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[Rondelle Clay] Good afternoon, or good morning — Where ever you're calling in from.
Welcome to part 3 of the ANA Application Development Series.
Um, This particular webinar is on Application Integration.
This webinar is being recorded, and will be available on the ANA Eastern website,
as well as the ANA website in about two weeks.
We ask that you all call into the toll-free number, so that you'll be able to easily ask your questions
at the end of the webinar. The call-in information is on your control panel, under the "audio" tab.
A copy of the PowerPoint was sent to anyone who registered before
2 PM today. If you didn't get a copy of the email, please let us know
and we'll send it out after the webinar is concluded.
During the course of this webinar, if you have any questions, you can type them into the "chat" box
that is viewable on your control panel. We will also have a question and answer period
at the conclusion of the webinar.
My name is Rondelle Clay. I am the Regional Director for the ANA Eastern Training and Technical Assistance Center.
I have been an ANA T&TA provider for 13 years, I am a member of the
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. My Co-presenter is Candi Carmi. Candi, take it away.
[Candi Carmi]: Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us. My name is Candi Carmi, and I'm the Technical Assistance
Specialist in the Eastern Region, and I've been with the center for the past seven years. I'm a member
of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. This webinar is being presented
by the Eastern Region Training and Technical Assistance Center, which is a resource of the Administration for Native Americans.
We wanted to provide you a little bit of information on the Administration for Native Americans,
as not all of you may be familiar with the agency. ANA is a program, located within
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the Administration for Children and Families.
ANA serves all Native Americans, including federally recognized tribes,
American Indian and Alaska Native populations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and Native
populations throughout the Pacific Basin. ANA promotes self-sufficiency
for Native Americans, by providing discretionary grant funding for community-based projects
and training and technical assistance to eligible tribes and Native organizations, in three
program areas: Social and Economic Development Strategies — which is also known
as SEDS — Native languages, and Environmental Regulatory Enhancement.
Funding opportunity announcements for the three program areas
are currently available on ANA's website, at the link shown on your screen.
Applications are due June 6th.
[Rondelle Clay]: ANA holds weekly webinars on a variety of topics, including ACF initiatives,
program success stories, and application development. Webinars
are held every Thursday, from 3 - 4 PM eastern time. You can go to the URL
listed on the slide to get a list of upcoming and recorded webinars.
As I mentioned early — earlier. This is an application
development series. Part 1, on Planning and Preparation
was held back in April. The recording of that webinar is available
both on the ANA and the Easter website — anaeastern.org website —
Part 2 was also held in April, the six elements of a good grant.
and it is available on the ANA website, as well as the ANA Pacific Basin
website. Part four will take place May 23, and it's regarding
submitting the application. There have been a lot of changes to the submitting of an application.
So, be — it's a good advantage if you take advantage of that webinar.
Topics that we're going to cover today: What is project integration?
Six elements of and application, ensuring project integration in your application, and the we're
going to have a question and answer period. So, let's get started. Candi.
[Candi Carmi]: Some of us like to use check lists to complete tasks. While writing your application, you might go along
something like this: Problem Statement — check, Project Goal — got that —,
Objectives — I've got three —, Sustainability Plan — check —, and so on.
During application review, it was pretty evident who was simply including components of
an application, with out tying them together. reviewers were seeing project goals that
didn't align with the problem, a lack of community involvement in the project design,
objectives that didn't have a thing to do with the project goal, and budgets that included items that were never mentioned
anywhere in the project strategy. While, yes,
you're technically including these elements, you need to connect them, and define their relationship
one to the other. So, for our purposes, the definition
of project integration is: the effective relationship of application
components, to for a cohesive, carefully planned project. There needs to
be an interconnectedness between the elements of your application, so that they seamlessly
tell the story of your project. A lack of project integration often demonstrates
holes in your project planning that could potentially impact your project's implementation.
In the previous webinar, we discussed the six key elements of an application.
If your application was a jig-saw puzzle, how well do the various puzzle
pieces fit together to tell your story?
[Rondelle Clay]: Since the funding opportunity announcements have come out, we've been receiving questions
about project integration. Just to be clear, there should not be a separate section
or heading in your application called "Project Integration."
Consistency is the key to good integration. Project integration is a characteristic of your
entire application, which panel reviewers are going to score, anywhere from zero
to ten points. Those points are really important to getting your application
funded. This is a competitive process, and the more points the better.
In part two of our webinar series,
we went of six key elements of an application, and their importance. We want to provide
you with a brief recap here. Your community:
A brief description of your overall community, with more emphasis on the targeted beneficiaries.
The Problem: One problem identified through community-based planning and input.
Expected Outcomes: What you expect to achieve as a result of the project.
Your strategy: A description of how to implement
the project. When combined with the OWP, it should be detailed enough
to provide a clear picture of how to execute the project.
Your capacity is a description of your administrative and financial structures to show that you
have the experience to manage grants and to implement the project you're proposing.
Required resources are the resources, including funding,
required to complete the project. both internal to your organization and externally.
If you look at the Funding Opportunity Announcement, you're not gong to see
the six key elements mentioned anywhere. So how do these six key elements
fit into your application, and how do you ensure project integration?
Let's go over the project description to see how it works.
[Candi Carmi]: In the first part of your application narrative, you identify your objectives and need for assistance.
You want to include some general information on your community to provide
reviewers some context on your community. Panel reviewers come from the Pacific Basin,
Alaska, as well as the lower 48. So, you might have a reviewer who is totally
unfamiliar with your community, who's reading your application. So, provide them some information on yourself.
What are the long-range goals of your community? The problem and the project
goal that you identify need to tie to a long-range community goal.
you provide a brief overview of your community, but you really want to focus a description on
the portion of your community that will actually be served by the project. is it
elders, Head Start children, high-school age students, or possibly the entire
community. Make it clear to the reader. You want to provide relevant demographic
data. We've seen applications with pages and pages of statistics. Focus
your statistics on those that relate to your targeted beneficiaries, and the problem
you'll be addressing. If your project focuses on health, include health statistics for your community.
If your writing a language application, include statistics relating to language use
and fluency levels. You also want to talk about your organization, and how you're involved with the community
and those targeted beneficiaries. We've seen plenty of applications where we're wondering
why is this organization undertaking this project.
Also in Objectives and Need for Assistance, you're going to identify one problem
in measurable terms that the project will address. You also need to describe
how the community identified that problem, and how the problem stands between
your community and achieving one of your community's long-range goals.
"We need a youth center" is not a problem statement, because this describes a
possible product of a project, and gives us no information about how that product is going to help your community
reach a long-range goal. A strong problem statement explains why you
need that youth center, by documenting what current negative condition will be resolved
once that youth center is in operation. A better problem statement would
be: "There are no structured after school or weekend programs for youth in our community,
which has resulted in an 18% increase in juvenile crime since our after school
program was terminated in 2010. A language problem statement
that we've seen quite frequently is: "we need to revitalize our language."
A stronger problem statement is: "Based on our 2012 Language Survey, we have only
5 fluent speakers in our community, who are all in their mid-eighties." In this example,
I would include a sample of my language survey in the attachments, as well as a table
of survey results in the narrative.
[Rondelle Clay]: Your objectives explain how you will accomplish the goal. Reviewers will assess
your objectives, to determine if the action plan will result in fixing the problem statement you've
identified. As you'll see in the OWP instructions, you can have a maximum
of three objectives. You need to provide SMART objectives.
Which are: Specific. What action will be done to accomplish the
objective? Will you train, create, teach, increase something?
Measurable. You need to include measurable outcomes that will make
measurable differences in the community.
Achievable. The objectives need to be realistic, and something that can be accomplished within the project period,
using resources you've identified.
Relevant and Results Oriented. The objective should address your project goal
and your community's long-term goal. It also needs to focus on
the outcomes of the project. And finally, Time-bound.
What time-frame are you looking at to accomplish the objective?
Here's an example of a SMART objective: During the 36 month
project, our community will train 90 unemployed community members
in the areas of slot machine maintenance, casino security, surveillance,
and food preparation, with a minimum of 60 achieving certification
in one of the four identified areas, and being employed by the tribe's
two active casinos. It's pretty clear what they intent to accomplish in the time-frame
in which it will occur. Measurable outcomes are described. Training 90
people and 60 or more certified and employed. The clearer,
more concise, and more specific your objectives are, the easier it will be to implement
your project. It also makes it easier for the reviewers to understand your project
approach. Remember to thoroughly
describe your problem, and why it's important to your community, as the narrative you include should
justify your project strategy, and the budget you are proposing. Including
letters of support from community members, and, more importantly, project beneficiaries,
help demonstrate the community connection. When it comes from project
beneficiaries, it also established that they endorse the project. We've seen
projects that have had difficulty getting project participants, because the beneficiaries
weren't included in the planning process. Betting project buy-in upfront
is essential. Remember, your problem statement is the negative
condition you are addressing. The problem statement should relate to a community long-range
goal. Your objectives should help to resolve the problem you are addressing.
This is one part of project integration.
[Candi Carmi]: So, you've identified your objectives and one problem. Now you need
to indicate what will be the result of accomplishing this project. In "Outcomes Expected"
part of your application, you're gong to provide a project goal that aligns with
the community long-range goals, and resolves the identified problem,
as well as results and benefits that relate to the accomplishment of the objectives.
You're also going to include one impact indicator that identifies
change in the problem. Coming up with an effective impact indicator can be a challenge.
With language applications, it's not as much of a problem; you only have two options.
If you're teaching the language, your impact indicator needs to measure the change in language fluency
for project participants. For all other language projects, you need to measure the increase
in community interest, as a result of the project. Remember, when you create your impact
indicator that you need to choose an indicator that can be measured. You need to include
baseline data on the indicator, prior to grant implementation.
Or, where you are at now. You also need to provide an end-of-project target number,
or what you expect to have achieved at the end of the project. And lastly, because
ANA works to fund projects that have continued impact in their communities, you need
to provide a target number for three years after the project has concluded. Now no one is
going to chase you down to see if you've achieved that target, but we just want you to think about what long-term
change will be created by this project. The impact indicator identifies,
again, that long-term change is created by the project. And, also
is a gauge of project sustainability. Some examples of impacts are
reduce number of adolescent pregnancies, lower unemployment rates in your community,
and increase percentage of foster children placed in Native American homes.
[Rondelle Clay]: The project approach is where all of the six key
elements come together. The project approach tells the reviewer how you intend
to implement the project. When used in conjunction with your OWP, it
should provide enough detail for a reader to be able to see exactly how your project will be
implemented. The project approach tells how you are going to solve the problem identified
by the community, and how you intend to achieve project
goal. Be clear and concise, and discuss your implementation
plan in narrative format, from the beginning of the project through its conclusion.
In the project approach
you need to include a description of how the community assist — assists in
the project planning, and how community members will also play a significant role in the
overall implementation of the project. Make sure the objectives stated in the
"Objectives and Need for Assistance" section of the proposal, the project approach, and the
OWP are all identical. Remember, consistency is
the key. Don't just cut and paste the activities listed in your OWP
into the project strategy narrative and call it good. Your project strategy is a companion
to the OWP and allows the reviewers to better understand the project design
and to see the project will be implemented.
Community Participation and Awareness. Describe how you plan to keep the community engaged
and informed about the project. You should have involved the community in your project development.
So, they should be kept up on your project's progress, throughout its implementation.
Contingency Planning. When you write your application, your
assuming how your project will progress. But, what if something goes wrong?
And believe me, something usually goes wrong. You need to identify
an action plan to reduce negative impacts on the project, in the event challenges
come up. A good challenge to address
would be just staff, or what to do if a key staff member
was to leave in the middle of the project. A bad example of a contingency
would be that you'd form a committee to address project contingencies once
you're funded. Reviewers want to see that you've thoroughly thought out your project.
So, spend some time coming up with your contingency plan.
Partnerships and Leveraged Resources. How will partners contribute to
the implementation and sustainability of your project? What are their roles?
Leveraged resources are any resources, but exclude the federal share,
the non-federal share, program income acquired or used during the course
of the project, period, to support the project.
What are yours? They could be a free room to conduct
classes. They could be someone's time to provide
instruction. There are a number of different things that could be leveraged resources.
On to Organizational Capacity: who is going to work on this project?
Do you have the financial and and administrative systems to implement and manage your grant?
If you've had previous grants, include a list of funding
agencies, to show reviewers that your organization has managed grants
and has the experience to continue to do so. Include a staffing plan that describes
the qualifications for individuals that are going to work on the project.
And the final piece, the Sustainability Plan. describe plans — your plans to ensure
that the impacts of the project will continue after the project period has ended. If your
creating projects, how will they be preserved for future generations?
Take some time in developing your sustainability plan. It should be more comprehensive
then merely stating that you intend on applying for more grants.
[Candi Carmi]: Wow, that was a lot of information on what ot include in the project approach. But
its all important, because we've seen a lot of applications where the project strategy or project approach section
is only two to three pages long. You've left a lot out if it's that brief. So,
be sure to include all of this information when your writing your application.
An Objective Work Plan is ANA's form for applicants to describe:
how, through what activities; when, within what time-frame; and by whom
the project is going to be implemented. The OWP should serve as a blueprint for
project implementation. Items included in an OWP are: project title,
project goal, the problem, the results expected and
criteria for evaluating success in achieving them, the benefits expected
and criteria in evaluating success in achieving them, the project objectives,
and the activities. Including positions responsible for performing the activities.
Note that this year, in your OWP, you're going to use the calendar format for
dates. In other words, month, date, and year. The OWP instructions
indicate that you can have a maximum of three objectives for – per project period. Therefore,
if you're writing for a three-year grant, you will be allowed a maximum of three objectives
for the entire project period. An OWP is needed for each year
of each objective. Some objectives can span more than one year.
As a reminder, remember that consistency is key throughout the project. We've seen
plenty of applications where the objectives mentioned in the OWP were totally different
that the objectives in the narrative. Same thing with the goal and the problem statement.
Make sure to use the exact wording for the objectives, project goal, and problem throughout
your application. Consistency, consistency, consistency.
When you create your budget, include the cost for all activities described in your OWPs
and project strategy. The budget an the OWPs are the two parts of your application
that should most closely align. It's not uncommon during panel review of applications
for reviewers to find costs in the budget that are not discussed, either in the narrative
or in the OWP. If you include the cost for attending a conference
in your budget, the project strategy should discuss how attending that conference
is important to your project implementation, and there should be an activity to
attend that conference on your OWP. The budget shouldn't see the first place that we see something mentioned.
Conversely, you want to make sure that you budget for everything that you discussed in your
narrative. For example, are you mailing out a survey to the members of your community?
Did you remember to include the cost of postage? it's always a good idea to have someone else review your
budget for calculation errors and omissions. But, actually, it's a good tip to have someone else read
your entire application to make sure that it makes sense. Oftentimes, we think what we've written
looks great, but another reader might be left with a bunch of questions. You can have someone you know read
over your application, or you can have one of the regional technical assistance providers review your application.
We'd welcome taking a look at it. There's information on how to contact us at the end of
this webinar. [Rondelle Clay]: So, in review. Project integration
is not one section of an application. It is the overall cohesiveness
of the application elements to dis— dis— to demonstrate a well planned
project. The community is your catalyst for determining your long range goals.
Prioritizing those goals, and selecting the project that is most critical
to be solved with ANA funds. The problem is why you are writing
the grant. The outcomes expected are your results and benefits
expected, which relate only to the objectives and OWP. And measure what is
produced and achieved. The impact indicator relates to your overall project
and measures the change in your community. The strategy is
both what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it
to overcome the problem statement, and address the community's long-range goal.
What you are going to do is the project goal, and is the foundation for your project.
Everything you do after identifying the project goal and the problem statement is designed
for one thing. To achieve the goal and overcome or alleviate the problem.
You discuss your capacity to demonstrate that your organization and staff
have the capability and the know-how to successfully implement the project.
The OWP is a blue print for your project, or
the action plan lists step-by-step specific activities listed under each
to assist you in achieving your goal. Finally, the budget is the
dollar cost to achieve all activities to successfully complete your objectives.
Inconsistency between sections of the application could indicate
potential problems during prob— project implementation.
[Candi Carmi]: The problem statement should be the result of community input.
Your project goals should align with community long-range goals, and work towards
resolving the problem you've identified. Completion of project objectives should
result in achieving the outcomes expected and the project goal. And, lastly
budget expenditures should relate to the objectives and activities identified
in your OWP and project strategy. All of these bullets are examples of project
integration, which is critical to a successful project. Your application should
not only contain all the elements, but you also need to make sure that you show the
relationship of each element to the next. Project integration ensures that
the reviewer can see how each piece fits together to make a strong, compelling application
that fully tells the story of your project to reviewers.
[Rondelle Clay]: In closing. Don't forget applications are due June 6.
It's just around the corner, so you have a lot of work to do. There are a number of resources
available to help you with your application. Visit ANA's website to access
training manuals, Funding Opportunity Announcements, and other resources.
Technical assistance providers can answer questions, and also work with you on your application. To locate
your region and provider, go to the ANA website.
Ok, now we're going to open up to questions and answers. I see we have several
questions coming in. For those of you who have logged on on the phone, if you have questions
you can just "raise your hands." Candi, here's the first question for you:
Can you provide an example of a community problem tied to a long-range goal?
[Candi Carmi]: Well, with the language example that I
cited, if you had a community long-range goal that all
community members spoke the language in their home and that language
was used in, in the government too. That might be
a community long range goal that ties to a goal of revitalizing
your language, uh, in your community, or increasing the number of fluent speakers in your community.
[Rondelle Clay]: Thanks Candi. Next question we have:
Is there a website to sign up to be a grant reviewer?
Want to cover that one? [Candi Carmi]: Why yes there is. You can go to ANA's website — matter of fact, ANA is still
looking for reviewers. If you go to ANA's website at
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ana
I believe that on the home page — in the carousel area — that you can click in there
and be linked to a page that provides you information on how to register to be a reviewer.
[Rondelle Clay]: Ok, our next question.
Which, I'll give you a break Candi, for once. "While there is a 150 page total limit,
not including forms, is there no longer a specific 20-page restriction on
the three main section included in the project description narrative."
The answer is, you're totally correct. There is no longer a 20-page restriction on your project description.
Next question: "Can you have more than one impact indicator?"
Only one is required, but yes, you can have more than one impact indicator.
I'll turn it back to you Candi. "Would it be worthwhile
to apply if we have already received funding for two projects in a row?"
[Candi Carmi]: Probably not, unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands.
If you read the funding opportunity announcements this year, it states that
two consecutive funded grants under one CFDA number
— uh, you're not going to be funded for that third application. So,
like I said, unless you have someone who is chomping at the bit just to write a grant, and you just want to get it
scored, I would not submit a third one.
[Rondelle Clay]: Next question: "Is a gantt chart no longer required?
Can one still be included in the additional attachments?"
[Candi Carmi]: I can take that one. I like a gantt chart. It's not a requirement,
but it really is a nice visual to show timeframes
of how activities are going to occur. And, it also lets a reviewer see if there's periods
within your project that you have either too much going on or too little going on.
Um, but it is not a requirement, uh, of — for, for your application.
But again, it is a nice component and a nice visual for reviewers.
[Rondelle Clay]: Ok, um.
"You mentioned that every expenditure in the budget should be reflected in the narrative and the OWP.
How much detail, though, are we talking about? For example,
if a construction element is part of your project, you don't need to
discuss plumbing supplies in your narrative, do you? Will construction materials
suffice in the narrative section?"
I think we first need to, uh, mention that ANA doesn't fund
construction. Um, do you need to mention every little
supply that you are going to purchase for your project?
You should name the main ones, and they can go into your budget justification.
In your project narrative, you're probably going to be talking about activities that are going
to require those supplies, and reviewers will recognize that.
Next question. "Ineligible project statements.
The support of ongoing social service delivery program for the expansion or
continuation of existing social service program. Does this apply to
expanding existing language programs in school systems. For example,
putting elder support in language classrooms." No, no it doesn't. We're talking
strictly about social services, or family services. Um, it isn't dealing with
language programs. You have anything to add to that Candi?
[Candi Carmi]: No, that's, that's good, Rondelle. [Rondelle Clay]: Next question. "Will a list of
committee planning meeting with dates suffice as supplemental documentation
of that aspect of community planning? Should we provide
one set of meeting minutes as a sample?" Candi, you want to
take that one? [Candi Carmi]: Yeah. I would want — as a reviewer, I would want to see more information.
I'd want to see numbers. I'd want to see what went on during that meeting. I think I would want to see meeting minutes.
And, if the meeting was covering a number of different topics — say it was a council meeting of some
kind and you were gong over a lot of business — you could just excerpt the portion
of the meeting minutes that pertained directly to the project. But, I would want to see
those meeting minutes, and I would want it — or at least have a synopsis of what went on during that
meeting. As well as the number of people who attended, and the dates.
[Rondelle Clay]: Thanks, Candi. "What about indirect costs? Should you mention this in the project strategy?"
It's not necessary to mention indirect
costs. Specifically, as you're talking about your organizational
administrative and financial capacity, you are indirectly talking about indirect costs.
Um, so that should suffice. Another one for you Candi.
"ANA will not fund project activities that they have previously funded
under a CFDA number. We used to have an ERE grant, but are finding
that SEDS fits the next step better. However, there is an
activity that needs to be long-term, repetitive and is connected
to both sorts of grants. Can this activity be funded under SEDS
if it was previously funded under ERE?" [Candi Carmi]: That would be a good one
to send directly to your TA provider, for them to look at the context
of that original application and what you're proposing. ANA does not fund
anything that is duplicative, that you did before. But, if it's being conducted differently
this time, or it's, uh, applies to what your currently doing
—uh, I would have to look at that application directly. So, if you could make
— uh, either send us your email address, and we can forward it to your TA provider.
Or, one of us could take a look at that and give you a better answer on that, after the webinar.
[Rondelle Clay]: Ok, next one. "ANA wouldn't
fund the construction of a traditional styled building, i.e., a traditional Hawaiian
Hale Pele?" Ok, sorry for my pronunciation.
"A meeting house made in traditional style? ANA has funded traditional wall— rock wall construction."
It depends on how you
phrase your, your project. ANA didn't actually
um, fund the construction of those rock walls, ANA funded the creation of
curriculum to preserve the practice of
the rock wall construction. So, two different, um—
[Candi Carmi]: And also, Rondelle — just to add.
ANA considers construction to be more of a building, or something that's
habitable, and the rock wall wouldn't really fall under that, nor would a fence. For example.
If you had a buffalo farm, and you needed to put a fence around the buffalo farm.
[Rondelle Clay]: Thanks, Candi. "Applying for
a grant, after two grants in a row. Isn't it correct to
say that scoring well will make a difference?"
Candi? [Candi Carmi]: Are they saying that they've had two consecutive?
[Rondelle Clay]: If they've had two consecutive grants in a row. [Candi Carmi]: Well, if you've had two
consecutive grants under the same CFDA number, you are not going to be funded for the third, unless
there's a, a, um, few that funded within the
scoring range in your area or under that program area.
Uh, so, uh, it's probably not a good idea to submit, if it's under the same CFDA.
Remember, you can — that, that requirement fal— pertains
to the CFDA numbers. You can apply if you had a SEDS, and you want
to apply for a language this go around. That's perf— perfectly allowable.
[Rondelle Clay]: Thanks, Candi. "Our project is a community kitchen, on the
second floor of our building. We are planning to include an elevator, in addition
to the retrofit of office spaces. Does ANA pay
for these two: reto-fitting and elevator?" Keep in mind,
that ANA does allow minor renovations
to a building — to an existing building. However, it's 25%
of your total project cost, or $150,000.
Whichever one is less. Whichever amount is less. So, there is a restriction
on the amount of money that you can spend on minor renovations.
Quick question:
"Is the SEEDS FOA out?" No, the SEEDS FOA is not out. It will be coming out shortly. I wish I could
give you a better idea of when it's coming out — we know it's coming out —
and, hopefully, within the next month. but, you can't hold me to that.
Uh, next. "I have tried using the OWP
form on the grants.gov application, and have not been able to add a row
except at the end of rows. Is there a way to insert a row? Will this be addressed
with grants.gov?" Well, we will certainly bring it to ANA's attention,
but, to my knowledge, there is no way to
insert a row between two previously completed rows.
When you add a row for a new activity, it automatically goes down to the bottom.
And, there's nothing you can do about it.
So, I strongly suggest — in fact I have one gal that I'm working with
who went ahead and outlined her OWP in hard copy format
and then used it to cut and paste into the FOA form, so that she got things in the correct
order. That's a suggestion on how to deal with that. [Candi Carmi]: Yeah, that's a good tip.
[Rondelle Clay]: "The Internet access on our island is not consistent. Sometimes it works
and sometimes it does not. Can we ask for a waiver, but submit the application online
if our Internet happens to be working when we are ready?"
As long as you get — you know, submit a request for the waiver two weeks in advance,
um, you can go ahead and submit a hard copy, and you can submit the
you know, try to submit online. You just need to make sure that you indicate
in both applications, so that ANA does not have you down there duplicate.
Um, as a duplicate. So, put a cover letter with your application that you tried to submit
this online, um, so they know that your coming in both ways.
And finally, Candi I will
let you— oops, never mind. I was going to say "and I finally got down to the last question." But, I just lied I
did not get down to the last question. A couple more just came in. but, I'll let you take
this next one. "Does ANA offer cooperative agreement
types of funding for a project?"
You know the answer to that one? [Candi Carmi]: Why don't you take that one? [Rondelle Clay]: [laughs] The answer's no. No,
they don't usually, um — it's a competitive funding process
um, they don't use cooperative — or, I, I don't know that they have ever used
a cooperative agreement type of funding for a project. Next question.
"I understand we can only ask for $2,500 for travel, even if it would cost
more to travel for the training after award. Is this correct?"
I'm assuming that your talking about Post-Award
training, and the FOA stipulated, um,
regional amounts for traveling to post-award training.
Um, and you need to use the amount stipulated in the FOA
when you're doing your budget. I hope that answers your question.
"What will the CFDA number be for SEEDS?"
SEEDS will have the same CFDA number as SEDS —
93.612. So, you can't submit for both.
You have to choose one or the other.
"How does one describe a sub award
situation, in the narrative and budget." I have seen
a project where they were contracting with, um, or entering into
a sub-award agreement with other organizations
under the project. Um, you need to have separate budgets for each of those
sub-awards, as well as the overall budget for the project.
Um, and you need ot clearly justify what's in the budget
and you can talk about it as a sub-award in your narrative. Hope that
helps, Anna. If not, contact your TA provider, and I'm sure they can give
you more information. Let's see.
Oh my goodness gracious, everybody's gone crazy on us. "if I ask for other funding
while I don't know that the ANA has been awarded, can I ask for
reprogramming of the awarded amount, or include the additional funds, say from
EDA or USDA as my match?"
Um, as far as including as your match, um,
that is going to depend on which FOA you're applying under.
Because, there are different matching requirements for, for the different
programs that ANA has. It's possible that those
extra funds, those additional funds from a different grant program could be used
as leveraged resource for your project. Ok.
Candi, I'll give you this one. I've been talking too much.
"I thought you could apply to both SEDS and SEEDS, but you could only receive
or accept award for one. Is that not correct?" [Candi Carmi]: Uh, yes.
You could apply for both, but you will receive funding — if they are both in the — within the
funding range — fundable range, and you receive high scores on both, ANA will come to you
and you'll have to make a decision as to which one you want. You cannot have them both simultaneously.
[Rondelle Clay]: Thanks, Candi. Ok, next one:
"Would it be contrary to the Insular Affairs Act to require a project
to have matching, if the amount is greater than $200,000, if
applying through ANA funding?"
[Candi Carmi]: That one's above me, Melvin.
[Rondelle Clay]: I'm going to have to look into that for you, and then, um — you know who
might be able to help you in a faster manner, would be the Pacific Region T&TA
Center. They've got some really good folks over there that
understand the matching requirements for the Pacific Basin.
And, I don't know enough about the Insular Affairs Act to answer your question.
I'm sorry. Um, and thank you, Commissioner, for helping me
with the one question on the cooperative agreement, and I believe that was Melvin as well.
Um, The Commissioner has informed me that ANA has used cooperative agreements
um, as they currently have a cooperative agreements with the Native American
Family and Fatherhood Association. However, they only do cooperative agreements
in very rare circumstances, and directly related to a specific ACF
or HHS or White House initiative. So, it's not a usual practice.
So, Thank you for clarifying that.
"In a three year project, do grantees need to attend both post-award trainings
and grantee meeting in year one?"
[Candi Carmi]: Yes. [laughter] If they're having — if the grantee meeting
is, is occurring, uh, yes. You would be attending that. You'll be attending the grantee meeting
uh, it's usually an annual event. So, you'll be attending it for, probably, all three years.
The post-award, you only attend once. So, you're only going to put the budget
— uh, the money for travel for post-award, uh, into your budget just the one time.
[Rondelle Clay]: Okie Doke. Next.
"The NOFA is allowing a waiver of match for insular areas, governments
specifically, up to $199,999.
I am assuming" — sorry I just got
another question, and it moved on me while I was reading — "I'm assuming that if we need
$240,000 of match, we might have to come up with the $40,000."
Candi, could you research that one, looking at the FOA, while I go on to the
next one? [Candi Carmi]: Sure, but that's a lot of match. [Rondelle Clay] Yeah, I can't imagine
that you would have that much match at 20% of the total project cost.
So, I'm not — Joy, I'm not
understanding your question, I'm afraid.
Well, you look it up on the waiver — I'm, I'm
assuming this a Pacific island project.
So, Candi, if you could look that up, while I move on.
"If the grantee meeting should be attended each year, we plan on a two year
proposal, should we include travel funds for a grantee meeting for two people for both
years?" Yes.
"If a consultant agrees, in writing, to
work at less than their documented usual and customary rate, can that
amount be considered as match, or is it a leveraged resource?"
No, it can be used as match. It would be an in-kind. You would
— as long as you have it documented and agreed to in writing.
Candi, did you get the answer on the matching? [Candi Carmi]: Yes.
According to the FOA matching requirements, including in-kind contributions,
of less than $200,000 are waived under grants made to the
governments of American Somoa, Guam, the U.S. *** Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
This waiver applies, whether the matching required under the grant equals or exceeds $200,000.
[Rondelle Clay]: Juliet, does that answer your question?
[Candi Carmi]: And again, they could talk to Keoni, or the Pacific
staff, just to confirm that too.
[Rondelle Clay]: So, she's following-up, and says: "So, we have to come up with $40,000?"
And that's the way it sounds, based on what you read.
Correct, Candi? [Candi Carmi]: No, it sounds to me like, no she does not.
Matching requirements of less than $200,000, are waived.
So, it sounds to me, like if your matching requirement was over
$200,000, then you'd have to come up with it. [Rondelle Clay]: With the $240,000.
[Candi Carmi]: Or $200— yeah, whatever it is. But, because our grants— you're not going—
the matching is under that. But, that's how I'm reading it.
[Rondelle Clay]: Ok. Well, if we haven't thoroughly confused you Juliet, I still strongly
suggest you get ahold of Keoni, or Napuah, or Dennis.
Um, at the Pacific Basin T&TA Center, and they can certainly
help clarify, much better than we did.
Okie Dokie.
We are at an end. All our questions have been answered.
Hopefully sufficiently to— so that everybody can move forward with their, um,
applications. We appreciate everybody's attendance, um, and
participation. Um, please remember that
grants are due on the 6th of June. And, we
strongly encourage you to take part in the final,
um, webinar in this series: Submitting Your Application. There have been
some changes, um, to the way you submit your application.
So, I think you'll find that webinar on May 23rd very, very helpful.
So, be sure to sign up for it. Um, and as we said earlier, this recording will
be up on the website for anybody to re-listen to, um, within the next couple of weeks.
Please take time to complete the short survey that you'll be sent upon
conclusion of this webinar. We value your opinion, and want to provide informat—
information that is useful to you. This concludes our webinar, and we thank you
very, very much for joining us today. Have a great day.