Increasing the Capacity of Individuals, Families and Communities

Acquiring Public Grants

Resources | Sample Grant Writing Plan/Checklist

Glossary

Sources: Various U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant announcements.

Award — Financial assistance that provides support or stimulation to accomplish a public purpose. Awards include grants and other agreements in the form of money, or property in lieu of money, by the Federal government to an eligible recipient.

Budget period — The time intervals into which a period of grant assistance is divided for budgetary and funding purposes.

Capacity-building — Capacity, very simply, is the ability to perform or produce. So to build the capacity of an organization, you do something that increases its ability to perform or produce. As a result of your capacity-building activities, the nonprofit organization can accomplish more than it could before.

Cash contributions — The grant recipient’s cash outlay, including money contributed to the recipient by donors.

Community — Refers to any group of individuals who share common distinguishing characteristics including residency (e.g., the "low-income" community, the "religious" community or the "professional" community). The individual members of these "communities" may or may not reside in a specific neighborhood, county or school district, but the local service provider may be implementing programs and strategies that will have a measurable effect on them.

CBO — Community-Based Organization

CCF — Compassion Capital Fund (CCF)

Community Development (CDC) — A private, nonprofit corporation governed by a board of directors (consisting of residents of the community and business and civic leaders) whose principal purpose is planning, developing or managing low-income housing or community development projects.

CFDA — Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Cooperative agreement — An award agreement for financial assistance between the grant recipient and the Federal government that outlines the terms working and financial relationships when a grant requires "substantial cooperation" between the awarding office, (the Federal government) and the grant recipient during performance of the program or project. "Substantial involvement" means that the recipient can expect Federal programmatic collaboration or participation in managing the award. The specific responsibilities of the awarding agency and the recipient will be determined as part of the process of creating the cooperative agreement.

Cost sharing/matching — Cost sharing refers to an element of some grant programs that requires the grantee (the organization receiving the grant) to provide part of the funding for the program either in cash or by contributing facilities or other resources of value. These funds or resources are sometimes referred to as "matching funds." They usually must be raised from other non-Federal sources.

CFR — Code of Federal Regulations

Distressed community — A geographic urban neighborhood or rural community of high unemployment and pervasive poverty.

DOJ — Department of Justice

DOL — Department of Labor

ED — Department of Education

Eligible applicant — A private, nonprofit organization. DOJ — Department of Justice DOL — Department of Labor ED — Department of Education

Faith-Based Community Development Corporation — A community development corporation that has a religious character.

FBCI – Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

FBO — Faith-Based Organization Grantee — The organization receiving grant funds GPRA — Government Performance and Results Act HHS — Department of Health and Human Services

Grantee — The organization receiving grant funds

GPRA — Government Performance and Results Act

HHS — Health and Human Services

Intervention — Any planned activity within a project that is intended to produce changes in the target population and/or the environment and that can be formally evaluated.

IRS — Internal Revenue Service

Letter of commitment — A signed letter or agreement from a third party to the grant applicant that pledges financial or other support for the grant activities contingent on receiving a grant award.

Nonprofit organization — Any organization (including a faith-based organization or a community development corporation) exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by reason of paragraph (3) or (4) of section 501(c) of such Code. Proof of nonprofit status may be documented by:

1. A reference to the applicant organization’s listing in the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) most recent list of tax-exempt organizations described in the IRS Code;
2. A copy of a currently valid IRS tax exemption certificate;
A statement from a State taxing body, State attorney general, or other appropriate State official certifying that the applicant organization has a nonprofit status and that none of the net earnings accrue to any private shareholders or individuals; d. A certified copy of the organization’s certificate of incorporation or similar document that clearly establishes nonprofit status.

NOFA — Notice of Fund Availability

OMB — Office of Management and Budget

Outcome evaluation — Systematic examination of the impact of the program and what resulted for the participants, clients, consumers, or customers. Another commonly used phrase is "summa-tive evaluation." See Process Evaluation.

Partner (or Partnering Agency) — Another eligible individual and/or organization carrying out an grant-funded project as part of a consortium of two or more entities in accordance with an agreement, and led by the entity, which is the grant recipient/grantee. In such cases the lead grantee is ultimately responsible for administration of the grant funds and submission of required reports.

Performance measurement — A tool used to objectively assess how a program is accomplishing its mission through the delivery of products, services and activities.

Poverty income guidelines — Guidelines published annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that establish the level of poverty defined as low-income for individuals and their families.

Process evaluation — Systematic examination of the degree to which a program is operating as intended, looking at what service it provides, how is it provided, who receives services, and how much service is delivered. Another commonly used phrase is "formative evaluation." See Outcome Evaluation.

RFA — Request for Applications

RFP — Request for Proposals

SF — Standard Form

SGA — Solicitation for Grant Applications

Sub-award — An award of financial assistance in the form of money, or property in lieu of money, made under an award by a recipient to an eligible subrecipient or by a subrecipient to a lower tier subrecipient.

Technical assistance — Providing specialized skills, information and/or support to organizations and/or individuals on a one-to-one basis.

Training — The imparting of knowledge and skills to people in a group setting. Training includes behavioral objectives, opportunities to practice, and results in improved performance.

TTA — Training and Technical Assistance

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) — Title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) creates the TANF program that transforms welfare into a system that requires work in exchange for time-limited assistance. The law specifically eliminates any individual entitlement to or guarantee of assistance, repeals the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, Emergency Assistance (EA) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs and replaces them with a block grant entitlement to States under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act.

Third party — Any individual, organization or business entity that is not the direct recipient of grant funds.

USAID — U.S. Agency for International Development

Resources | Sample Grant Writing Plan/Checklist