015 Program overview Background The program guidelines aim to explain the intent and nature of the Local Prevention Grants Program (the grants program) as will be funded by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (the foundation) from 15 June 2016 to 15 June 2017. The grants program, which began in mid-2014 is a significant component of the foundation s public health approach (see Part C, Background Paper Using a public health approach in prevention of gambling related harm) in the prevention of gambling-related harm, and contributes to the foundation meeting its strategic objectives. Forming part of the grants program, the next round of new grants will be funded as pilots for 12 months. Like grants previously funded, the pilots will aim to test new ideas to prevent gambling related harm. The foundation has a particular interest in funding projects that address harms along the continuum, including primary prevention and early intervention activities, and funding agencies that undertake harm minimisation initiatives in other sectors. This round of grants will allocate up to $900,000 (GST exclusive) in total funding. The pilot projects will need to demonstrate effectiveness (including cost effectiveness), as well as project sustainability and scalability, where appropriate, beyond the life of the project. Program purpose and objectives The overall purpose of the grants program is to fund primary and secondary prevention activities that reduce gambling related harm. Successful applicants will need to meet at least two of the grants program s objectives, which are: Contribute to preventing the onset of at risk gambling behaviours, by building social connectedness and community resilience through targeted actions Contribute to the Victorian community being able to make educated and informed decisions about gambling-related activities, in particular through targeting at risk groups and those associated with them
Explore ways to encourage the Victorian community to seek help or support if they are experiencing gambling related harm or encourage others to do so Test new ideas and explore new ways of preventing gambling related harm so that more is known about effective practice. Funding allocation Funding allocation will be made on funding submissions received and the four equally weighted funding criteria (Project purpose and justification, Project Plan, Project Delivery and Governance, Project Sustainability and Scalability), as further detailed in Part B Funding Submission. In addition, when assessing funding submissions, the foundation: will apply due diligence in assessing cost effectiveness, including consideration of the activity to staff ratio proposed by the applicant will disbursed grant funding on a project basis rather than attaching funding to specific catchments maintains discretion to withhold available grant funds if there are not sufficient submissions or project quality to justify disbursement of the total available amount. will only fund project where a maximum of up to 25% of each project grant will be available for contribution towards grant administrative costs, including organisational line management and oversight of the project. The foundation will also have a strong preference to fund projects that: are located in regional Victoria or outer metropolitan Melbourne. State wide projects will, however, be considered are delivered in consortia project partners should have a mix of knowledge and expertise in harm minimisation and public health more broadly, and strong local community linkages take an action research approach and will be delivered as a pilot, for possible future utilization by the foundation or via the Gambler s Help service system. This could include: o projects that can demonstrate strategies that embed and sustain the impact of project activity. This may include producing prevention tools and activities that will continue to have uses and impact beyond the project itself; or o projects that can demonstrate how its activities and approaches could be duplicated or modified to be used in other catchment areas outside of the project s catchment area/s, where this is appropriate Part A: Program Guidelines Local Prevention Program Grants (March 2016) 2
are based on sound cost versus benefit considerations and has a level of rigour which could see the project developed into an initiative that exists beyond the life of the funded project do not duplicate existing prevention and community education activities, including the Gambler s Help Community Education program, funded at the local or statewide level by the foundation. Who is eligible? Applicants for the program must be a single corporate entity such as a community, not-for-profit incorporated organisation, university, or a local or state government body, noting the preference for the foundation to fund projects that are delivered in consortia. Where multiple organisations are involved in delivering a prevention project, these organisations will need to nominate the project lead (the Applicant). Individuals or sole traders are not eligible to apply. Eligibility for this program is restricted to entities with a presence in Victoria. This is consistent with the foundation s mission to provide education, information and research, treatment and support services to all Victorians, as well as the objective of this program. In determining whether an entity has a presence in Victoria, the foundation will consider this based on the State in which the entity is incorporated. What is not eligible? Funding provided under this program will be provided on a not-for-profit basis and funding cannot be used for the development of commercial products. Specifically, the following activities cannot be funded under the program: capital works assets commercial activities deficit funding of organisations activities that are the funding responsibility of a local, state or the federal government service delivery not related to the project objectives of preventing gambling-related harm and targeting the determinants of problem gambling an overhead surcharge, salary costs or administrative fee beyond twenty five per cent of the total submitted budget Part A: Program Guidelines Local Prevention Program Grants (March 2016) 3
Project evaluation The foundation will fund an independent evaluation of the overall grants program. Participation in the independent evaluation activity is a requirement of the grants program. The roles of the independent evaluator and funded agencies will be as follows: Program and project logics and evaluation planning Independent contractor (Roberts, First Person and the University of Melbourne) Develop and review project logics and evaluation plan Develop overall program logic, in partnership with foundation. Funded agency Draft and finalise project logic documentation. Draft and finalise project evaluation plan Collection of data and report writing Targeted and direct evaluation support tailored to the needs of each individual project teams. This will include working with project staff on data collection tools and methods, data analysis and reporting. Aggregate and analyse relevant funded agencies data Collect any additional data required from projects, via interviews, surveys or other appropriate methodologies that assesses program and project effectiveness Work in partnership with the foundation to develop evaluation and performance reporting templates Submit a finalised interim and final report on the program and project outcomes, based on the evaluation framework. Collect and analyse project specific data, as per the evaluation and performance reporting templates. Participate in interviews, surveys or any other data collection methodologies that provides additional information regarding program and project effectiveness. Meet the evaluation and performance reporting requirements (see Project Documentation section p6). Capacity building Provide support and assistance to funded agencies, including the delivery of evaluation workshops and information sharing forums. Draw upon the expertise of the contracted independent evaluator to enhance project-level evaluations Part A: Program Guidelines Local Prevention Program Grants (March 2016) 4
Funded agencies can expect the independent contractor (Roberts Evaluation with First Person Consulting) to: Provide a dedicated evaluation consultant who can be regularly contacted Assist in developing and reviewing project logic and evaluation plan via one on one meetings Provide on-going advice and assistance via monthly telephone conversations Review the evaluation plan, and plan the evaluation for the next six months. Deliver workshops on specific evaluation topics Facilitate forums that share evaluation learnings and provide for information exchange. Detailed program requirements This section describes the requirements for all grants funded under the grants program. Acceptance of funding agreement Successful applicants will be required to enter into a contractual agreement (the Aligned Services Agreement) with the foundation. Conflict of interest All personnel listed in a submission are required to declare any actual, perceived, or potential conflict of interest. Applicants must include signed conflict of interest statements from all proposed personnel as attachments to the Funding Submission (Part 6 of the funding submission). Project personnel are required to stipulate that they possess no property, are not engaged in any business, trade or calling that creates a conflict of interest in the work they would conduct as grant recipients for the foundation. If a conflict of interest (actual, perceived, or potential) is declared or one is considered by the foundation to exist, the foundation may seek independent advice as to how this may or may not affect a submission. Insurance Grant recipients must maintain adequate levels of professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance. Applicants being considered for funding will be required to provide evidence of their insurance. Collaboration and co-funding The foundation welcomes projects that bring together entities across relevant sectors to deliver local targeted prevention projects. Part A: Program Guidelines Local Prevention Program Grants (March 2016) 5
Where multiple organisations are involved in delivering a prevention project, these organisations will need to nominate the project lead (the Applicant). The nature of the agreement and arrangements between those involved is a matter for those entities. In all instances, the funding agreement will be between the foundation and the Applicant, and the Applicant is legally responsible for delivering the project. Applicants are permitted to source additional funding (co-funding) from other bodies to deliver prevention projects. The nature and extent of any co-funding arrangement, needs to be detailed in the financial section of the Applicant s submission. If an application involving cofounding is being considered to receive funding, the foundation will require documentary evidence of cofunding arrangements. Project lessons and practice sharing In addition to supporting monitoring and evaluation activity driven by an independent evaluator, successful applicants will be required to capture lessons learnt throughout the project and share practice wisdom and insights with the foundation. Successful applicants will be required to showcase the prevention activity delivered through their project at meetings or events. Publications and media comment Media interest or publications arising from a successful application must be reviewed by the foundation prior to release. The foundation must also be informed of any media comment a grant recipient intends to make as a result of the prevention project. The foundation intends to publish information about the local prevention projects. The foundation will work with successful applicants to ensure the accuracy of any published information regarding the prevention projects and verify specific case studies and examples of best practice highlights. Successful applicants will comply with all of the Foundation s Media, branding and web guidelines. Project documentation Successful applicants will be required to produce plans and reports that includes: Project activity work plan, with project planning and milestone activities (31 July 2016) Project logic and evaluation plan, with measurements of effectiveness (31 July 2016) Midyear evaluation and performance progress report, including reporting on project outcomes and reach, lessons learnt, expenditure to date (15 December 2016) Final evaluation and performance report, including overall reporting on project outcomes and reach, lessons learnt and final expenditure (15 June 2017) Part A: Program Guidelines Local Prevention Program Grants (March 2016) 6
The foundation will provide successful applicants with templates for these plans and reports to provide this information. Submission of applications Funding submission are due on Friday 15 April 2016 close of business. Applications must use the submission template (Part B Funding Submission) to apply for the grants and complete all parts of the template and provide all required supporting documentation. Submissions should be sent electronically via email to: alice.dunt@responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au; and contact@responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au. An email confirming that the foundation has received your funding submission will be sent within 3 working days of the submission being received. If you do not receive an email confirming that the foundation has received your submission it is your responsibility to contact us to ensure that the foundation have received your submission. If a question is asked regarding that grants program that cannot be answered via the program guidelines, the foundation will publish the question with an answer on its website (responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/awareness-and-prevention/local-prevention-program), during the period of time that the submission process is open. Part A: Program Guidelines Local Prevention Program Grants (March 2016) 7