Peaceful Pathways: Reducing Exposure to Violence

All proposals must be submitted through the Local Funding Partnerships secure user website which is now closed for this program.

All of your required documents must be uploaded according to specific instructions. You will find details below. We urge you to familiarize yourself with them before you prepare your proposal documents.

The following items are required:

• Letter of Nomination from a diversity-focused Funder
• Executive Summary of the Proposed Project (one page)
• Proposal Narrative (5–8 page maximum, double-spaced)
• Project Timeline
• Project Budget
• Budget Narrative
• Outline of Objectives

Optional:

• Letters from Additional Funding Partners
• Letters of Community Partnership and Support

Funder Nomination and Letters
A local grantmaker who is a diversity-focused funder must prepare a letter of nomination recommending the applicant's project. The letter should affirm the grantmaker’s endorsement of the initiative and intention to work with the applicant and all potential funding partners to obtain the funding necessary to match RWJF funds.

Please include information about the nature of the funder’s involvement with the development of this initiative, with the applicant agency, with other local coalition partners and with other interested local funders.

The letter of nomination should be signed, on the grantmaker's stationery, and include the name and address of the local applicant and the name, telephone number and e-mail address of the contact person at the grantmaking organization. It can be addressed to our Director, Pauline M. Seitz or our Deputy Director, Curtis Holloman. You may use our mailing address but you do not need to mail the letter to our office.

Additional grantmakers who have expressed interest in supporting this project are also encouraged to submit individual letters of endorsement using organization letterhead. Typically multiple funders contribute towards the total dollar amount needed to match the LFP grant. Please note: while the nominating funder must represent a diversity-focused fund, additional funding partners may come from any type of grantmaking organization.

The letter of nomination and additional funder letters must be uploaded at the Local Funding Partnerships secure user website. We suggest you review the letter of nomination instructions and additional funder letters template, and save them to your computer before you prepare to upload these letters.

Back to top

Executive Summary & Proposal Narrative
The local applicant for grant funds, in consultation with the nominating funder, must write an executive summary (no more than one page) and a proposal narrative (no more than eight pages). Each document will be uploaded separately with its own template (a form for you to insert your text).

The Executive Summary
The first paragraph should be a succinct overview of your project:

• one sentence stating the community to be served and the need to be addressed;
• one or two sentences to describe the specific activities you will undertake;
• and one or two sentences to describe the deliverables and outcomes expected.

Please note that for some purposes our database will pull your first paragraph to stand alone as the brief description of your project.

You may use the remainder of the page to provide more details about the specific community to be served and how the project is tailored to meet the needs of this community. Describe the project plan and activities. What will you do to meet the project objectives? How will you reduce exposure to the violent behavior on which you are focused? Include a list of measurable outcomes, as well as plans for sustaining the program after the proposed grant period ends. Finally, please list the interested funding partners in your last paragraph.

The executive summary may be single-spaced. It should have at least one-inch margins on all four sides. This one page does not count as part of the eight-page proposal narrative.

The executive summary must be uploaded at the Local Funding Partnerships secure user website. We strongly suggest you review the executive summary template and save it to your computer before you prepare to upload this document..

Back to top

The Proposal Narrative
The proposal narrative is written in a question-and-answer format, answering the following questions in the following order. The total narrative—including the answers to all six questions—is not to exceed eight pages. The document should be double-spaced, with at least a one-inch margin on all four sides of each page.

1. How would this project improve health and well-being in your community by reducing exposure to violence?

Clearly describe the community to be served, the disruptive, violent behavior to be addressed and the specific intervention you propose. Explain the relationship in the program between the community organizations and providers of services that will be involved and the residents of the community. State the project’s goals and objectives and include what you would consider to be indications of the project’s success in your community.

2. How have your nominating funder and any other local funding partners been involved in the development of this proposal?

Discuss the connection of your nominating funder to this community and in what ways this grantmaking organization meets the criteria of a diversity-focused funder. Describe how the nominating funder and any other grantmakers became aware of this initiative and how they have been involved as your plans progressed. Indicate any experience they may have or interest they have shown in working on concerns about violence in the community.

• List all grantmakers who have expressed interest in supporting this project. In addition, you may submit letters of support from any or all of these funders. Please note: while the nominating funder must represent a diversity-focused fund, additional funding partners may come from any type of grantmaking organization.

3. How will collaboration with other organizations help to achieve the goals of your project?

Explain how different groups—from within and outside of the community—will work together on this project. Include any ways in which you are already working together, as well as any roles or responsibilities you expect specific groups to assume in order to implement your plan. How are decisions made amongst the partners? How much experience do various partners have in working with the residents of this community?

• List all organizations with whom you expect to partner on this project. In addition, you may submit letters of community support from any or all of these groups.

4. How was this program developed, identified or selected by your community and how does it fit the culture and dynamics of the individuals and neighborhoods it will serve?

Briefly describe the origins of this model—whether it is a new concept, or whether it has been adapted or adopted from another place or group. Be sure to include any elements that are new or innovative and explain how the plan leverages the community’s own strengths and resources. Clarify what it is about the program that responds to the specific culture of this community and how it may be appropriate for diverse members of the community.

5. What assets will the applicant organization employ in order to implement this project at this time?

Briefly relate the history of the organization and its experience in the community to be served including whether and how the leadership and membership of the organization are reflective of the communities they serve. Note where it is located, the annual budget and the source of its operating funds. Describe current leadership, current staffing levels (paid and volunteer) and the role of any governing board. Demonstrate the strengths and resources the agency brings to this project and note the impact this additional work may have on current operations or future plans.

6. Is there any additional information you wish to share?

Please note: If the applicant was previously or is currently receiving funds from RWJF, the proposal must clearly describe the difference between this proposed project and the project funded earlier. If any other proposal has been submitted to RWJF to support this project, report the status of that application.

The proposal narrative must be uploaded at the Local Funding Partnerships secure user website. The instructions are embedded in a template form that you must use. We strongly suggest you review the proposal narrative template and save it to your computer before you prepare to upload the narrative.

Back to top

Project Timeline, Budget & Budget Narrative

Project Timeline
The project timeline may be presented as a chart and should reflect the major milestones of project activity throughout the one, two or three years of the grant. Some activities may encompass an entire year, and some may be one-time-only activities. The projected timeline should also indicate when you expect goals or outcomes would be achieved. Click here to see a sample project timeline.

The project timeline is not included in the eight-page limit of the proposal narrative and must be uploaded as a separate document at the LFP secure user website. Although a template is not provided for this document, we suggest you review the project timeline instructions.

Back to top

Budget

A detailed budget and budget narrative relate the funding you have requested to specific elements of your proposed project. Use your best judgment when projecting program expenses. The preliminary budget should reflect what you anticipate the costs will be to implement this project including personnel, program materials, marketing and overhead. See eligible and ineligible budget items. Project expenses will most likely vary from year to year, consistent with your program strategy and project timeline.

The total amount requested from RWJF must be between $50,000 and $200,000. Your total project budget must be at least twice that amount when you include matching funds and in-kind support. RWJF matching dollars are not delivered in one sum; rather, they are disbursed in increments over the one, two or three years of the grant period. Your budget for each year of the grant shows how much of the RWJF award you would plan to spend that year. The local funding partners must authorize sufficient dollars (including up to 25 percent in-kind) to match the RWJF payments for that year.

In-kind services are defined as contributed services or time, such as a percentage of an individual’s working time, free duplicating and printing support, contributed meeting space and audio visual support, etc. In-kind services are often necessary to complete a project’s budget, and applicants are allowed to seek these forms of support up to 25% of the RWJF request. Funds for capital costs may not be used to match RWJF funds.

You will be asked to upload:

• a one-page consolidated budget that totals all the income and expenses over the life of the grant (whether that is one, two or three years);
• followed by a one-page budget for each year of the grant.

Please use a columnar format and include the funds anticipated from RWJF, matching grants and any other revenues. Click here to see a sample budget. The preliminary budget must be uploaded as a separate document at the LFP secure user website. Although a template is not provided for this document, we suggest you review the budget guidelines. All multi-worksheet budgets should be converted to a pdf format before uploading. Please insure all worksheets are included in this one file.

Back to top

Budget Narrative
The budget narrative is where you describe how the funds requested for each line item will be spent and how the amount was determined. In this narrative provide as much detail as possible but write one document that explains the consolidated budget for the entire one, two, or three years of the grant. You do not need a separate budget narrative for each year.

The preliminary budget and the budget narrative are uploaded as separate documents. Neither one counts as part of your eight-page proposal narrative. We prefer this document not be submitted as an Excel document.

Back to top

List of Objectives
The list of objectives summarizes the goals of your proposal. The online application includes a place for you to describe three-to-five specific, measurable objectives against which we can assess the progress of your project.  These objectives should be the same as those expressed in your narrative, but simply puts them in a different format.

The space is limited and thus your descriptions should be kept short and concise. If you list fewer than five objectives, simply put NA in the empty boxes and the system will consider your objectives “completed.” 

Back to top

Letters of Community Partnership and Support
You may submit letters of community support from any or all of the organizations with whom you expect to collaborate on this project, such as public and private community partners and referral agencies. They should indicate why they are interested in the project; how the project reflects or will have an impact in the community to be served; how they have been involved in the development of the project and/or how they will participate in the collaboration. These letters should use the supporting organization's letterhead where possible.

The instructions are embedded in a template form that you must use. We suggest you review the template for letters of community partnership & support, and save it to your computer before you prepare to upload these letters. Form letters, petitions, and general praise for your organization are not useful to the reviewers.

Back to top

LFP Secure User Website - Closed

To access the secure user website you must first create a User Name and Password and answer a basic eligibility-screening questionnaire. Eligible applicants must complete an online application form that will record basic data about your proposal such as contact information for project leadership and the nominating funder. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this form and begin completing it at your earliest opportunity. You may return as often as you like to edit, update and complete the form. Once you "submit" your application you may no longer access it..

As explained above, you will upload all required documents using template forms where provided. We strongly suggest you prepare your documents using these templates and review them for accuracy before uploading them to the user website.

Back to top

Questions

Questions may be directed at any time to the LFP staff.