Grant

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: Building Community Safety in Louisiana

Grant Overview

Award Amount: $100,000 – $250,000
Number of Awards: 5
Grant Deadline Extension: June 21, 2024 – 11:59 p.m. CDT
Grant Term: August 2024 – September 2026

Building Community Safety in Louisiana initiative (BCSLA) is a joint effort between Equal Justice USA and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

This initiative will identify and provide awards to up to five community-based organizations (CBOs) located in Louisiana. Grantees will receive intensive training, technical assistance, and oversight in addition to sub-award funding.

Access the Info Session DOWNLOAD THE RFP APPLY HERE

Key Information

Click on each section below for further information. It is also recommended to download and read the full RFP for complete details regarding the initiative.

Supported Organizations & Activities

BCSLA will support organizations conducting community-centered violence prevention, intervention, and/or healing efforts in Louisiana cities disproportionately impacted by violence. This initiative will prioritize funding to support, expand, and replicate evidence-informed strategies in the following areas:

Violence Intervention: Projects that work to stem violence as it occurs, or that has previously or recently occurred, in order to prevent retaliation or other forms of harm.

Violence Prevention, Social Supports, and/or Community Engagement: Projects that work to prevent violence from occurring through the provision of community-based services.

Healing Strategies: Projects that provide care and therapeutic services to community members in the aftermath of violence, including those who have been directly and indirectly harmed by, exposed to, and/or committed violence.

Programming considered under this Request for Proposals (RFP) will include local and hyperlocal grassroots efforts with a proven track record of community impact. Organizations must conduct work in one or more of the priority locations named in the Priority Areas section below.

Grant Timeline

April 29, 2024 – Request for Proposals (RFP) Released
April 29, 2024 – Recorded RFP Information Session Released
June 21, 2024 – Proposals Due
August 2024 – Awards Announced
August 2024 – September 2026 – Grant Period

Commitment to Equity & Accessibility

EJUSA is committed to ensuring that equity is integrated into every facet of our work, both internally and externally.

This Request for Proposals seeks to ensure the most holistic means of evaluating prospective grantees. This initiative will prioritize support for organizations that are led by people who demographically represent the communities they serve. We encourage small-scale, hyperlocal organizations and initiatives to apply.

EJUSA aims to uplift identities often overlooked within community-centered work, including those with disabilities. We aim to make this opportunity as accessible as possible, while understanding that ending ableism is an ongoing process.

Should applicants require any accessibility-related accommodations during the application process, please contact EJUSA at capacitybuilding@ejusa.org.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for BCSLA funding, organizations must:

Be a nonprofit and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization OR have an active fiscal sponsorship agreement with a nonprofit that meets this requirement;
Have been in existence for at least 6 months;
Conduct services in one or more of the 23 priority areas listed below;
Have an annual budget of $500,000 or less;
Employ persons or volunteers that have a minimum of three (3) years of combined experience in implementing violence prevention, intervention or healing strategies and have implemented these strategies in the past five (5) years;
Be registered with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office;
Have an Employer Identification Number (EIN);
Have a valid business license, if applicable;
Have any other state or local licenses or certifications necessary to provide the services requested, if applicable; and
Have a physical address in the State of Louisiana.

BCSLA Priority Areas

Organizational activities must serve individuals in one or more of the following cities:

Alexandria
Bastrop
Baton Rouge
Bogalusa
Bossier City
Crowley
Ferriday
Franklin
Franklinton
Hammond
Marksville
Minden
Monroe
Morgan City
New Orleans
Opelousas
Ponchatoula
Port Allen
Shreveport
Tallulah
West Monroe
White Castle
Winnfield

Information Sessions

Questions regarding the BCSLA initiative may be submitted to EJUSA at capacitybuilding@ejusa.org. All questions will be answered individually, and anonymously posted the FAQ below on a weekly basis.

Resources & Templates

Templates for Application

The below templates are required within the application. To fill them out, click the link and then click Make a Copy. Each template can be uploaded in the appropriate sections within the grant portal upon completion.

Grant Writing Resources

The following resources can be used to draft your application.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I got a mysterious email/phone call about this grant. Is this valid?

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has received reports that their office’s name is being used in government imposter scams. These are usually intended to convince you to send money or financial account information to scammers who use their office’s name because it sounds serious and legitimate.

Do not provide personal identifiable information – such as a social security number – or bank account information, or money in response to these false claims.

How to Tell
Any email sent from an actual BJA staff person will have one of the following at the end of the email address: @ojp.usdoj.gov or @usdoj.gov. The Federal Trade Commission’s How to Spot, Stop, & Report Government Imposter Scams infographic provides helpful information on avoiding and responding to these (and other) scams. How to Report
You may report the message you received to the Federal Trade Commission online or by calling 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357). There’s a form to complete in Appendix B to confirm our organization meets the stated requirements for the grant. How do I submit this information in the grant portal?

There is now a “Key Partners” tab on the application portal where organizations can add the requested information for each key partner or contractor listed in your application. In the “Key Partner Letters of Commitment” tab, MOUs/letters of commitment should be uploaded for each partner that you’ve listed.

I work in a small area of my city, but my organization does not serve people city-wide. Are we still eligible to apply?

Yes. This initiative prioritizes hyper-local initiatives, so working in a specific area of your city would definitely qualify your organization.

Should we partner with another community-based organization?

It is not required, but we welcome collaboration with other organizations outside of your immediate location. We would like to support organizations willing to share resources and contribute to their city’s larger safety ecosystem.

Violence has decreased in our community in recent years. Is our organization still eligible to apply for funding?

If your organization works in any of the priority areas listed above, and meets all other application requirements, you are eligible to apply.

All of our employees are independent contractors. Are applicants required to provide fringe benefits in our budget?

Applicants may provide fringe benefits to contract employees, but it is not a requirement for this grant.

Can funds be used for building or salary support, in service of projects/programs that conduct these violence prevention/intervention activities?

Yes! BCSLA funds can be used to support salaries of staff conducting violence prevention/intervention and healing activities.

I downloaded the RFP, but cannot type in the templates on the PDF document. Should I create everything from scratch and use that section of the Appendix template when arriving at those questions?

Editable templates are available in the “Resources and Templates” section above. When you click on each document, it will bring you to a Google template where you can make a copy and edit your content.

Once you are ready to apply, you can click the “Apply Here” button above, or go directly to our application portal: ejusa.grantplatform.com

Any templates or forms that are not available on the grant website have been incorporated into the grant application in the portal.

My organization’s annual budget exceeds $500,000 annually. Can we still apply?

Louisiana-based organizations that meet all other criteria are encouraged to apply with the understanding that the grant opportunity prioritizes awards to applicants that meet all of the criteria.

We run a youth development and mentoring program in one of the identified cities. Would our program qualify?

Yes. Youth development programs fall under Violence Prevention, Social Supports, and/or Community Engagement activities; and, individuals who are exposed to violence by way of residence are an eligible target population.

If I apply for funding for my youth development program, would the funding go toward working with high school aged students only?

No. The target population does not include an age limit.

Should we put each different program as its own separate budget?

You can create separate budgets for your program or you can have everything in one budget and detail what program each line item is for in the narrative column of the spreadsheet.

What do the objectives in the action plan need to look like?

The objectives are the overall goals of your program(s).

For the evaluation, could we use our system and process or is there a way you would like us to do it?

You can use the evaluation systems you currently have to collect and track your data. We also offer evaluation support for your reporting process and any other data collection needs your organization has.

How detailed does the budget need to be? For example, if a quarter of the programs take place in a building that we use, do we need to include the rent and the percentage we pay?

Yes. Include those details in the budget narrative.

Is there a place in the budget for in-kind?

You can include in-kind support in your budget, but it is not required.

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