Grants have their own language and complexity. They’re not always easy to understand. There are rules, details, and requirements that you have to follow to the letter… or else your grant won’t get funded.
Sometimes, though, those confusing grants can get pretty overwhelming. And when that happens, we’re here to help:
Having trouble finding web sites that relate to your state and local government? I wish I had known about this site a long time ago. The State and Local Government Internet directory provides convenient one-stop access to the websites of thousands of state agencies and city and county governments.
The PSFA’s objective is to provide critical funding and technical support to public safety answering points (PSAPs) and local emergency response officials.
Senior Grants Consultant and First Responder Grants founder Margaret Stark shares her journey in starting First Responder Grants, and passes along key tips for securing grants.
Join us in Carpinteria, CA, for 2 days of meat-and-potatoes grant-writing training. We’ve designed our training to turn you into a first-rate public safety grant writer.
Learn how to help your agency get the training, to get the grant, to get the gear!
New Hampshire’s Loudon Police Department has graciously arranged for us to host our training at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Come join us for two days of meat-and-potatoes grant writing training designed to turn you into a first-rate public safety grant writer. Presented in language you will understand.
Learn how to help your agency get the training, to get the grant, to get the gear!
“Critical infrastructure.” It’s a phrase you might find in many grant guidelines and requests for proposal. But what is it? Where is it? How much does your area have? The answers might surprise you.
What is critical infrastructure?
According to DHS, critical infrastructure comprises physical and virtual systems “so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.”
There are 16 sectors:
Chemical
Commercial Facilities
Communications
Critical Manufacturing
Dams
Defense Industrial
Emergency Services
Energy
Financial Services
Food and Agriculture
Government Facilities
Healthcare and Public Health
Information Technology
Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector
Transportation Systems
Water and Wastewater
Where is critical infrastructure?
Critical infrastructure can be anywhere.
How much critical infrastructure does your area have?
And that, folks, can be the big hairy unknown. Critical infrastructure can be in or around your area, and you might not know it.
What to do about it?
We are working on some new resources to help agencies like yours plan around critical infrastructure and how to include details about critical infrastructure in grant applications.
April 4-5, 2019, ILEAS Training Center, Urbana, IL
Just south of Chicago, our friends at Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) are once again opening their doors for 2 days of grant-writing training. First responders and public safety grant writers from around the country will be gathering for plain-talk, meat-and-potatoes training that gives you the ins and outs for writing competitive grants.
Start talking with your chief, captain, or municipal contacts now so your department can join us.
Remember: The FY 2018 FP&S grant application period will open on Monday, November 12, 2018 at 8 AM ET and will close on Friday, December 21, 2018 at 5 PM ET.
Grant Application Webinars
The FP&S Program Office will host 2 webinars to help you with your FY 2018 FP&S grant application. The webinars will provide potential applicants with general information about the FP&S grant program, how to navigate the grant application, and tips for preparing an application. FP&S Program Officers will be available to answer questions.
FY 2018 Fire Prevention & Safety Application Assistance
Please make sure to thoroughly review the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) prior to beginning your application, as it contains the latest updates to the FY 2018 FP&S Grant Program. Begin preparing your application now by using the following application assistance tools:
FY 2018 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) – This document contains key programmatic updates and application requirements for all eligible applicants.
FY 2018 FP&S Application Checklist – This checklist will help you prepare to answer questions within the grant application. Collecting this information will reduce the time and energy needed to complete your application.
FY 2018 FP&S Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – This document contains answers to frequently asked questions about the FP&S Grant Program.
FY 2018 Research & Development (R&D) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – This document contains answers to frequently asked questions specifically about the Research and Development Activity within the FP&S Grant Program.
FY 2018 FP&S Self Evaluation Sheet – This Self Evaluation Sheet will help you understand the criteria that you must address in your Narrative Statement when applying for FP&S grants.
FY 2018 FP&S Cost Share Calculator – This calculator will help you understand and determine your organization’s cost share for FP&S grants.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is holding webinars for stakeholders nationwide to discuss the agency’s efforts in updating the National Response Framework (NRF) to incorporate lessons learned from the unprecedented 2017 hurricane and wildfire season. First released in 2008, the NRF is a guide for how our nation responds to all types of disasters and emergencies. As part of FEMA’s renewed effort to build a national culture of preparedness, this update will include the following areas:
Additional emphasis on non-governmental capabilities to include the role of individuals and private sector/industry partners in responding to disasters;
A new Emergency Support Function to leverage existing coordination mechanisms between the government and infrastructure owners/operators; and
Focus on outcomes-based response through the prioritization of the rapid stabilization of life-saving and life sustaining Lifelines.
The updated NRF will continue to focus on the capabilities necessary to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs during disasters. The NRF will continue to be scalable, flexible and adaptable, using the core capabilities identified in the National Preparedness Goal.
FEMA is hosting a series of one-hour engagement webinars to describe the update and answer participants’ questions. These webinars are geared toward the whole community, including individuals and communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, and all governments (state, local, tribal, and territorial, as well as federal agencies).
Advance registration is required and on a first-come, first-served basis. To register, click on your preferred webinar session from the list below.
Once summer gives way to fall, we all know how close we are to the holidays… and then to another new year. As we head into the final months of 2018 and look ahead to 2019, there is lots your department can be doing right now to prepare for next year’s grant opportunities.
Conduct a needs assessment
Proper planning involves a myriad of things, one of which is assuring that you have proper manpower and equipment to carry out your basic mission for your citizens. A needs assessment gives you the facts you need to know about how well prepared your department is to carry out its primary function.
Each year, public, private, corporate, and non-profit organizations provide thousands of grants worth billions of dollars. What programs are out there that your agency could benefit from? What program will you try for for the first time? What programs have you tried for and gotten rejected, but you’re determined that this year be the year you get to the winner’s circle? Remember: Lots of grants open for applications during the first quarter!
Know and practice the 4 things grant winners have in common
Over the years we’ve looked at thousands of grant applications, and we have seen it all. The good. The bad. The ugly. And there are things that consistently set the winners apart from the losers. Put our 4 tips to work in your grant efforts, and you will be far more likely to celebrate a grant award in 2019.
You can make a well-stated case for why your department needs a grant more than another, but you also have to back up your story with hard data. Luckily, there’s lots of that out there. Demographics, critical infrastructure, economics, you name it.