Quality of Life Grants: How to Apply/Guidelines
Quality of Life Grant Application Guidelines
2nd Cycle 2007 Deadline – March 3rd, 2008 at 11:59 pm EST
Previous Quality of Life grantees are required to wait 2 grant cycles before applying for funding again. Previous grantees must submit a copy of the final report of the latest grant with any new request in order to be considered eligible for funding.
ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE THROUGH THIS WEBSITE – NOT BY EMAIL, MAIL OR FAX.
To preview/save the application as a Microsoft Word document, click here. (Note: the Word document is for reference only. All applications must be processed online).
To preview/save the required Budget Narrative template as a Microsoft Word document, click here.
Overview of the Grant Program
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Quality of Life Grants Program offers grants to non-profit organizations that address the needs of persons living with paralysis (particularly spi-nal cord injury), their families and caregivers. Proof of non-profit status is required to be submit-ted with the application (see "Supporting Documents" below).
Grants are not made to individuals. Individuals seeking information on resources or financial assistance should contact the Paralysis Resource Center, a program of CDRF, at Paralysis.org or call toll-free 1-800-539-7309 and ask to speak with an Information Specialist.
Funding is awarded in thirteen categories: accessibility, advocacy, arts, assistive technology, children, counseling, education, employment, independent living, practical services, sports and recreation, therapeutic riding and health promotion. Except for the health promotion category, the primary focus of the Quality of Life grants is paralysis caused by spinal cord injury. To qual-ify for funding, a non-profit organization does not have to exclusively serve people with spinal cord injuries; however, at least a portion of the population served must have spinal cord injuries.
The health promotion category provides funding to non-profit organizations that address paraly-sis caused by spinal cord injuries and/or other injuries, diseases and birth conditions, including (but not limited to): stroke, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, etc. Grants in the health promotion category are made possible by a cooperative agreement (Grant No. U10/CCU220379) between the Reeve Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health promotion grants are intended for programmatic activi-ties and not solely for the purchase of equipment for use by individuals. Health promotion grants also cannot fund advocacy, food, and cannot be allocated for direct care services for in-dividuals.
The Quality of Life Grants Program is focused on paralysis-related physical disabilities. While successful applicants may serve people with developmental disabilities, we do not, given the Reeve Foundation's mission and purpose, award funding to non-profit organizations that do not serve indi-viduals with paralysis.
Funding
Funding is awarded in amounts up to $25,000 per grant. The level of funding needed for a pro-posed project or program should determine the amount of the grant request. As a general rule, grants are not awarded for operating costs nor are they awarded for start-up organizations. Only one request per grant cycle will be accepted from a non-profit organization. Multiple-year grants are not awarded. Grant applicants need not choose the funding category; this is deter-mined by the Committee. The Committee may elect not to award funding in every category in a particular funding cycle.
Application Deadlines
Applications deadlines are March 1st and September 1st (Application submission periods and submission deadlines are subject to change when necessary. Please check website to confirm deadline). The deadline for the 2nd Cycle 2007 is October 1. Applications should be submitted online by 11:59 pm EST on the appropriate deadline. All supporting materials should be submit-ted online or received at the address below by the submission deadline. The Quality of Life Grants Committee will review each request and make specific recommendations to the Board of Directors for approval. The Board meets in June and December of each calendar year. All noti-fications, both of awards and declinations, will be mailed out after the Board has met.
Application Process and Requirements
The Quality of Life Grant Application must be submitted online through the Reeve Foundation website ChristopherReeve.org. Applications are NOT accepted via fax or email. A Word version of the application is available on the website, and is meant to assist in the preparation of your online application. Please do not email, fax or mail this form to CDRF.
Supporting Documents
In addition to the on-line application, the following supporting documentation must be included. Applications that do not have all of these documents will not be reviewed.
Budget Narrative Template (template available on ChristopherReeve.org in the Quality of Life grants section. (completed budget narrative template must be uploaded with the online application. Any application received without a completed budget narrative tem-plate will be disqualified from consideration. See "Project Budget Information" below for more information)
• IRS 501(c)(3) Letter of Determination
• Latest IRS Form 990
• List of Board of Directors
• Final Report on Previous Grant(s) (required for prior grantees – must be uploaded – will be reviewed with application and failure to submit will cause application to be disqualified from consideration).
The following supporting documents are optional:
• Photographs (The submission of photos that illustrate the potential impact of an award is encouraged. Electronic photographs are preferred. Photographs may be used by Reeve Foundation on its website or in its publications, so should come with permission to publish
• Letters of support
• Certificate of Good Standing from State
• Latest annual report
• Most recent audited financial statement
All supporting documents should be uploaded with the application in the "attachments” section, using the appropriate labels in the pull-down menu. If for whatever reason requested materials (with the exception of the budget narrative template) are not available in electronic format, please mail them to the address below. All applications and supporting documentation must be received at the address below by the submission deadlines. Please note that all materials sub-mitted are non-returnable.
Donna L. Valente
Director, Quality of Life Grants
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
636 Morris Turnpike, Suite 3A
Short Hills, NJ 07078
Reports
Grant recipients are encouraged to provide periodic progress reports to the Reeve Foundation. In addition, a final report detailing the expenditure and outcomes of the grant must be submitted to the Reeve Foundation no later than one year after the award is received by the applicant.
Reapplications
The Foundation awards Quality of Life grants in two cycles each year calendar year - June and December. Prior grantees must skip 2 grant cycles after the last award was made before reap-plying for funding. Grant recipients should not rely on the Reeve Foundation for continual funding of their pro-grams or projects; it is strongly recommended that other sources of support also be secured. Under no circumstances is the Reeve Foundation obligated to continue funding the program of any grantee subsequent to an earlier grant provided by the Reeve Foundation.
Unused Funds and Changes in Grant Objectives or Activities
In the event the grantee ceases to operate or becomes insolvent, all unused the Reeve Foundation grant money shall be immediately remitted to the Reeve Foundation. Furthermore, if the original purpose, project and/or program of the grantee changes, the grantee must notify the Reeve Foundation in writing for permission to redirect funds. If permission is not given, grantee shall remit any and all grant money to the Reeve Foundation. The Reeve Foundation reserves the right to continue funding a grantee if such grantee's purpose, project or program changes.
Non-Profit Organizations Not Based in the United States
Applications are accepted from organizations based outside of the United States, although prior-ity is given to those with an international scope (i.e., project serves people living in more than one country). Non-US based organizations should enter any ten-digit number to access the ap-plication. You will likely receive a message that reads "Number is not found in the US Tax Da-tabase.” Hit OK to proceed with the application. Non-profit organizations located in countries other than the United States are asked to submit documentation of organization's status as a tax-exempt agency under its country's laws. This must be a legal document issued by a gov-ernmental agency.
Project Budget Information
The maximum amount of Quality of Life grants is $25,000.
Preparing Your Project Budget
There are two types of financial information requested. The online application includes three pieces of summary budget information:
• the total amount of funds requested from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (maximum of $25,000);
• the total budget for the project; and
• for projects costing more than $25,000 in total, sources and amounts of additional of funds to be used in the project. No matching funds are required for this grant program.
In addition, all applicants, including those that have a budget over $25,000 and are receiving (or requesting) funding from sources other than the Reeve Foundation, must include a separate budget narrative template showing how only the funds requested from the Reeve Foundation will be used. While applicants are welcome to submit a budget for the total project as well, proposals or budgets that do not include a budget for funds requested from the Reeve Foundation in the format provided below will not be reviewed.
The budget narrative template is available on the website ChristopherReeve.org in the Quality of Life grants section, and must be completed and uploaded as an attachment to your application. Any application submitted without this completed budget narrative template will not be reviewed.
Indirect ("overhead" or "facility and administration") costs are limited to 10% of direct costs.
If no funds are requested in one or more of the categories shown, please indicate "0" (zero). See the sample budget below at the end of this section.
Personnel:
Specify the name of each individual (or "To Be Hired") for which project funds will be used. For each individual, indicate the percentage of time devoted to project activities, the salary re-quested, fringe benefits requested, total amount requested for that individual and a brief sum-mary of what activities the individual will undertake for the project. If more than one individual will be supported by grant funds, list the total personnel dollars requested for all individuals as the last figure in this section.
Contractors/Consultants:
Identify each contractor or consultant by name (or "To Be Hired"). For each contractor or con-sultant, provide the activities they will undertake, their hourly or daily rate, the number of hours or days they will work on the project, and the total funds requested for the contractor/consultant.
If more than one contractor/consultant will be supported by grant funds, list the total dollars re-quested for all contractors/consultants as the last figure in this section.
Equipment:
List any proposed equipment. Include the unit cost (the cost of one piece of equipment), the number of pieces of that equipment and the total dollar amount.
If more than one type of equipment will be purchased with grant funds, list the total dollars re-quested for all equipment as the last figure in this section.
Travel:
For any travel to be supported by grant funds, list the purpose of the travel, approximate number of travel miles to be reimbursed, the rate at which they will be reimbursed (e.g., "320 miles @ $.032 per mile = $102.40") and costs for reimbursing travelers for meals and hotel expenses.
Other Costs:
For all other expenses not included in the categories above such as supplies, printing and pho-tocopying, telephone, purchase of materials, etc.) list each expense, the purpose of each, the unit cost and the total cost. Examples:
• Printing and photocopying: photocopying flyers to announce the program: 500 pages of color brochure @ 40 cents per page = $200
• Travel: travel for counselors to drive to program sites to provide training: 6 trips @ 400 miles per trip = 2400 miles x 32 cents per mile = $768
• Supplies: Office supplies: general office supplies: 12 months x $25 per month = $600
• Training Manuals: 200 training manuals @ $12 per manual = $2,400
Sample Budget Narrative Template
To view a copy of a **sample** Budget Narrative template, please click here.
To preview/save the required blank Budget Narrative template, click here.
Note: This sample budget narrative template is for illustrative purposes only. Not all budget categories or items that apply to your project may be shown. For assistance in preparing your budget, contact QOL@ChristopherReeve.org
Please read the Guide below to help with the preparation of your Quality of Life application.
A Quick Guide To Establishing Evaluation Indicators And An Evaluation Plan For The Reeve Foundation Quality Of Life Grants Program
Every application must include one or more evaluation indicators and a plan for evaluating the success of the project if it is funded. You don't have to be an expert in evaluation in order to develop "good” evaluation indicators or an evaluation plan!
Developing "Good” Indicators
In deciding what indicators you want to put in, ask yourself these questions:
How will I know if the program worked?
How will I know if the program has been successful?
Imagine the project is funded and it has been completed. You are very happy because it was successful and had an improved the quality of life of people who are paralyzed? Specifically, what does this mean? What will have changed? What does "success” mean for the pro-ject?
"Outputs” And "Outcomes”
Most of the indicators you'll include will be either "outputs” or "outcomes”. An output is a num-ber. Examples include:
• An increase in the number of people served
• An increase in the amount of time each client is served
• A decrease in a waiting list
• An increase in the geographical area served
An outcome, on the other hand, is typically a change in someone's attitude, knowledge or be-havior. Examples include:
• Increases in someone's knowledge about a topic
• Higher levels of satisfaction, happiness or quality of life
• Changes in behavior
• Changes in attitude
Your evaluation indicators can be either output indicators ("we will serve XX additional individuals”) or outcome indicators ("XX individuals will receive a higher quality of service” or "the quality of life of XX individuals will be improved.') Remember, though, that you have to specify what this means!
Remember: If You Include It, You Have To Measure It…..
Every application must also have an evaluation plan. Once you have developed your indicators, ask yourself: How will I go about finding out this information? What will I do?
Here are some helpful hints as you develop the evaluation plan.
• Don't over-promise! Remember that for every indicator you include, you are committed to following through on the plan to collect the information by the end of the grant period. Never include an indicator for which you haven't carefully through how the information will be col-lected.
• Remember, it's got to be measurable! Having vague indicators ("clients will be happier” or "clients will become more independent”) will come back to haunt you when you have to measure them. "Happiness” or "Independence” are pretty broad, vague concepts - drill down and decide specifically what you mean by them. For outcome measures, you will need to specify what you mean (specifically, what does it mean to "improve the quality of life” of people served in this grant? How will you define it for purposes of this grant?
• It's not necessary to devote significant grant funds to evaluation. There does need to be a "do-able” evaluation plan that you'll follow through on, but it's important that the great major-ity of the funds go towards the program or service.
Special Tips
• To help in the preparation of your application, it is suggested that you print of a copy of the application to review what information is required. You may find it helpful to create your an-swers on a Word document and then cut and paste into the online application where appro-priate. A Word version of the online application is available on www.ChristopherReeve.org in the Quality of Life grants section.
• PLEASE ADD qol@ChristopherReeve.org to your acceptable email address list to avoid having your confirmation email being blocked by SPAM blocker software.
• You may start your online application, save it, and return later to finish. At the bottom of the each page of the application, you may click "save and finish later.” THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT YOU CAN SAVE YOUR APPLICATION! A text box will appear, asking you if you are a new or returning applicant. Please click "new” only the first time that you are creating an application. You will be asked to enter your email and to enter a password that you create. This process will take you out of the online application. Shortly thereafter, you should receive an email automatically generated from the system, which confirms the password that you created and gives you a new URL to use to access your saved application. This URL is: https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_458. The next time you access your application and want to "save and finish later,” when the text box appears asking if you are a new or returning applicant, please click "returning applicant,” and enter your email address, and then enter the password that you created.
• Do not click the "back” button to go to the previous page, or you will lose your online con-nection. Rather, make a note of the revision you wish to make and revise it the next time you access your application.
• You MUST click the "submit” button after you click "review and submit” or your application will not officially be submitted. If you do not get a confirmation email within 48 hours after you click "submit,” please contact the office ASAP.
Should you experience difficulties in completing the online application, please email QoL@ChristopherReeve.org or call Donna L. Valente, Director, Quality of Life Grants, at 800-539-7309 or 973-467-8270, ext. 7211 or Priti Mehta, Quality of Life Grants Assistant, ext. 7125.
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