2011 NYC AIDS Fund Request for Proposals
Background
Founded in 1989, the New York City AIDS Fund (the AIDS Fund) is a collaboration of grantmaking organizations in New York City whose goal is to increase private funding to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic by supporting the improvement, coordination, and targeting of community level resources in New York City. Housed at The New York Community Trust, the AIDS Fund has been dedicated to helping community groups provide vital programs and implement advocacy efforts that address the local HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also serves as a local community partnership site of AIDS United.
The AIDS Fund is guided by an advisory committee representing grantmaking organizations, public agencies, human service organizations, and persons living with AIDS to help set grantmaking priorities. Each year, the advisory committee reviews previous grants, completes an assessment to evaluate the current status of the local AIDS epidemic, and helps analyze the availability of government funding in order to determine where private funding is most needed and can have the greatest effect.
Since inception, the AIDS Fund has awarded approximately $20 million to nonprofit agencies throughout the City’s five boroughs. This year, with lead funding from the Council of Fashion Designers of America & Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out event, the AIDS Fund expects to make grants totaling $1 million for innovative programs and efforts in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention, advocacy, and services.
For further details about the New York City AIDS Fund and questions about the application process, please call Len McNally, Program Director at (212) 686-0010, ext. 556 or Phoebe Scarborough, Program Assistant at ext. 525.
BIDDERS' CONFERENCE
The New York City AIDS Fund will be holding a bidders' conference on September 21 at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, Room 101, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm for potential applicants wishing to respond to the Request for Proposal. Attendees must RSVP to Karent Zorogastua at kdz@nyct-cfi.org.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center is located at 208 West 13th Street between Greenwich Avenue and 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10011. Directions to the center can be found at : http://www.gaycenter.org/contactus
2011 FUNDING PRIORITIES
PRIMARY HIV PREVENTION PROGRAMS
Grant Size: up to $75,000
The AIDS Fund will support primary HIV prevention programs that address underlying challenges related to HIV infections, such as stigma, homophobia, relationship violence, substance use, and trauma. Projects may involve HIV-negative and/or HIV-positive individuals. Competitive proposals will implement community-based methods of HIV prevention for the following population groups:
- Men of color who have sex with men;
- Girls and young women of color, especially whose male partners have been involved with correctional facilities;
- Homeless LGBT youth;
- Transgender individuals.
IMPROVING THE CULTURAL COMPETENCY OF HIV SERVICE PROGRAMS
Grant Size: up to $100,000
There is growing evidence that people who test positive for HIV and immediately receive appropriate care, including medications, have better health outcomes and are less likely to spread the virus to others. But many organizations do not have the capacity to provide culturally competent testing, health, counseling, and social services to the diverse populations affected by HIV/AIDS. As a result, critical opportunities to engage persons in testing and appropriate services are not realized. The AIDS Fund will support collaborations of training agencies and health care providers to train staff to provide client-sensitive services. Of special concern are: understanding cultural values, sensitivity to life circumstances, and language competency. Projects of interest should clearly address:
- Availability of relevant training curricula;
- Collaborative activities among training and provider agencies, with a clear description of strategies, particularly the utilization of existing resources;
- Evaluation of change in staff knowledge and skills, and patient satisfaction.
PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY
Grant Size: up to $50,000
The AIDS Fund will support advocacy and public policy efforts that seek to increase public awareness about critical HIV/AIDS issues and ensure that HIV/AIDS remains a priority for public and private funding sources. Proposals are encouraged from organizations with projects that include individuals affected by HIV/AIDS as a part of advocacy activities. Issues of special interest include, but are not limited to:
- Improving coordination of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and services;
- Ensuring that Medicaid reform improves access to high quality services for persons with HIV;
- Advocacy encouraging the local implementation of state policies dealing with Medicaid reform, harm reduction, and interactions with law enforcement.
APPLYING FOR A GRANT
Only one (1) application for a New York City organization will be considered. Eligible not-for-profit organizations include:
- HIV/AIDS-specific and general community-based groups;
- Health and social service providers;
- Umbrella organizations and coalitions.
Please complete the attached cover sheet and submit three (3) copies of a narrative proposal and project budget. Proposals must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font on pages with at least 1” margins. Do not exceed eight (8) single-spaced, single-sided pages for the grant proposal narrative. Please paginate all pages, but do not staple the application.
Proposals should provide a clear and thorough response to the following questions:
- What is the need to be addressed? Provide an overview of the relevant public health issues, including specific data and research findings. For advocacy projects, please also describe public or administrative policy barriers that your project seeks to change or implement.
- What are the specific project goal(s), objective(s), and activities? How do these address the above-stated need? Is this a new project, an expansion, or an ongoing effort? Please include a brief timeline of proposed activities on a separate page, not included in the 8-page narrative limit. Because the AIDS Fund seeks to fund programs that can be implemented as close to the date of award as possible, the timeline should include completion dates of relevant milestones and responsible parties, and, for applications proposing direct services, indicate the month in which direct client services will begin.
- Which population(s) and/or neighborhood(s) are targeted for the project?
- Describe the agency’s experience serving the project’s targeted population. OR Describe the agency’s previous advocacy efforts and project results.
- What is the organization’s mission? Describe programs/services and accomplishments. How does the proposed project fit with the agency’s mission, other programs and services, and/or strategic plan?
- Will the proposed project be conducted as a collaborative effort among multiple agencies? If so, please describe the agencies’ relationship and linkage agreement. Include MOUs.
- How will the project or service be evaluated to quantify results and measure success
- How does the agency propose to sustain the project financially after the conclusion of any AIDS Fund grant award?9. What is the proposed project budget? Provide an itemized budget and a narrative explaining the requested funding. Please refer to the sample project budget attached.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE
To apply for a grant, mail or hand-deliver a completed application to:
The New York City AIDS Fund
c/o The New York Community Trust
909 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
All applications must be mailed or hand-delivered and received no later than 12:00 noon on Wednesday, October 5, 2011. No faxed, e-mailed, or late applications will be considered. Due to office building policy, hand-delivered proposals must be dropped-off at the 909 Third Avenue Message Center (The entrance is located on 54th Street).
GRANTS REVIEW PROCESS
The AIDS Fund grantmaking subcommittee will review all proposals. Applicants whose proposals are judged most consistent with the AIDS Fund’s current funding priorities will be notified in early fall to schedule a site visit or meeting with committee members to further discuss their project. Grant awards will be announced by January 2012.
GRANT APPLICATION CHECKLIST
Three (3) copies of the following items:
- Completed grant application cover sheet.
- Proposal of no more than eight (8) narrative pages.
- Itemized project budget, including revenues, expenses, and budget justification.
- Additional project funding sources should be indicated, including funders, amount of funding already secured or being sought to support this specific project, and how that funding would be applied.
- Current fiscal year operating budget, including the most recent audited financial statement or reported IRS 990 tax form.
One (1) copy of the following items:
- List of the organization’s Board of Directors and Officers.
- IRS determination letter indicating not-for-profit, 501(c) 3 status.
For projects using a fiscal sponsor: Please also include the sponsoring agency’s IRS determination letter, fiscal sponsorship agreement letter, and its most recent audited financial statement or reported IRS 990 tax form.
- Memorandum of Understanding from other agencies, when applicable.
GRANT APPLICATION COVER SHEET
Download proposal (containing the cover sheet) as a Word file >>
Download coversheet as a PDF >>
SAMPLE BUDGET
Download sample budget as a PDF>>