KENTUCKY FLEX-E-GRANT PROGRAM TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GUIDE FOR APPLICATIONS

Transcription

1 KENTUCKY FLEX-E-GRANT PROGRAM A non-construction leadership and community capacity building program TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GUIDE FOR APPLICATIONS Administered by Brushy Fork Institute of Berea College In partnership with the Kentucky Department for Local Government and the Appalachian Regional Commission

2 Flex-E-Grant Technical Assistance Guide for Applications Table of Contents General Instructions Application Format Designing Your Project: Some Items to Consider Examples of Eligible Activities Developing Performance Measures Crafting a Clear Budget How to Develop a Competitive Proposal (5 Tips)

3 Flex-E-Grant General Instructions Prior to completing the Flex-E-Grant Application, please carefully review the Guidelines for Flex-E-Grant Application and the Flex-E-Grant Proposal Form. Use the Technical Assistance Guide as you complete each section of the proposal form. Please use ONLY the Flex-E-Grant Proposal Form provided. The sections are designed to expedite review and evaluation of the application. All applications must be thoroughly completed. If a question does not apply to your proposed project, please indicate so by typing N/A. All Kentucky counties designated as distressed for fiscal years are eligible to apply for the 2017 KY-ARC Flex-E-Grant Program. Competitive grants are available for non-profit entities or units of government who are interested in developing projects that build community capacity. Eligible counties for this cycle include: Bath, Bell, Breathitt, Carter, Casey, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Elliott, Estill, Fleming, Floyd, Harlan, Hart, Jackson, Knott, Knox, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, Menifee, Metcalfe, Monroe, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Powell, Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Wayne, Whitley, and Wolfe Completed applications must be postmarked no later than January 6, Digital files are preferred and may be ed to arc@centertech.com. Applicants are advised to confirm receipt of all files submitted electronically. Proposals are also accepted by mail at the following address: Brushy Fork Institute Attn: Flex-E-Grant Applications Berea College CPO 2164 Berea, Kentucky Should you have any questions about the KY-ARC Flex-E-Grant program, please contact: Patti Simpson Troy Price The Center for Rural Development Brushy Fork Institute at Berea College psimpson@centertech.com pricetr@berea.edu (606) (859)

4 Flex-E-Grant Application Format Please see the Flex-E-Grant Proposal Form to review the sections that are required for your application. Your complete Flex-E-Grant application should be submitted to include all sections on the form in the following order: 1) Application Cover Sheet (Page 1 of the proposal form). 2) Flex-E-Grant Attachment I: Project Narrative (maximum 3 pages). 3) Flex-E-Grant Attachment II: Performance Measures (maximum 1 page). 4) Flex-E-Grant Attachment III: Project Timeline (maximum 1 page). 5) Flex-E-Grant Attachment IV: Project Budget (Please use the Excel budget worksheet provided. See the link for the Project Budget worksheet on page 3 of the application form.) 6) Flex-E-Grant Attachment V: Detailed Budget Narrative (See page 3 of the application form. Supporting materials are also provided beginning on page 8 of this guide.) 7) Flex-E-Grant Attachment VI: Sustainability and Continuation (maximum 1 page). 8) Flex-E-Grant Attachment VII: OMB Circular A133 Compliance Form (attached to Flex-E- Grant Proposal Form). It is important to include each attachment with the Flex-E-Grant Application Cover Sheet. Please arrange the project information as shown above to ensure timely and careful review of your application. 3

5 Designing Your Project: Some Items to Consider Flex-E-Grant funds are intended to support short-term projects that help develop local capacity. Eligible activities may also include collaboration among communities in support of existing and emerging regional development efforts. Projects should be designed with the following in mind: 1. Be sure your project is consistent with the intent and purpose of the Flex-E-Grant Program. The project should be one that builds local capacity through activities that demonstrate civic engagement or a strong community involvement component. Successful projects emphasize broad community participation and involvement in planning and implementation. As you design your project, consider how you can encourage community members to be involved. 2. Be sure the project is doable in a six-month timeframe. The project must be ready to commence upon award of the Flex-E-Grant and must be completed by the end of the six-month period of performance. 3. Be sure to design project costs within the budget parameters for Flex-E-Grants. The ARC portion of the project cost cannot exceed $10,000. The project cost should also include cash or in-kind costs that reflect a minimum of 20 percent match based on the total project costs. 4. Be sure your project serves the appropriate beneficiaries. The project must identify and demonstrate beneficiaries in a distressed county. 5. Be sure your project costs are eligible for Flex-E-Grant funding. Equipment purchases and construction projects are not eligible for Flex-E-Grant funding. Indirect costs and administrative costs (personnel related costs) are also ineligible project expenses. 6. Be sure you can measure the anticipated impacts of your project. The project must be designed with specific measurable outputs and outcomes in mind. These outputs and outcomes should be reasonable to expect within the period of performance of this project. You will be expected to measure how the project has resulted in building capacity among the beneficiaries you identify. You will be expected to report on progress, outcomes, and products resulting from the project. For example, be able to answer the question: In what measurable ways will this project develop skills and capacities in the community? 4

6 Examples of Eligible Activities Following are some examples of activities that may be considered eligible for Flex-E-Grant funding. Please note that project design and the level of community engagement are also among the factors that impact the eligibility of a project. Eligible activities may include but are not limited to: Strategic planning and management processes for community or non-profit groups o o Flex-E-Grants may be provided to aid non-profit organizations to conduct assessments, strategic planning, sustainability planning, or other technical assistance strategies that will lead to a more effective or more sustainable organization or community. Flex-E-Grants may be provided to aid units of local government in creating strategic plans, community or regional marketing plans, and other planning, assessment, or visioning tools for a community or region. Implementation of projects from a community-based strategic plan o o Flex-E-Grants may be provided to increase the ability of communities to collaborate and work together through community development efforts or by implementing strategies from a community plan. Flex-E-Grant funds may be provided to build the capacity of community and economic development initiatives that focus on developing a community or regional asset. Assets may include structural assets such as adaptive reuse of an abandoned structure, cultural assets such as arts, festivals, and heritage tourism, and natural assets such as recreation and agriculture. Training for citizen leaders, local officials, management and staff from nonprofit community agencies, as well as boards or commissions o Flex-E-Grants may be provided for training of community members in community leadership, group process skills, entrepreneurial skills, and other types of leadership development. Support for initiatives that enhance leadership, planning and management capacity for distressed counties, such as initiatives to increase collaboration, interaction and access to information. o Flex-E-Grants may be provided for activities such as community forums, public meetings, and other forms of community outreach that increase civic engagement or raise community awareness about a public issue or initiative. Use of professional services to assess a project s feasibility, to offer consulting advice on a strategy, to support application development, etc. 5

7 Developing Performance Measures Performance measures are developed as part of Section II of the Flex-E-Grant Proposal Form. Proposals MUST have both outputs and outcomes that are expressed as measurable and quantifiable numbers of expected results of the project. If you cannot count your measure of success, then you have not adequately defined the output or outcome. Project outputs quantify the activities you will undertake during the project, such as the number of people involved in a particular activity and how often the activity will take place. Project outcomes quantify the difference you expect project activities to make within your community. Whereas an output might measure the number of people who will participate in a program to develop leadership skills, an outcome would quantify how those skills are put to use in service to the community. Ask: How will we measure success? Then quantify those goals. In crafting the performance measures for your project, you might consider the following questions: How might you measure how your project develops the skills, knowledge, and abilities of individuals, organizations, and communities for community development? How might you measure how your project improves a local or regional asset for community development? How might you measure how your project promotes long-term planning and strategic thinking for a community, region, or community/regional organization? How might you measure how your project enhances the ability of the local community to strengthen ongoing community improvement efforts? For further guidance, please see some examples of outputs and outcomes on the next page. 6

8 Examples of Outputs and Outcomes Sherman County Community Development Agency is using a Flex-E-Grant to host a community strategic planning process in which they want to get broad community input. Some of the outputs they expect are: Hold 4 community meetings (1 in each magisterial district) with at least 10 different people at each meeting for a total of 40 different people participating in stage one of the plan. (This stage is identifying focus areas.) Hold one county-wide summit with 60 people attending and participating in stage two of the plan. (This stage is developing task forces). This summit will include individuals who attended the magisterial district meetings and people who have not previously participated. At least 8 community organizations will send representation to the summit. 8 strategic task forces will be formed during the county-wide summit to address areas of focus for the plan. They have proposed the following outcomes from this work, which represents the impact that the meeting will have on the participants and the community: A strategic plan will be produced with input from at least 60 different people. This plan will be printed and distributed throughout the community, including being given to organizations working on community development, local decisionmaking boards, and individuals holding elected offices. The plan summary will be distributed to around 10,000 households through the rural electric company s monthly mailed billing statements. The full plan will be made available online on the public library s web site. At the county-wide summit, 60 community residents will assist with creation of action plans to guide the work of the task forces. At least 40 of these community residents will commit to serving on a task force. 8 community organizations will assign a representative to work on a task force that aligns with that organization s mission, resulting in at least 1 organization represented on each task force. 8 strategic task forces, with at least 5 community members per task force, will begin implementation of plan strategies in the community. This means at least 40 individuals will be active in community projects going forward. The community will have developed an ongoing structure for involving residents in plan implementation and community projects. 7

9 Here are some additional considerations: Be clear about numbers. If a single output contains two numbers, this is a good indicator that it may lack clarity and need revision. For example, observe the difference between the following two statements: Statement #1: 40 people will attend 5 community planning meetings. Statement #2: We will host 5 community planning meetings. 10 people will attend each meeting. A total of 40 unique individuals will participate in the planning process. In example #1, we are not sure if the applicant is proposing that the total number of participants will be 40 or 200. Will 40 people be present at every meeting? If the applicant expects 40 people at each meeting, will these be the same individuals or different community members? Example #2 sorts out these issues by being clear about expectations. The applicant plans to host 5 meetings. Each meeting will have at least 10 people in attendance. Because there may be some attendees who attend more than one meeting, a conservative estimate is made: the applicant expects 40 people to contribute to the planning process. Be reasonable about expectations. More is not always better. Outputs and outcomes are projections that you intend to deliver upon, and you will be reporting on them at the close of the project. Use the following questions to review and evaluate the outputs and outcomes you develop: Can we realistically deliver these results within the limitations of time and budget? Are these reasonable expectations of my community considering our current capacity? Do the proposed results of project activities justify the investment of funds we are requesting? Take on a project that is doable within a 6-month period and does not require a larger investment of funds than a mini-grant can provide. Set yourself and your community up for success with reasonable goals that you can accomplish and report on with certainty. If outputs and outcomes are seen as promises that are made to the grantors in exchange for an investment in activities, ask: Can my community keep this promise? 8

10 Crafting a Clear Budget Please use the form found online at to develop your project budget. This form is an Excel spreadsheet and will automatically calculate totals to assist with calculating project costs and match percentage. If you do not have access to Excel, a free version is available for use at The reasonableness of project costs and overall budget is one of the criterions used in evaluating proposals. An acceptable budget will include the following: q An itemized list of specific project costs q Costs that are both allowable and reasonable q Sufficient narrative to demonstrate how costs were derived q Sources of matching funds q Matching contributions equal to at least 20 percent of the total project cost A clear budget provides the review committee with an understanding of how grant funds will be spent and whether costs are both reasonable and allowable under grant program guidelines. Budgeting requires providing as close an estimate as possible for the items you expect to purchase as part of the grant. Costs should be based on some basic research of the cost of items you expect to purchase. The budget portion of a proposal is broken down into two sections: the project budget and the budget narrative. The project budget outlines main categories of expenses, such as materials and supplies, contractual items (such as consultants), travel costs, and uses the Budget Form provided. The budget narrative provides a clear explanation of how costs were derived for each of the budget categories and includes such information as number of items, cost per item and, if the item is associated with matching funds, the source of the match. On the next two pages are examples provided to demonstrate the difference between a budget that needs further revision and a budget that is acceptable. Sample Budget I would not be considered acceptable and requires revision. Sample Budget II includes adequate information and is acceptable. Please observe the differences in the two budgets and then model your budget after Sample Budget II. 9

11 SAMPLE BUDGET I (NOTE: THIS BUDGET NEEDS REVISION) Budget Item GRANT IN-KIND MATCH CASH MATCH Consultant 6, Volunteers , Travel 1, Miscellaneous Printing/distribution Total 8, , BUDGET NARRATIVE CONSULTANT Consultant will lead meetings and forum. VOLUNTEERS People will donate time. Travel Travel for consultant. MISCELLANEOUS Refreshments at meetings. Summit food. Printing/mailing Print plan and distribute. Some notes about this budget: The applicant for this budget did not use the online form. This budget does not clearly address the question: What will the funding buy? Note the narrative fails to clearly describe what constitutes each cost: The reader cannot know what the consultant cost covers in terms of services and number of meetings, etc., or who the consultant is. The travel line indicates that it is for the consultant, but does not reflect number of trips, cost per trip or other rationale for how this number was derived. There is no explanation of how many volunteers will work for the project for how many hours, nor is the cost assigned per hour indicated. Miscellaneous is not an acceptable budget line item and the costs under this item are not explained clearly. There is inadequate explanation for printing and distribution of the plan, such as number to be printed, distribution method, and how these costs were derived. 10

12 SAMPLE BUDGET II (ACCEPTABLE) BUDGET LINE ITEM Strategic Planning Consultant Volunteers for Meetings/Task Forces Consultant Travel Refreshments for meetings and summit Printing and distribution of plan BUDGET CATEGORY * Grant Costs Flex-E-Grant Share Matching Funds In-Kind Match Cash Match Total Project Costs Project Budget Contractual $ 6, $0 $ 0 $ 6, Other $0 $ 2, $0 $ 2, Contractual $ 1, $0 $0 $ 1, Supplies $0 $ $0 $ Other $ 0 $ $ $ 1, TOTAL $ 8, $ 2, $ $ 11, Match Rate Indicated is 29 percent. BUDGET NARRATIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING CONSULTANT The budget figure for the consultant is a fixed fee from Noel Carter Smith, a nationally recognized rural development and planning consultant. This fee covers 6.5 days of service at $1,000 per day for 4 meetings in magisterial districts and the facilitation of the community summit and drafting of the community plan to be used by task forces. Information on consultant is available at COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS The in-kind match for community volunteers assumes 40 volunteers at 5 hours. This is a total of 200 volunteer hours with each hour valued at $10. Includes time at the meetings and the summit. CONSULTANT TRAVEL The consultant will travel from Louisville, Kentucky. Travel includes 6 trips at 300 miles per round trip at.50 per mile for a total of $900 in mileage costs. Also, includes 6 nights lodging at $100 per night for a total of $600 in lodging costs. REFRESHMENTS FOR MEETINGS AND SUMMIT Refreshments include coffee, water and cookies donated by the local Extension Office. They are valued at $60 per meeting for 5 meetings (Per meeting: $20 for coffee; $20 for bottled water; $20 for 5 dozen cookies.) PRINTING/DISTRIBUTION OF PLAN Source of Cash Match: Citizen s Community Bank will pay for printing of 10,000 one-page plan summaries to be inserted into the electric bills of customers. Copies of one-page plan summary will cost.05 each to reproduce. Source of In-kind Match: The local rural electric coop will insert plan summaries into envelopes with monthly bills and distribute to 10,000 households service valued at.05 per household. 11

13 Some notes about Budget II: The applicant for this budget used the online form. (Note: this example shows only a section of the form.) The Budget Narrative shares several pieces of critical information to help the reviewers understand how costs were derived and what is being purchased with the funding. The review committee can look at this budget and budget narrative and answer the question: What are these funds buying? For example: The line for the consultant identifies the consultant and breaks down the rate for services by day and the number of days of service. The line for community volunteers explains how many volunteers are estimated, along with number of hours and cost assigned per hour. The consultant breaks down the number of trips, number of miles, amount per mile, and also the lodging costs based on number of nights and rate per night. The refreshments line explains the value assigned for refreshments, number of events, and the source of the match. The line for printing and distribution indicates the source for both the cash and in-kind match and breaks down how this match is derived by number of plan summaries to print and distribute and the cost for printing and distribution of each summary. 12

14 HOW TO DEVELOP A COMPETITIVE PROPOSAL Context, Consultants, Clarity, Count, and Community Critical first steps in developing a competitive grant proposal are to thoroughly review all guidelines and instructions provided by the granting organization. Applicants should then begin assembling the information needed to answer all questions posed within the application. Based on our experience administering the Flex-E-Grant program, we have identified key areas wherein applications often get stuck in the review process due to insufficient development or lack of supporting details or information. This resource has been developed to help minimize this risk. Following these five tips will help you develop a more competitive proposal that moves through the review process more smoothly. TIP #1: Acknowledge connections to the bigger picture to establish context. Context: The Big Picture In addition to explaining the activities you plan to undertake, help the review committee understand the context of your proposed work. The application poses questions designed to prompt applicants to reflect on how the specific project activities relate to the larger community or regional development efforts. For example, consider the following when writing your project narrative: q How does this project connect to our larger community planning efforts? For example, will you be working from a strategic plan? q How do the proposed activities build off of current community efforts? q How does this project help my community make progress toward achieving long-term plans or goals? Answering these questions may provide reviewers with valuable information, such as insight into where you are starting from; what local support you already have; or who may serve as current partners or allies in this work. All provide assurances of your community s capacity to successfully carry out and sustain project activities. TIP #2: Name names. Consultants: Who will you hire and why? Some projects propose enlisting the services of a consultant to lead or assist with project activities. This is not a required component of project proposals, but is an allowable cost. If you plan to hire an outside consultant with grant funds, please be sure to provide enough relevant information to justify the expense. 13

15 For example: q Who do you plan to hire? Name your consultant, if possible. q Why did you select this person? What qualifications make them the best choice to lead a proposed effort? q If a consultant will be named by committee or decided upon at a later date, what considerations or qualifications will you base this decision upon? Answering theses questions may provide reviewers with assurances that consideration has been given to the processes of selecting and evaluating partners for proposed activities. It also provides supporting evidence to justify the estimated costs for the services to be rendered by the consultant. It is generally a good idea to address the typical rate charged by the consultant for work of a similar scope and nature as a basis of comparison. Your application should also indicate that in the hiring of any consultant, you will undertake due process for adherence to your fiscal agent s competitive procurement practices. TIP #3: Show your math. Clarity: What budget items will the funds pay for and what budget items will be considered cash or in-kind match? A clear budget provides the review committee with a clear understanding of how grant funds will be spent and whether costs are both reasonable and allowable under grant program guidelines. The budget portion of a proposal is broken down into two sections: the project budget and the budget narrative. Project Budget The project budget is meant to clearly show the distribution of project costs and the contribution of matching funds. You should identify project costs by budget line items that reflect categories of expenses. For example, if a community proposed creating a public mural they would not itemize expenses within the budget worksheet, separating brushes, primer, paint, and other supplies into separate line items. All of these items are mural supplies and may be listed as a single budget line item. The detailing of expenses should be reserved for the accompanying budget narrative. We recommend grouping your expenses into 4-6 budget line items. You must account for each expense during reporting, so the more line items you create, the greater burden you create for yourself at reporting time. Our online budget form allows you to designate pre-determined categories for budget line items. 14

16 Common budget line items may include, but are not limited to: Grant expenses such as: supplies consultation/contractual facilitator fees travel and lodging costs Match expenses such as: volunteer participation meeting space rental printing costs refreshments for meetings Budget Narrative The budget narrative corresponds to the line items in the main budget and outlines clear and concise detailing of expenses. We recommend the use of bullet points within the budget narrative, as they are easier to read, review, and interpret than blocks of text. The narrative should show your calculations of cost. For example, narrative and calculations for a budget category for travel expenses may look like this: Budget Entry: Budget Line Budget Total Project Grant Cost Match Cost Item Category Cost Facilitator Travel Travel Costs $150 $58 $208 Budget Narrative: Facilitator Travel: $208 2 round trips from Berea to Hazard. 200 miles total for each trip. 2 trips x 200 miles x $0.52 per mile = $208 in travel costs $150 to be paid by grant funds. $58 provided as matching costs. TIP #4: Simplify and quantify. Count: Proposals MUST express intended results as outputs and outcomes that are written as measurable numbers. Project outputs quantify the activities you will undertake during the project, such as the number of people involved in a particular activity and how often the activity will take place. Project outcomes quantify the difference you expect project activities to make within your community. Whereas an output might measure the number of people who will participate in a program to develop leadership skills, an outcome would quantify how those skills are put to use in service to the community. Outputs and outcomes are both specific and measurable. If you cannot count your measure of success, then you have not adequately defined the output or outcome. Ask: How will we measure success? Then quantify those goals. 15

17 For example, an applicant may propose hosting a public meeting to get broad input from the community. To quantify this goal, the applicant might ask, What would qualify as broad input? or What can we reasonably consider as an indicator of success? The resulting OUTPUTS may then become: Hold one county-wide summit with 60 people attending and participating in the planning process. At least 8 community organizations will send representation to the summit. 8 strategic task forces will be formed during the county-wide summit. Hosting the public meeting will also have some OUTCOMES that represent the impact the meeting will have on participants and the community. These may be: A strategic plan will be produced with input from at least 60 different people and a summary of the plan will be distributed to 10,000 local households through being included with a monthly electric bill mailing. At the county-wide summit, 60 community residents will assist with the creation of action plans to guide the work of task forces. At least 40 of these community members will commit to serving on a task force. 8 community organizations will assign a representative to work on a task force that aligns with the organization s mission. 8 strategic task forces will begin implementation of strategies in the community, with at least 5 community members per task force, resulting in 40 individuals being active in community projects going forward. Here are some additional considerations: Be clear about numbers. If a single output contains two numbers, this is a good indicator that it may lack clarity and need revision. For example, observe the difference between the following two statements: 40 people will attend 5 community planning meetings We will host 5 community planning meetings. 10 people will attend each meeting. A total of 40 unique individuals will participate in the planning process. In the first example, we are not sure if the applicant is proposing that the total number of participants will be 40 or 200. Will 40 people be present at every meeting? If the applicant expects 40 people at each meeting, will these be the same individuals or different community members? Example two sorts out these issues by being clear about their expectations. The applicant plans to host 5 meetings. Each meeting will have at least 10 people. Because there may be some attendees who attend more than one meeting, a conservative estimate is made: the applicant expects 40 people to contribute to the planning process. Be reasonable about expectations. More is not always better. Outputs and outcomes are projections that you intend to deliver upon, and you will be reporting on them at the close of the project. 16

18 Ask yourself: Can we realistically deliver these results within the limitations of time and budget? Are these reasonable expectations of my community considering our current capacity? Do the proposed results of project activities justify the investment of funds we are requesting? Take on a project that is doable within a 6-month period and does not require a larger investment of funds than a mini-grant can provide. Set yourself and your community up for success with reasonable goals that you can accomplish and report on with certainty. If outputs and outcomes are seen as promises that are made to the grantors in exchange for an investment in activities, ask: Can my community keep this promise? TIP #5: Share your vision. Community: How will the community be involved? How will your community be better off as a result or activities? Of all questions the review committee asks, the principle concern that guides proposal review is the question of community capacity. At multiple points during the review process, it is not uncommon for the committee to discuss and revisit the same question: As a result of this project, how will the community be better off? Applicants benefit from making this point explicit in their proposals. Proposals that clearly define the vision they have for their community and position their projects in terms of helping achieve that goal tend to do well. Strong indicators of building community include: the number and diversity of people involved in efforts; the number of organizations working together to address a community issue; or events and celebrations that invite the public to participate in efforts. As a final review of a project proposal, we suggest that applicants review their activity timeline and plan of action with the following questions in mind: q Have I taken advantage of every opportunity to involve others in this effort? q Where may I invite other individuals or organizations to participate in planned activities? q Who else in my community may be interested or currently engaged in this work? Who is actively working to address this issue or community need? Have I ignored any potential opportunities for collaboration? q What local support do we need to recruit? Who could help this small effort have a lasting impact? Also reread your proposal to ensure that you ve not only told us what you plan to do, but also made a strong, clear case for why it matters and what it means to your community going forward. 17

19 Many applicants realize that they are not just responding to an issue, but they are advocating or building support for a cause. Because reviewers are not always present and on the ground in your community, your narrative plays a critical role in helping them understand the current climate and your vision of the future. Help us understand how project activities serve as steps or progress toward achieving larger community or development goals. In Summary Under review, your proposal should pass the following test: q Will an external audience be able to clearly identify what community issue our project addresses? q Have we outlined a clear plan regarding how we will address this issue? q Have reviewers been given enough context to understand where we re starting from and how activities relate to previous community efforts? q Are our project goals (outputs and outcomes) measurable? Have we quantified the difference we expect to make? q Are our activities doable within the proposed budget and timeframe? q Have we overlooked any community or regional partners who should otherwise be involved? q Have I provided enough detail to demonstrate how activities benefit our community? Is it made clear how our community will be better off as a result? q Have we addressed how proposed activity builds community? q Have we detailed the physical and social assets to be created or strengthened by this project? q Will the committee understand how this project fits into the larger vision for our community or complements regional planning and development efforts? q Have we provided enough information to help them understand how this helps us achieve our larger community goals? 18