GENERAL
GUIDELINES
FOR REQUESTS
FOR FUNDING FROM THE
JOSEPH P.
KENNEDY, JR. FOUNDATION
ELIGIBILITY
So that you can plan accordingly, please be
advised of the following:
If your organization has a concept or idea that falls within the
Foundation’s interest, you are invited to submit a two-page outline, in letter
form, at any time during the year. If the Foundation is interested in your
concept, you will be invited to submit a full proposal. The Foundation does not consider unsolicited full proposals.
The Foundation accepts proposals
from July 1 through December 1 each year. Those invited to submit full
proposals can expect both internal and outside review of those proposals, and
final decisions are made by July 1 of the following year.
Projects which fall outside of
the Foundation’s interest will be promptly notified.
If you are invited to submit a
full proposal, please study the following proposal guidelines and follow them
closely. Failure to supply all the information requested will likely lead to
delays and revisions.
Procedures for the submission of full, invited
proposals
INTRODUCTION:
1.
Principal
Policies: There have been several major
themes in the last decade’s policy responses to the needs of people with mental
retardation (intellectual disabilities). As of this writing, the Foundation is
interested only in projects which help to advance the field of services and
supports to persons with mental retardation (intellectual disabilities) and
their families or help to prevent the causes of mental retardation (intellectual
disabilities). The current principles
under which the Foundation focuses its efforts are set out in the Developmental
Disabilities Act: these are independence (as evidenced by choice over decisions
and ability to carry them out without excessive assistance); productivity (as
evidenced by continuing to learn); and inclusion, the opportunity to be part of
physical environments and the opportunity to choose to be in those
environments.
Accordingly, a proposal must indicate how it relates to the major
themes of independence, productivity, and/or inclusion.
2.
Related
Policies: There have been other
themes in federal and state policy.
These are: accountability, advocacy, self-advocacy, integration, consent,
direction of and participation in decision making, person centered planning,
individualized services, developmental models combined with medical models
where appropriate, and prevention of the causes of mental retardation (intellectual
disabilities).
A proposal should indicate how it relates to both the principal and
related topics.
ORGANIZATION OF CONTENT OF PROPOSAL:
1.
Statement of
Problem: Each proposal must begin
with a statement of the problem to be addressed. The statement must relate the proposal to one
or more of the major themes set out above; identify generally and then
precisely how the proposal defines the issue; state the relevance of the
proposal to the subject population; and indicate how the proposed work is
important to solving the problem; how or what policy is based on one or more of
the above themes; identify what collaboration the proposed project will
undertake with other systems; include a brief review of the major relevant
literature and state how the project will advance the field ahead of its
present state of knowledge, provide support for people with mental retardation (intellectual
disabilities) and their families, and further the advance of the long tradition
of cutting edge excellence by the
Foundation and people affiliated with it.
If services are proposed, reference as to how people with mental
retardation (intellectual disabilities) and their families will be involved in
the design and governance of services must be included. This introduction should be no more than
three (3) pages.
2.
Plan of Work: The proposal must be described in detail how
the project will work, including timelines and measurable work products. Here, the proposal must identify the target
population, the work methodology, and such other matters as will assure
reviewers that the project is well conceived and that, if funded, can be evaluated. Measurable outcomes and/or work products must
be specified.
3.
Training: The proposal must describe the extent to which
the project will undertake training activities for various audiences – for
people with mental retardation (intellectual disabilities), their families,
professional caregivers, or policy makers – related to the project. Training of
more than one audience is preferable to training only one audience. Training of
professionals may be either in-service or pre-service; training that is of both
types is preferable to training that is only of one type.
4. Dissemination: The proposal must describe the extent to which the staff will engage in dissemination of their results. Dissemination is different from training in that dissemination is usually by print or video/audio media. Training, by contrast, is by face to face instruction. Dissemination of results to professional audiences and to lay audiences, especially to families and policy makers, is equally valued. Accordingly, dissemination by publication in books, chapters, articles, and monographs–especially those that are peer reviewed–is important. Presentation at conferences of national organizations, and their State or Regional chapters, is also important. A.A.M.R., TASH, C.E.C., The Arc, or other relevant organizations are examples of where recent grantees have presented their work. If the proposal is funded, a press release, approved in advance by the Foundation, is acceptable.
5.
Organization and
Management: The proposal must
describe the ways in which its activities will be organized and managed, and
the capabilities of the project staff and organization to complete the
undertakings of the proposal in a timely fashion. The proposal must indicate how, if at all, the
proposed project is relevant to, builds on, and will contribute to existing or
planned ways of providing services and supports or training in the field.
Proposals that demonstrate thematic links between the proposal and other
efforts in the field are preferred. If the organization is new or not yet
established, the proposal should indicate that the project staff have the
capability, as demonstrated through outside letters of support, to carry
through with the project’s efforts. To the extent that the proposal contains
timelines to be compiled with and assurances that the management and
organization of the proposal and of the project are reliable and realistic to
the timelines, the proposal will be more convincing. Curricula vitae of each person affiliated
with the proposal should be included.
6.
References and
Indication of Future Support: The
proposal should contain a list of references to any literature discussed in the
proposal. Support from agencies and
organizations which could fund the project after Kennedy Foundation support has
ended are important. The Foundation
wants to see that its efforts, when successful, are sustained by public or
private sources of support, and can be replicated in other places.
7.
Budget: The proposal must contain a detailed budget
and rationales for the budget categories. The budget must be separately
organized and justified according to the following categories: personnel,
travel, supplies, equipment, duplication, correspondence and
telephone/communication, fees for consultants, and miscellaneous. The full-time equivalents of each person must
be shown and the justification for the FTE allocation set out in the
justification. The Foundation is generally
unwilling to purchase equipment for a funded project but under extreme circumstances
will consider funding appropriate and necessary equipment as a fundable item;
there is a high burden on the grantee to justify equipment. Foundation funds cannot be used to cover
indirect costs. All proposals must
contain a plan to attract additional support in as much as Foundation grants
are available to leverage other sources of funding. The Foundation is interested in the
multiplier impact of its funds. Applicants
must show proof of either 501(c)(3) status, or if appropriate, 501(a)(1,2,or 3)
status.
8.
Rationale for
Foundation Support: Provide
appropriate explanation of why a private foundation should fund this effort, in
lieu of Federal, State, or Local government support.
Formatting the
Proposal
Please include the following
elements in your proposal:
1.
A cover letter briefly describing the proposed project
(not more than a paragraph or two), signed by the project director.
2.
Cover page with organization name, full title of
project, full date of proposal and, if a revised version, which version it is
(e.g. Version 2, Version 3, etc.). Each new revision must carry a new date.
3.
A Table of Contents with page numbers indicating the
beginning of each section and each Appendix.
Additionally:
4.
Please limit your proposal to a maximum of 15 pages.
5.
Each page of the proposal must carry a header and/or
footer with:
1.
Title of project, or abbreviated title/keywords. For
example, a project title “High School Diploma and Students with MR:
Restructuring Policy & Practice at the National, State and Local Level”
could be abbreviated on a header as “High School Diploma”
2.
Organization name or abbreviation/keywords (e.g. The
Arc of Minnesota could be abbreviated as Arc MN).
3.
Version of proposal beyond the first (Version 2, v.3,
etc.)
4.
Date
5.
Page number
6.
ALL pages must be numbered except Title Page and
Contents.
7.
Send one original and one copy of the proposal for
consideration. However, if a large amount of supporting material is sent, such
as publications (not encouraged), only one copy of that material should be
included.
Supporting material:
8.
Supporting material (e.g. curricula vitae, letters of
support, bibliography) should be included in separate Appendices, each with its
own cover page and title. These appendices must have page numbers, but the
pagination can be self-contained, e.g. Appendix A, Letters of Support, pages
A1, A2, A3 etc. Appendix B, Curricula vitae, pages B1, B2, B3 etc.
9.
Appendix material must also carry its own headers or
footers with an indication of the project title and the organization. Since
much of such material is generated outside the proposing organization (such as
letters of support), preprinted labels with the required information can be
affixed as headers or footers, and page numbers may be handwritten.
10. Do
not send multiple brochures or newsletters. If the organization is previously
unknown to the Foundation, a short brochure describing the organization’s work
in general, plus one sample of a
newsletter or other short publication describing any previous work in the field
of the proposal may be submitted in an Appendix if desired.
Revisions of proposals
11. If
a revision of the proposal is asked for, supporting material that does not
change for the next revision does not have to be sent again. However, if
material in an Appendix is changed, then the new version of the relevant
Appendix must be included, with the new version number (Version 2, Version 3,
etc.) included in the header/footer material as well as on the Appendix cover
page.
12. Each
version of a proposal must carry a separate date, even if two revisions occur
in the same month. Thus: Version 2, April 2, 2001, Version 3, April 18, 2001.
Each page of the revised proposal must show the new date and new revision
number.
Continuation Proposals for Further Years of Funding (Please note:
the Foundation rarely funds continuations)
Please include the following:
1.
Cover letter signed by the project director
2.
Cover page with title, organization, date, version
(Continuation Proposal, 2001-2002, for example).
3.
Plan of work to be accomplished in the next year.
4.
Budget, with justification.
5.
Sample of any materials produced during the past year
of funding.
It is not necessary or desirable
to include the original proposal from the previous year or repeat any of the
previous year’s supporting material.
EVALUATION & MONITORING:
If the project is funded for more
than one year, the grantee will be expected to submit annual reports concerning
results and compliance with the undertakings in the proposal. The first of these is due not more than one
month after a full calendar year has expired from the time the proposal has
received final approval at the Foundation (not from the time the Foundation
makes payment). Annual reports are due each year thereafter. A final report is
due within a month after the project is due to be completed, according to its
timelines.
The Foundation will make payments
according to a schedule and in amounts to be negotiated by the grantee with
staff of the Foundation. The Foundation
also reserves the right to withhold some portion of the entire payment until
the receipt of the final report and completion of the visit with the
Foundation’s principals and staff. The
Foundation also reserves the right to call for a fiscal and programmatic audit
of the proposal and work undertaken pursuant to the proposal. Such audits will
be conducted by persons selected by the Foundation.
The Foundation has established
various permanent and ad hoc advisory bodies consisting of researchers, policy
specialists, parents or relatives of persons with mental retardation (intellectual
disabilities), scientists, and others.
It will seek a review of each proposal by members of these bodies or by
qualified professionals, policy specialists, parents or relatives, and others,
as appropriate, so that a peer review of the proposal, before, during, and
after funding is assured.