Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to apply for the fund?
Your organization must meet all of the criteria to qualify for the PB&J Fund
- Organization legally registered as a 501(c)(3) organization (or fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) and operating in the United States, U.S. Territories, or Native American Reservations).
- Southern and/or Southwestern non-profit organization with work focused in one or more of the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas.
- Organization led or co-led by at least a Latinx or BIPOC identifying staff (e.g Executive Director, President, CEO).
- Organization serving historically and currently under-resourced communities.
- Organization with an annual budget under $3million.
How do I apply?
There will be a two-step application process:
Step 1: Interested organizations must complete a Letter of Interest form by March 31st, 2022, 8pm (EST).
Step 2: HIP staff will review the Letters of Interest and invite selected groups to submit a proposal to HIP through the SmartSimple platform, HIP’s online grants management database. The selected organizations must complete the SmartSimple application by May 31st, 2022, 8pm (EST).
What is the timeline to apply?
Step1 (Letter of Interest)
- The application opens February (TBD), 2022 at 9:00am (EST)
- The application closes March 31, 2022 at 8:00pm (EST).
Step 2 (SmartSimple):
- The application opens April 25, 2022 at 9:00am (EST)
- The application closes May 31, 2022 at 8:00pm (EST).
HIP staff will support organizations through the SmartSimple application process if needed.
Qualifications
Can you share more about what types of organizations are eligible for the fund?
We especially encourage organizations with the below characteristics to apply:
- With predominantly Latinx and BIPOC staff
- With a Board of predominantly Latinx and BIPOC individuals
- Working with rural communities
- Networks in coalitions with other Latinx-led/BIPOC-led or serving organizations
- With a particular preference given to organizations with budgets under $500,000
Do organizations with fiscal sponsors qualify?
Yes
Will you consider a national organization that does work in one or more of these states?
Yes. Please make sure to list all of the states you work in on the Letter of Interest online form.
Can you talk about how you would balance the considerations around an organization’s BIPOC makeup/representation? For instance, an organization has a BIPOC Executive Director, a majority female and BIPOC staff, but a majority white/Anglo Board of Directors.?
There is no eligibility requirement for the Board of Directors to be Latinx/BIPOC, but organizations with higher percentages of Latinx/BIPOC board members will be given a preference.
Does the organization need a specific number of people?
There is no required number of staff or members for an organization to apply.
Would you consider the suburbs as a rural area?
For the purposes of this grant HIP is classifying suburbs as rural areas.
Selection Process
How will applicants be selected?
All applicants will be selected by a group of HIP staff members.
How many applicants will be selected?
We will be selecting 10 organizations as fund recipients.
What can an organization do to make themselves stand out from the pack of applicants?
Organizations should make sure to include all the program/impact areas that they work on in question #8 of the Letter of Interest form. They should also make sure to include in question #9 their values and approach to Power Building and Justice and how they address the root causes of inequitable systems.
For Step 1 and Step 2 of the application process, how many applications are you anticipating?
HIP does not have a defined number of organizations that will be invited to Step 2.
Can the Letter of Interest application be saved before submission?
Saving the Letter of Interest application is currently not available. However, there is a PDF on the landing page that can be downloaded and used to save an organization’s answers for their personal records.
Will there be webinars for interested organizations to learn more?
There was a webinar hosted on Tuesday, March 7, 2022. Here is the recording.
Is it possible to apply with other partner organizations?
Yes, but one organization must be the lead at the applicant. Make sure to name the organizations in question #9 in the Letter of Interest form.
Will there be another opportunity to apply for Power Building and Justice funding?
Yes, HIP will be rolling out a second Power Building and Justice cohort in 2023. The timeline has not been decided.
Will there be a second round of applications for the second cohort? Or everyone will be pulled out of this round of applications and split into the two cohorts?
HIP has not decided the application process for Cohort II.
Funding Terms
Is there any restriction on how the funding can be used?
The funds will be unrestricted, general operating funds (or core support funds for fiscally sponsored orgs) and must comply with all 501(c)3 expense limitations.
Do the funds have any limits in terms of lobbying?
Yes, all funds are for c3 activities only, which will be included in the grant agreement letter.
Could the fund also cover indirect expenses?
The funding will be for general operating purposes, so organizations can use them as they deem necessary to move forward Power Building and Justice work including indirect expenses.
Is there a specific timeframe for the funds?
The fund will start from the date of the signed grant agreement letter between HIP and the organization through (TBD), 2025.
How would the $200,000 over 3 years be divided up?
There will be two installments of $100,000 over the three years.
Is there any preference between funding current work vs new work?
No, there is no preference in this area. The fund is meant to support work you are currently doing or plan to expand, not to create additional work for organizations.
Is sub-funding an option if we wanted to bring in another organization or two in our project?
Yes, the funds can be sub-funded or regranted to meet the goals of the grant agreement.
Can you expand on HIP’s “trust-based approach”?
HIP will support organizations selected for the PB&J fund with the following trust-based practices:
- A Shared Values-Based Approach;
- Long-term Funding Strategy, (e.g. 3-year period);
- Investment in Capacity Building (see the capacity building question);
- Participatory Decision Making (e.g. final report format will be decided by the cohorts); and
- Moving away from Traditional Reporting Processes (e.g. one yearly reporting call and a final report developed by the organizations).
What kind of activities fall under the umbrella of leadership development?
HIP is not defining what organizations consider as leadership development work. Some of the activities can include developing a leadership institute, implementing an internship/fellowship opportunity for local residents, supporting local leaders run for office.
Can leadership development activities be youth focused?
Yes, there is no age restriction on the programs that applicant organizations are operating. HIP supports youth, elderly, and intergenerational work.
Could this funding be used to prepare/support BIPOC staff to assume leadership of a non-BIPOC led org?
Yes, that would be considered Leadership Development work.
Does HIP have experience/history funding/working with Queer & Trans specific organizations?
Yes, HIP has funded organizations that focus on and are led by Queer and Trans people.
Reporting Requirements
Will there be any reporting requirements for a grantee partner?
One yearly reporting call.
A final report (written or video format)
We plan to co-develop the final reporting structure with the participating organizations and key HIP personnel.
Should the proposed budget be the organizational budget or just the budget for the proposed scope of work?
You will be asked to submit a copy of your most recent organizational budget and the project budget. [Note: The organizational budget will not be required for future HIP funding opportunities. The organizational budget is a one time request as you register your organization in SmartSimple.]
Capacity Building
Will participating organizations be required to participate in HIP’s Capacity Building events?
As part of the fund agreement all organizations will be asked to commit to 6 capacity building workshops and 2 events (i.e. one in-person and one virtual networking event). We understand that organizations may not be able to attend all of the workshops. To accommodate this all workshops will be uploaded an online portal for organizations that cannot attend a session.
Is it required for the CEO or the manager of the program being funded to participate in the Capacity Building sessions?
There is a benefit of having someone in a leadership role (e.g. CEO, ED, etc.) or a program manager attending the Capacity Building sessions, but HIP will leave the decisions who attends to be decided by the organization.
Is Capacity Building training available for and organizations program participants through HIP?
The Capacity Building sessions are meant for staff of the selected organization. We plan to have a limit of 2 staff per organization per session, and although organizations don’t need the same staff in each session, consistency is beneficial.
Will there be any in-person gatherings/travel?
COVID permitting, we plan to have an in-person retreat with 2 staff members per organizations in Cohort I, II and HIP staff. If an organization is not able to join in-person, we plan to find alternative, virtual methods of attending (e.g. streaming sessions).
If you have any further questions contact
bayoan.rc@hiponline.org
Is there any preference between funding current work vs new work?
No, there is no preference in this area. The fund is meant to support work you are currently doing or plan to expand, not to create additional work for organizations.
Is sub-funding an option if we wanted to bring in another organization or two in our project?
Yes, the funds can be sub-funded or regranted to meet the goals of the grant agreement.
Can you expand on HIP’s “trust-based approach”?
HIP will support organizations selected for the PB&J fund with the following trust-based practices:
- A Shared Values-Based Approach;
- Long-term Funding Strategy, (e.g. 3-year period);
- Investment in Capacity Building (see the capacity building question);
- Participatory Decision Making (e.g. final report format will be decided by the cohorts); and
- Moving away from Traditional Reporting Processes (e.g. one yearly reporting call and a final report developed by the organizations).
