1) The document discusses Illinois ResourceNet's (IRN) place-based strategy of delivering training and technical assistance at the regional and community level to help organizations develop federal grant proposals.
2) IRN has found that this place-based approach is efficient and that over half of the proposals they have helped submit came from three regions where they have worked.
3) By working with existing regional and community partnerships, IRN can help match local goals and strategies with current and upcoming federal grant opportunities to fund implementation of local plans.
Proposal success is cumulative, especially when carried out in collaborative networks where data can be shared, partnerships can be forged, learning can take place, different program areas can be linked, and diverse resources can be leveraged. This session gives practical hands-on training on how to engage in a continuous proposal building process including utilizing the catalogue of federal assistance, grants.gov and planning documents to anticipate and prepare for potential opportunities.
This two-pager describes the All In: Data for Community Health Learning collaborative and what it means from a BUILD perspective to be a participant in this collaborative.
Proposal success is cumulative, especially when carried out in collaborative networks where data can be shared, partnerships can be forged, learning can take place, different program areas can be linked, and diverse resources can be leveraged. This session gives practical hands-on training on how to engage in a continuous proposal building process including utilizing the catalogue of federal assistance, grants.gov and planning documents to anticipate and prepare for potential opportunities.
This two-pager describes the All In: Data for Community Health Learning collaborative and what it means from a BUILD perspective to be a participant in this collaborative.
Who’s the Boss? Strengthening the Effectiveness of Capacity-Development Support Dr Lendy Spires
The concept of accountability is generally understood as an obligation on a person, group or institution to justify decisions or actions taken. Though seemingly straight-forward, the concept proves elusive in the field of devel-opment cooperation. Being accountable is highly context-dependent and goes far beyond formal accounting on paper. It involves presenting an “account” in the sense of justifying one’s actions, as well as more formal “account-ing” on those elements on which objective and standar-dised facts can be established (Pritchett 2013). The importance of accountability was recognised during the High Level Forum in Busan. Its outcome document uses the term 16 times and identifies it as one of four core principles for effective cooperation: “Mutual accountability and accountability to the intended beneficiaries of our cooperation, as well as to our respective citizens, organisations, constituents and shareholders, is critical to delivering results. Transparent practices form the basis for enhanced account-ability.” To improve accountability, providers and recipients of development cooperation also committed to strengthen effective institutions in developing countries, with em-phasis on support to capacity development. CD is under-stood as a process whereby people and organisations strengthen their ability to manage affairs successfully. It is an endogenous process that can be supported from the outside only to a limited extent. Donors provide significant amounts of CD support to de-veloping countries, mostly in the form of technical cooperation (TC), which in 2011 amounted to US$ 17.7 billion, or roughly 13 per cent of global ODA. CD support is also provided as a component part of larger bilateral development interventions. In addition, substantial TC is provided by multilateral organisations, non-governmental stakeholders and South-South cooperation providers. Through these sources, developing countries gain access to training, twinning, studies and especially short- to long-term expertise. Competing accountability needs and goals CD support relates to and is shaped by a complex web of accountability relations. Figure 1 shows that once external support is provided, the accountability relations from developing-country stakeholders to their constituents are accompanied by accountability relations to donors.
Research brokers and intermediaries in different sectors and contexts: HIV/AIDS
Presentation by Sarah Page, Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfaids) at the Locating the Power of the In-between conference July 08
Advanced EC seminar on decentralisation and local governance
European Commission EuropeAid
2-5 July 2012, Brussels
The seminar reviewed the country context and the evolving international development framework and considered how to manage the political dimensions of decentralisation. It also looked at using decentralisation as a trigger to foster better development outcomes and governance and what all this means for future EU engagement in decentralisation and local governance. Jean Bossuyt, ECDPM, was the lead facilitator of this meeting. Alisa Herrero, ECDPM, was also one of the experts facilitating this seminar.
Leveraging Resources for Local Brownfields Revitalization nado-web
Brownfields (vacant, underutilized, or contaminated properties) depress local economies and reduce local tax revenues and threaten human and environmental health. Localities across the country have employed a broad array of funding strategies and tools to make their communities more resilient and sustainable. This session will focus on funding opportunities for public/private projects that the “brownfields” designation makes possible. It will include funding strategies as well as specific public and private sources, and suggestions for identifying who, where, and how to competitively seek funding.
Eugene Goldfarb, Technical Assistance Provider, Center for Hazardous Substance Research, Manhattan, KS
Margaret Renas, Lead, Community and Brownfield Redevelopment, Delta Institute, Chicago, IL
Matt Ward, CEO, Sustainable Strategies DC, Washington, DC
Federal Funding for Mentoring: Past, Present & Future presented by the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota; April 6, 2011; features panelist Joellen Gonder-Spacek. Part of monthly Quality In Action webinar series.
This document contains evidence that supports some of the ideas proposed by MaFI members in the MaFI-festo and in the Systemic M&E initiative. Development is also about relationships, not just about technicalities and money; reality is complex; flexibility and ability of practitioners to connect and leverage the system's resources are key; etc.
Grant Funding for Nonprofit OrganizationsGrace Dunlap
In this 1 hour webinar hosted by CharityNet USA, we discuss the benefits and stipulations of grant funding for nonprofit organizations. For more information on grants, please visit: http://www.charitynetusa.com/grants.php
Who’s the Boss? Strengthening the Effectiveness of Capacity-Development Support Dr Lendy Spires
The concept of accountability is generally understood as an obligation on a person, group or institution to justify decisions or actions taken. Though seemingly straight-forward, the concept proves elusive in the field of devel-opment cooperation. Being accountable is highly context-dependent and goes far beyond formal accounting on paper. It involves presenting an “account” in the sense of justifying one’s actions, as well as more formal “account-ing” on those elements on which objective and standar-dised facts can be established (Pritchett 2013). The importance of accountability was recognised during the High Level Forum in Busan. Its outcome document uses the term 16 times and identifies it as one of four core principles for effective cooperation: “Mutual accountability and accountability to the intended beneficiaries of our cooperation, as well as to our respective citizens, organisations, constituents and shareholders, is critical to delivering results. Transparent practices form the basis for enhanced account-ability.” To improve accountability, providers and recipients of development cooperation also committed to strengthen effective institutions in developing countries, with em-phasis on support to capacity development. CD is under-stood as a process whereby people and organisations strengthen their ability to manage affairs successfully. It is an endogenous process that can be supported from the outside only to a limited extent. Donors provide significant amounts of CD support to de-veloping countries, mostly in the form of technical cooperation (TC), which in 2011 amounted to US$ 17.7 billion, or roughly 13 per cent of global ODA. CD support is also provided as a component part of larger bilateral development interventions. In addition, substantial TC is provided by multilateral organisations, non-governmental stakeholders and South-South cooperation providers. Through these sources, developing countries gain access to training, twinning, studies and especially short- to long-term expertise. Competing accountability needs and goals CD support relates to and is shaped by a complex web of accountability relations. Figure 1 shows that once external support is provided, the accountability relations from developing-country stakeholders to their constituents are accompanied by accountability relations to donors.
Research brokers and intermediaries in different sectors and contexts: HIV/AIDS
Presentation by Sarah Page, Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfaids) at the Locating the Power of the In-between conference July 08
Advanced EC seminar on decentralisation and local governance
European Commission EuropeAid
2-5 July 2012, Brussels
The seminar reviewed the country context and the evolving international development framework and considered how to manage the political dimensions of decentralisation. It also looked at using decentralisation as a trigger to foster better development outcomes and governance and what all this means for future EU engagement in decentralisation and local governance. Jean Bossuyt, ECDPM, was the lead facilitator of this meeting. Alisa Herrero, ECDPM, was also one of the experts facilitating this seminar.
Leveraging Resources for Local Brownfields Revitalization nado-web
Brownfields (vacant, underutilized, or contaminated properties) depress local economies and reduce local tax revenues and threaten human and environmental health. Localities across the country have employed a broad array of funding strategies and tools to make their communities more resilient and sustainable. This session will focus on funding opportunities for public/private projects that the “brownfields” designation makes possible. It will include funding strategies as well as specific public and private sources, and suggestions for identifying who, where, and how to competitively seek funding.
Eugene Goldfarb, Technical Assistance Provider, Center for Hazardous Substance Research, Manhattan, KS
Margaret Renas, Lead, Community and Brownfield Redevelopment, Delta Institute, Chicago, IL
Matt Ward, CEO, Sustainable Strategies DC, Washington, DC
Federal Funding for Mentoring: Past, Present & Future presented by the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota; April 6, 2011; features panelist Joellen Gonder-Spacek. Part of monthly Quality In Action webinar series.
This document contains evidence that supports some of the ideas proposed by MaFI members in the MaFI-festo and in the Systemic M&E initiative. Development is also about relationships, not just about technicalities and money; reality is complex; flexibility and ability of practitioners to connect and leverage the system's resources are key; etc.
Grant Funding for Nonprofit OrganizationsGrace Dunlap
In this 1 hour webinar hosted by CharityNet USA, we discuss the benefits and stipulations of grant funding for nonprofit organizations. For more information on grants, please visit: http://www.charitynetusa.com/grants.php
For the Chamber's October Non-Profit Roundtable we invited Commissioner Megan Smith from the N.C. Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service to help Chamber Non-Profit members determine which AmeriCorps funding programs were right for them and how to write a competitive application.
The survey was elaborated in the context of the SUN CSN Learning Route program to assess: 1) CSAs main intervention areas (current and mid-term), 2) related learning needs and 3) expertise the want to share with other CSA. The finding will help in shaping the learning program, identify the country host, select interested CSAs and set baseline for the M&E
Pittsburgh Nonprofit Summit - We Got Funded! What Social Innovations are Bei...GPNP
Over 50 applications were submitted to the inaugural federal Social Innovation Fund and 11 agencies were awarded funding. Hear directly from the grantees of the SIF, learn about the re-granting process and find out what is required to compete at these levels. Also, hear the lessons learned from the first round and learn what is being changed for the current round of funding.
The Office of Partnerships & Grant Services presented at the Washington, DC Economic Partnership's Doing Business 2.0 seminar on Starting a Nonprofit (7/10/13).
Pre‐planning and preparation help increase the competitiveness of an organization’s application.
Illinois ResourceNet TA providers work with organizations to prepare for future funding opportunities
by creating a two‐year timeline of expected release dates of Federal grant programs relevant to the
organization or collaborations working with IRN. Illinois ResourceNet develops a plan‐of‐action for
groups to identify grants that match the needs of the organization. TA providers will also locate future
funding for existing programs and potential new programs, and examine the resources offered by
Federal Agencies. In addition, the IRN TA provider will review proposals to ensure that the
organization meets the eligibility requirements, and has the necessary management and programmatic
capacity.
Building a Better Grants Strategy Post-COVIDBloomerang
https://bloomerang.co/resources/webinars/
Whether you are new to grants, and re-evaluating how your organization seeks out grant funding, Rachel Wener will go through what you need to know to become more grant ready.
Presentation and live webinar hosted by California Community Foundation for donors interested in assisting their favorite nonprofits in capacity building.
You can also view the webinar at our YouTube page www.youtube.com/CalfundTV!
Hazard mitigation has increasingly become the responsibility of local decision makers who work with technical assistance providers to apply for federal funding. Understanding the disaster cycle: preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation; helps communities reduce risk from disaster. During this panel, the
importance of understanding the need to adopt both structural and non‐structural mitigation strategies will be covered.
Speakers: Jonathon Monken, Director, Illinois Emergency
Management Agency (IEMA); Rusty Tenton, State Hazard Mitigation
Office, Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA); Ron Davis, State Hazard Mitigation Office, Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA);
Foundation: Mary Ellen Chamberlin, President, RDA
Facilitator: Carrie McKillip, Community Development Educator,
University of Illinois Extension
In this economic climate, there is a necessity to work collaboratively to create strong, sustainable and inclusive communities. Detailed comprehensive plans and federal funding grants need some of the same elements to thrive. If a community identifies its needs as part of the planning process, it can, as part of a continuous proposal building process, pinpoint which grants will help meet those needs.
Speakers: Duane Smith, Area Specialist, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development; Teresa Kurtenbach,
Northwest Regional Director, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO); Denise Bulat, Executive Director,
Bi-State Regional Commission
Foundation: Mary Ellen Chamberlin, President, RDA
Facilitator: Carrie McKillip, Community Development Educator,
University of Illinois Extension
This session examines the inter relationships among federal
agencies to ensure the availability of quality of life issues, such as safe and affordable housing, energy conservation and efficiency, and walkable communities. Federal grants are available for
communities with an integrated vision for connecting economic
development, community development, and environmental
protection to create greater livability.
Speakers: Ray Canchola, Deputy Director of Community Planning and Development and Daryl Hernandez, Senior Management
Analyst, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
Elmo Dowd, Policy Advisor, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; Molli Nickerson, Director, Community Services, Project Now, and Co-Chair of Northwestern Continuum of Care
Foundation: Scott Crane, President, United Way of the
Quad Cities
Facilitator: Kyle Cecil, Agriculture and Natural Resources
Educator, University of Illinois Extension
Social Entrepreneurship: Mobilizing, Innovating, and Collaborating for Social...Illinois ResourceNet
Betsy Goulet, Adjunct Faculty and Doctoral Student, University of Illinois, Springfield, will discuss the importance of collabora-tion amid the new reality of shrinking budgets where agencies, nonprofits and social service programs are being forced to do more with less. She will share information about the role of social entrepreneurship as an innovative strategy for social change in the development of partnerships among nonprofits, government, universities and corporations.
Anne H. Silvis, University of Illinois Extension Specialist in Leadership Development and Director of the Laboratory for Community and Economic Development, will describe practices that build collaboration at the community level and how
collaborative efforts foster improved outcomes for individuals,
organizations and communities. This plenary session will offer
participants a chance to explore concepts and strategies with
one another in small groups.
The decennial census determines the allocation of hundreds of billions of federal program dollars. Federal agencies and private entities use data on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, age, and disability to determine where disparities exist and where community groups could assist. This workshop brings together professionals working to collect data for the census to discuss recently analyzed data with community groups searching for information to support program objectives and goals.
Writing a federal proposal is a multi-step process with every tier requiring an equal level of intense consideration. The federal budget piece is probably the most detailed and specific item on the federal proposal to-do list. Illinois ResourceNet’s face-to-face workshop will tackle the topic of federal budgets and help attendees sort through this daunting section of the federal proposal. In addition, this session describes the principles used in developing a budget narrative.
Illinois ResourceNet’s instructor will explain the importance of managing your organization’s finances to improve your success in applying for a federal grant.
Attendees will walk away knowing how to plan and monitor financial activity, while establishing a solid line of communication between program staff and budgeting staff. This course helps to prepare organizations to manage the detailed federal budget section of their proposals.
Presenters: Deborah Minor‐Harvey & James Pfluecke, IRN Technical Assistance Providers
This workshop will identify best practices in federal grant proposal project management including developing a work plan and your work team. Participants will learn about the organizational capacity needed to successfully complete a federal grant proposal, how to assess and document your community's needs, and how to develop a time line for the successful completion of all aspects of the proposal.
Illinois ResourceNet’s offers a workshop to help introduce nonprofit organizations to the principles of collaboration, the nature and type of collaborative and what it takes to work together in a sustainable manner. In particular, collaboratives play a vital role in Illinois ResourceNet’s commitment to building capacity in the nonprofit sector in Illinois to facilitate stronger federal grant development and submissions.
Lauri Alpern, an Illinois ResourceNet technical assistance provider will lead the workshop and will guide participants through the process of partnership development and completion of tasks in a group setting.
Census data can provide a unique picture of local communities, by providing information on indicators such as household income levels, the age and education-level of a population, the race and ethnic makeup of a community and how a population has changed over time. This type of information is particularly useful when trying to write a grant proposal to demonstrate the need for resources within a community, or when trying to assess the needs and issues of a community. This session will explain how to access census information and use it to create maps and graphics to visualize the information being written about in proposal submissions.
Detailed comprehensive plans and federal funding grants need some of the same elements to thrive. If a community identifies its needs as part of the planning process, it can, as part of a continuous proposal building process, pinpoint which grants will help meet those needs. Federal grants are available for communities with an integrated vision for connecting economic development, community development, and environmental protection to create greater livability. This session will explain why comprehensive community planning should be an integral part of the federal funding process to help facilitate the continuous development of proposals.
This workshop will identify best practices in federal grant proposal project management including developing a work plan and your work team. Participants will learn about the organizational capacity needed to successfully complete a federal grant proposal, how to assess and document your community's needs, and how to develop a time line for the successful completion of all aspects of the proposal.
“Planning for Future Funding: How to create a community comprehensive plan with federal funding in mind”
Thinking about federal grants when developing a comprehensive plan for your community can help you get a head start on successfully applying, submitting and receiving federal funding.
Detailed comprehensive plans and federal funding grants need some of the same elements to thrive. Writing about the vision for investing in a community’s empty brownfields, affordable housing and economic development needs, and health issues can serve as a platform in applying for federal grants. These aspirations, when effectively written and documented, can be used as the basis for grant applications. If a community identifies its needs as part of the planning process, it can, as part of a continuous proposal building process, pinpoint which grants will help meet those needs.
Federal grants are available for communities with an integrated vision for connecting economic development, community development, and environmental protection to create greater livability.
Illinois ResourceNet (IRN) and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMPA) are working together on a series of free webinars to help communities strengthen their capacity to apply successfully for available federal funding opportunities.
In this webinar, “Planning for Funding: How to create a comprehensive plan with federal funding in mind,” Deborah Orr, EPA Region 5 Brownfields Coordinator, will moderate the session and explain why comprehensive community planning should be an integral part of the federal funding process.
Michael McAfee, Community Planning and Development Representative with HUD's Chicago office, will demonstrate how to use a comprehensive plan and the sustainable practices built into it to facilitate the continuous development of federal funding proposals.
Susan Kaplan, technical assistance provider for Illinois ResourceNet at the University of Illinois, will offer examples of how a community plan can be used to help identify relevant federal grant opportunities and develop persuasive grant applications.
Free Webinar held on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
During this event, participants experienced how IRN supports the work of organizations in federal grant writing, explored the resources of the IRN website, and secured answers on being successful in the federal grant process from IRN Technical Assistance Providers. Members of organizations participated in a choice learning sessions around collaboration, the federal grants process, and learned how to secure funding by working collaboratively with local governments.
4. Prime Condition for Federal Grant Development Training and TA are most likely to yield federal grants when delivered at the intersection of organizational readiness and federal opportunity.
5. A process that yields ongoing results A unit of TA resources can generate the most value in federal grant development when one proposal can lead to another … and another … in a process of continuous proposal building. Proposal success is cumulative, especially when carried out in collaborative networks where data can be shared, partnerships can be forged, learning can take place, different program areas can be linked, and diverse resources can be leveraged.
6. Premises Behind the Place-Based Strategy First-rate community and regional (or place-based) planning creates the best conditions for continuous grant development in linked, multiple program areas Some organizations can succeed on their own in the federal grants process, but all organizations are more likely to succeed routinely when working in partnerships. Partnerships are most likely to form and be sustained in places The best way for Illinois to move up in the federal grants game is to play the game through great regional and community partnerships – the cumulative opportunities for federal grant development can’t be created at such a scale any other way
7. IRN’s experience supports the place-based strategy It’s efficient to work in place: Over half of the proposals IRN has helped to submit originated in three regions: Crawford County area, Henderson County area, and Southland Regional planning organizations are already “in place,” but IRN provides the valued-added, “laser focus” on federal grants that can support the projects that emerge from their plans IRN fills a vitally important niche in the place-based development process through its focus on, and expertise in, federal grants
8. Regional and Community Plans Provide a Matrix for Links with Federal Grant Opportunities The strategies on the left are among those contained in a Quality of Life Plan in one of Chicago’s community areas. The federal programs across the top are described in the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance. Some matches are very direct; others are indirect in that the federal program’s intent corresponds to some of the local strategy’s intent.
9. The value of place-based TA An investment of resources in TA is most likely to lead to continuous proposal building at the points where readiness meets opportunity; this occurrence can be exploited when the TA provider is well positioned within regional and community networks. Such positioning enables the TA provider to see current and future opportunities & the partnerships that can form to capitalize on them.
10. IRN Value-Added Role in Place-Based Planning Whether at the level of planning councils or in entities that do their own planning (municipalities, schools, workforce development boards, for example), IRN provides a vitally important service by being the entity with the continuous focus and the expertise about federal grant possibilities. When positioned in place, IRN TA and training can match local goals and strategies to current and coming federal grant opportunities. Such grants can fund the implementation of local strategies. Local planning cycle IRN Training & TA Federal Grants
11. The approach At the community or regional level, propose a one-two-year contract in which IRN would work with existing collaboratives to deliver (not write, but shepherd through intensive TA) at least six federal grant proposals with a combined value far in excess of a $80k-$100k contract. Funders: community foundations, local governments, and state agencies.
13. Although most workshops have not led them directly to grants, most participants in IRN training value highly the information and skill-building that they receive. IRN’s services demystify the federal grants process and show in practical terms what it takes to be successful in it. There is a hunger for more knowledge and skill-building.
14. A Proposed Response for Those Most Hungry: IRN’s Membership-based Federal Grants Academy eAccess Newsletter eAlerts about grant opportunities Significant discounts on registration for IRN workshops and conference Special training and networking events at IRN annual conference Special webinars with federal grants experts
15. A Menu of Offerings for Non-Members eAccess newsletter subscription Workshops (fee-based - where possible, subsidized by agency or foundation) Stand-alone offerings Offerings in clusters in particular program/policy areas On-line seminars (fee-based – where possible, subsidized) Annual conference (fee-based – where possible, subsidized) Specialized TA (contract-based)
16. The Test Would these participants in an IRN workshop on brownfield grants see enough value in IRN membership benefits to subscribe, and at what level? Would their employers?
17. We’ll continue to test the waters Listening sessions and individual meetings with clients will help us gauge precisely what they value most from IRN and for what services they or their organizations would be willing to pay.