Faith Organizational Resiliency

Faith Coordinating Center Grants

Faith institutions in the Southern U.S. have long been a cornerstone in African American communities in the Southern United States not only for spiritual and religious guidance, but social change and movements to address racial equity, economic disparities, voting rights, and housing conditions. More recently, faith institutions have begun to address health promotion and disease prevention including HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this funding opportunity is to advance the ability for a diverse array of congregations, including Christian churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples, to develop programs and initiatives or conduct research in their local religious communities that promote positive faith and health outcomes, specifically in the area of HIV.  

Wake Forest University School of Divinity is seeking to fund Organizational Resiliency activities that focus on infrastructure development and coalition and network building between faith communities and non-traditional partners. Especially during the time of COVID-19, we understand the particular challenges that faith communities have faced with engaging with members at physical distance and online. Organizational Resiliency grants will support the establishment of infrastructures to enhance communications, trauma informed care, health ministries, and other programs to respond to the HIV crisis in the South and promote healing and life-enhancing possibilities for those impacted by HIV/AIDS. We use the phrase, organizational resiliency, intentionally to acknowledge the strengths and knowledge that organizations already possess while aiming to expand scope, reach and effectiveness together as partners. Our aim is to collaborate with Christian and interfaith partners; create inclusive faith spaces (virtual and/or in-person) for LGBTQ persons and people living with HIV; create opportunities for physical, emotional, and financial wellness; and educate emerging faith leaders and faith communities who will impact how communities respond to HIV/AIDS in the future. 

Faith Organizational Resiliency Grants will provide funding for up to two organizations at $100,000 for 12 month programs to provide resources for faith-based organizations and/or nonprofit organizations to develop and scale programs and initiatives or conduct research to enhance communications, trauma informed care, health ministries, and other programs that promote positive and transformative faith and health outcomes throughout the Southern region of the United States, specifically in the area of HIV. Due to limited funds and a high volume of applicants, we reserve the right to fund organizations at or below $100,000.

Example of funded activities in this focus area might include:

• Focus groups, online surveys, or other formative research with PLHIV, people affected by HIV/AIDS, and/or those providing social or emotional support to people affected by HIV/AIDS, with a particular focus on faith-based approaches to engaging these groups (conducted on a statewide or national level);
• Formalizing an existing program that has been well-received in state or national faith based organizations and communities;
• Trainings for faith leaders and lay audiences in faith communities to build their capacity to develop content and/or facilitate the intervention on a statewide or national level
• Develop an app or other online intervention to enhance faith leader training and sustainable programming on a statewide or national level
• Establishing partnerships across interfaith, medical, and/or academic sectors on a statewide or national level
• Expanding existing partnerships across interfaith (Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, traditional African spirituality, etc.) perspectives and/or medical and academic sectors on a statewide or national level
• Bridging HIV, faith and advocacy work in local, state, or national legislatures
• Addressing inequities in housing, economic justice, food insecurity as it overlaps with HIV and faith
• Faith leader care (mental health, bereavement, burn out) and ministering to people living with HIV on a statewide or national level
• Programs to engage Black women on stigma, HIV prevention and/or HIV treatment

Evaluation

Grantees will be provided with web-based evaluation tools to streamline data collection processes.  Evaluation support will be provided to grantees. 

There will be two levels of evaluation. The first level takes place within the COMPASS Coordinating Centers to assess success of individually funded programs. The second level will be with ETR, the COMPASS external evaluation partner who will assess the overall success of the Coordinating Centers. It is expected that funded community partners will collaborate on and participate in assessments with the Coordinating Centers to support the COMPASS evaluation efforts.

COMPASS Coordinating Center Level Evaluation
The COMPASS Coordinating Centers recognize that rigorous evaluation is an essential element of project success. Thoughtful evaluation helps us learn from the process of project implementation, develop organizational capacity, enhance community accountability, and identify effective practices. Evaluation is therefore integrated into every aspect of grant-funded projects, from initial project planning to outcome review and reflection. Coordinating Center staff will work with funded community partners to develop project-specific evaluation plans.

Specifically, the Coordinating Center will require each funded partner to submit quarterly reports, which include the following information:

• quarterly progress made in the project work plans (work plan template provided)
• media engagement and analytics
• community engagement and analytics
• client level evaluation of implemented projects (we will ask you to conduct surveys with your clients on the impact of your projects)
• quarterly financial reports

For Wake Forest funded partners, you will also be expected to meet quarterly with project coaches supplied by the Coordinating Center and to attend 80% of training workshops offered through the Coordinating Center. Failure to submit quarterly reports, meet with coaches and attend workshops may result in a request to terminate the funded project and refund remittance. 

COMPASS External Evaluation Partner
Gilead and the Coordinating Centers (CCs) have partnered with ETR to serve as the COMPASS evaluator to facilitate continuous improvement through establishing data-driven programming, monitoring, and evaluation systems. ETR is a non-profit organization that advances health equity by designing science-based solutions and brings nearly four decades of experience in the field of HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health, youth, and families. ETR may contact funded organizations throughout the funding initiative (https://www.etr.org/).

Why might ETR contact me?
ETR collaborates with the CCs to collect evaluation data from COMPASS Community Partners. Detailed roles and responsibilities for ETR include:

• Developing, implementing, and tracking core metrics for COMPASS
• Establishing monitoring and evaluation systems for the collection, analysis, and routine reporting of key evaluation data
• Supporting the development of tools and processes to communicate overall COMPASS impact to key stakeholders
• Reporting outcomes and recommendations necessary for continuously improving programs and data collection
• Providing evaluation technical assistance and serving as a thought partner
• Sharing knowledge on the progress and impact of the initiative to all COMPASS stakeholders through data visualization tools

ETR has a fundamental commitment to centering the voices of community members in order to show the impact of programs. This commitment means they contact community partners directly to engage in different evaluation activities that capture the impact of COMPASS programs across grants and collaborative learnings. ETR may contact funded Transformative Grant organizations. Some of the activities they may contact you for are listed below. Additionally, there may be other evaluation activities that ETR may ask you to participate in.

Interviews

• Most Significant Change (MSC) is an evaluation approach that relies on interviews with participants to learn how community partner involvement with COMPASS led to change in organizations and/or communities. Its aim is to understand and describe community partners’ perceptions about changes within their organizations and the communities they serve.
• Community Chronicles is a series that follows a subset of COMPASS partners that have received multiple awards across all CCs to tell the story of how participation in multiple programs across CCs have impacted the organizations and the communities they serve. Community Chronicles seeks to show how participation has contributed to the overall COMPASS goals.

Surveys

• An online grantee benefits assessment survey will be distributed once a year to COMPASS community partners to capture the full impact and benefit of participating in COMPASS programs.
• Online partner satisfaction surveys will be distributed annually to community partners to rate their satisfaction with all services received through COMPASS Coordinating Centers

Your participation is ALWAYS voluntary and ETR will always prioritize community safety and confidentiality of participants.

You can contact ETR at compass@etr.org.

Eligibility
Currently, 501(c)(3) organizations (or organizations with a fiscal sponsor) operating in any of the twelve (12) Deep South states (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX) are eligible to apply for support of programs focused on participants in said states. Individuals are not eligible for grant awards.  

If your organization is considering multiple grant opportunities from the Faith Coordinating Center or other Gilead COMPASS Coordinating Centers (Houston, Emory, Southern AIDS Coalition), please take the time to research each opportunity to assess them for appropriateness and capacity of your organization to achieve the deliverables. Each Coordinating Center requires funded partners to participate in extensive, required training opportunities and deliverables in addition to the proposed project, which may overextend small organizations. We want you to be successful in your projects, so please only propose projects that can be feasibly completed based on your organizational capacity. We welcome you to reach out to our program staff to discern the most appropriate opportunities for your organization: compass@wfu.edu 

Award Amount

Awards are up to $100,000. The amount of your request should reflect the scope of your project and related expenses.

Award Dates

Deadlines for the Organizational Resiliency Grants are due May 8.  Award notifications will be announced by early June 2023 for programmatic work to begin July 1.

Funding Parameters for Awards 

• Grant cycle will be from July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024
  • Work plans for grant projects should reflect 12 months of work. Proposed projects that do not have plans for ongoing engagement throughout the funding period will not be strongly considered. 
• Funds must be expended by June 30, 2024. 
• Quarter activities reports (Due 10/31/23; 01/15/24; 04/14/24; 07/15/24) will be required of grantees.
• Current grantees receiving grant funding from other COMPASS Initiative Coordinating Centers are not eligible for funding 
• This grant will not fund individuals, general operations, endowments, or fundraising events.
• Grant recipients will be required to provide a narrative report and a budget report at the end of the grant cycle. 

Statement about Duplicative Funding 
Grantee has the right during the Term to receive grants and funds from others for any purpose. By doing so, Grantee does not violate any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement. However, if Grantee receives “duplicative funding” for the Proposal, Grantee will return such funds to the Faith Coordinating Center within sixty (60) days from the date of notice provided by a third party that Grantee will receive “duplicative funding”. For the purposes of this Agreement, “duplicative funding” means any financial support, including in-kind, for essentially equivalent work proposed in the Proposal before or during the Term of this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement entitles Grantee to additional awards, grants, financial support or payments of any kind from Wake Forest University School of Divinity.

Allowable Expenses 
Awards can be used to pay for program-related costs, including appropriate staff costs, supplies, technology, incentives, and membership fees for required platforms. However, there are prohibited expenses. You cannot use funds to pay for or offset the cost of any of the following:

• Medications or purchasing of medications
• Direct medical expenses, including lab expenses
• Existing deficits of organization
• Biomedical research or clinical trials
• Projects that directly influence or advance Gilead’s business, including purchase, utilization, prescribing, formulary position, pricing, reimbursement, referral, recommendation or payment for products
• Individuals, individual health care providers, or physical group practices
• Events or programs that have already occurred
• Government lobbying activities

Tips for a Successful Grant Application

• Clearly articulate how your project will address persons living with and/or impacted by HIV and how your project has a demonstrable faith lens.
• Clearly articulate how you will deliver your program, including the planned platform that will be used for communication (e.g., radio, TV, social media, website, email listserv, etc.) and how many people will be directly impacted by your proposed project
• Projects that demonstrate a clear focus and are large scale, statewide or national programs or initiatives with strategic organizational partnerships will be strongly considered.   

Additional Attachments Necessary
Applications must include all required supplemental materials. Applications that do not include all required supplemental materials will be considered substantially incomplete and will not be considered for funding. Templates for supplemental materials are available within the application. In order to have a complete submission and be considered for a grant, you are required to upload the following documents:

1.    Your organization’s 501(c)(3) verification OR 501(c)(3) letter of a fiscal sponsor
2.     Letter of Support from fiscal sponsor (if applicable). This letter should demonstrate fiscal sponsor’s commitment to providing the applicant with financial management of grants funds and administrative support as needed.  
3.    Organizational Operating Budget. The applicant’s 2022 operational budget (not to be substituted by fiscal sponsor’s operational budget).
4.    Grant Budget and Budget Narrative Attachment. A thoughtfully prepared budget demonstrates that you have considered all the costs associated with your request, as well as the resources needed to ensure the project’s success. 
5.    Form W-9. A signed and dated copy of the most recent Form W-9 indicating the taxpayer identification number. 
6.    Work Plan
7.    Diversity Table
 

Submission Process

Completed proposals are due via the COMPASS Initiative® website (www.gileadcompass.com) by 11:59 PM Central Standard Time, Monday, May 8, 2023. Applications must be completed and received by the deadline in order to be considered. Late applications will not be accepted. We strongly encourage completing the application early to allow for unforeseen technical difficulties. After submission, you will receive confirmation of your application’s submission and will hear from the Gilead COMPASS Initiative® Faith Coordinating at Wake Forest University School of Divinity.

Independent Review Committee

Grant applications will be reviewed by an independent review committee composed of community members from each of the twelve (12) states eligible for funding and representing each of the areas of expertise of the four COMPASS Coordinating Centers.

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