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(The following was provided by Ben Murray of ONCAC)
National Children’s Alliance Grants
Things You Must Do if You Expect to be Funded
A. Read the Request for Proposal thoroughly. There is a reason that NCA staff spent the time to develop this document and expended NCA funds for printing and distribution. It will be time well spent on your part to read this document thoroughly and to refer to it when proofreading your finished grant application.
B. Make sure that your grant proposals fits one of the categories listed under the objectives in the overview of the grants program. Include all requested information.
C. In the background section or at the beginning of your narrative include statements that verify items listed under eligibility. This should not be a long dissertation that uses a page of your narrative, but can be covered in statements such as “CARE House, a 501 [C] 3 not for profit corporation, was accredited by NCA in 1995, etc.
D. Include a statement about your multidisciplinary team and its functions. This statement can be brief but needs to verify for the grant reviewer that you have a functioning team that meets the criteria of NCA Standards.
E. Include a copy of your interagency agreement or MOU with your attachments. Be sure that the MOU is current and is signed by all required disciplines including, mental health, medical and victim advocacy. Be sure that your MOU makes reference to you protocols.
F. Your problem statement must tell the grant reviewer what the problem is that funding from this grant will address. The narrative should build up to the problem statement. The problem statement itself should be brief, clear and succinct. The grant reviewer should not have to search the narrative for the problem statement.
G. Your goals must address the problem identified in the problem statement. Your objectives must outline how the goals are to be accomplished. The goals and objectives need to be clearly formatted. The grant reviewer should not have to search your narrative for the goals and objectives.
H. Address the cultural diversity of your service area and how you plan to meet the needs of your culturally diverse population through this project. Culture is not just race or ethnicity. If you are having problems with cultural diversity/cultural competence an excellent resource is “Guidance on Cultural Competency and Diversity: A Guide to Implementing NCA Standard: Cultural Competency and Diversity for Children’s Advocacy Centers. If you do not have this document it can be obtained from NCA.
I. Include a time line but make it brief, not an additional narrative.
J. Include letters of support, even if they are not requested. Be sure the letters of support are current and that they reference the grant being applied for. It is good to have letters of support from your partner agencies but if you are applying for funds for a school based prevention program be sure that you have letters from the school system or if you are applying for funds for forensic interviewer training that there are letters of support from the agencies whose staff will receive the training.
K. Your grant budget must relate to the identified problem and to the goals and objectives. If you include trainer or consultant fees, travel cost, etc. be sure that you have followed the federal per diem rates. Do not include unallowable cost. If you have questions about allowable cost ask NCA grant staff. If you are including salary and benefits be sure that the salary is reasonable. The budget narrative must be complete and tell how you arrived at a cost. Include a complete agency budget. If you are part of a hospital, large agency or government based and a part of your cost are provided in-kind be sure to include that information in a footnote.
L. If you are asking for funds for a position or part of a position include the job description and resume. If the position has not been filled and there is no resume state this. Include current resumes or vitas not the one that was used when the person applied for employment with the agency.
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