Application for Funding2016
Request for Proposals issue date: November 30, 2015
Applications are due no later than February 1, 5:00 p.m. 2016
Your Organization’s Name______
Address, including web site:______
______
Proposed Project Name______
Project Director[1]: Contact Information: (Address, phone, email)
______
Church Sponsor:______Contact Information: (phone, email)
______
______
Check payable to:______
Partnering Organizations or First Parish Individuals/Groups who will assist with this project ______
Amount Requested from Jones Partnership Fund: ______
Total Cost of Project: ______
Anticipated Project Dates: ______
Does your organization have 501(c)(3) status? _____
If not, what organization will act as your financial agent? ______
Project Summary:In 100 words or less, describe your project.
When answering these questions, please focus on the specific project/program for which you seek funding. We welcome, as a separate attachment, a general description of your organization’s mission and the need you seek to meet.
What do you want to do? What will happen? What goals do you want to achieve? How does your program/ project meet the criteria listed in the Funding Guidelines?
How do you plan to do it? Please describe program details here. How will you accomplish your task? Who will be involved? What objectives do you expect to complete? [2]
How does the plan build bridges within the Greater Waltham Community and with First Parish? Describe how your project/program builds these bridges and describe how you will work with your sponsor and reach out to groups at First Parish and the Community to ensure that partnership efforts are accomplished.
How will you know you have succeeded? How do you plan to evaluate and measure your success? How will it benefit our city?
Budget Details: use the Project Budget & Final Report form (next page) to complete a budget that lists anticipated expenditures by line item. Be sure to show funds you’ve already raised. Please provide written cost estimates where applicable (e.g. costs of renting audio equipment, costs of catering a meal for 100 people etc.) Please note that no sponsors or partners can personally benefit financially from this project.
Required Attachments:
●Budget –complete provided Project Budget form
●Letters of commitment/support from FPW sponsor (including detail on who was consulted to help plan and help implement partnership work)
●Letters of commitment/support from partnering organizations
●Written cost estimates (where applicable)
Optional Attachments/Presentations:
●Pictures or photos that can demonstrate the concept
●Letter of interest/support from individual partners
●Relevant history from similar projects that were successfully completed
●Information demonstrating current community needs that are to be addressed by the project
Project Budget & Final Report
Project Name: ______
Project Dates: From ______To ______
The Project Budget is to be submitted with your proposal.
The Final Report is to be submitted when your project is completed - no later than December 31, 2016.
Amount of the JPFGrant: $______
Expenses
Amount Requested
Expense Items (e.g. labor, copying, advertising, etc.) Line Item Total fromJPF______
______
______
______
______
______
______
*Totals $ $
Income
Amount Paid
Income Source (e.g. individual donors, events, etc.) Line Item Total by JPF______
______
______
______
______
______
______
*Totals $ $
*NOTE: Total Project Expenses and Total Project Income must be equal.
Name & contact info for person who will be responsible for finances:
______
This is the person who will be responsible for seeing to it that the project’s Final Report is filed.
For All Applicants: Use this same form for your Project’s Budget and for your Final Report.
Send to: Jones Partnership Committeeat Submitted by due date? Yes No
Funding Guidelines 2016
Intent of the Fund
The fund allows First Parish in Waltham to offer grants that support programs and projects outside its annual budget. The purpose of these grants is to deepen the relationship between the congregation and the community at large, as well as to promote Unitarian Universalist values. Partnership is central to the intent of the fund as First Parish seeks new ways to forge meaningful connections beyond the walls of the church.
Since its inception in 2009, the fund has supported up to twenty Waltham non-profits each year, with grants typically in the $1000 to $2500 range. For examples of the wide variety of approved proposals, visit the church website (
Funding Priorities/Criteria
Priority in approving a grant will be made according to the following criteria:
(1) Supports or creates partnerships within and/or outside the church community
(2) Reflects Unitarian Universalist principles and values (See ‘Our Beliefs’ under ‘About Us’ at
(3) Indicates ways to ensure measurement of success and sustainability capacity
(4) Creates a new or supports an ongoing program or project that meets the above criteria
(5) Meets the legal requirements of the Jones Fund which are that grant funds may not be used for the general operating support of the church
Eligible Applicants
Grants are available only through Church Sponsors who are at least 18 years old and have been Members of the First Parish in Waltham for at least one year.
A person or group may apply for a grant only in partnership with a Church Sponsor.
Grant Distribution
The goal of the fund is to approve as many diverse requests as possibleconsidering annual fluctuations in available money, number of applicants, and size of funding requests.
Up to one-half of the annual grant money available for disbursement can go to a single proposal deemed especially significant.
Application Process/Timeline
Grants are disbursed on an annual basis.
Grant approval in one year does not guarantee approval in a subsequent year--we look closely at the strengthening of partnership activity as we approve grants for an organization that applies from one year to the next.
All grant requests must use the forms available online at the church website.
As part of our church’s Green effort, we prefer that grant requests be made online. But, if your request must be submitted on paper, please supply three copies for the committee’s use. We recommend that the entire proposal, including budget page, total no more than five pages (plus attachments, e.g. letters of support).
Assistance in making a grant request or in finding a church sponsor is available from any member of the Jones Partnership Committee. The 2015-2016 members are: Amy Eastwood (Chair), Nancy Lawrence, and Bill VanderClock
The deadline for receipt of all requests is February 1, 2016.
Final approval of grant requests is made by vote of the congregation at its Special Meeting in April.
Funds are available for disbursement after April 20, 2016.
Reporting Requirements
Grant recipients may be invited to meet with the Jones Partnership Committee or the congregation in order to share information about the design, implementation, and impact of their projects.
At the completion of the project/program, grant recipients are asked to submit a brief written Final Report summarizing the outcomes of their efforts. Final Report shall be submitted no later than December 31, 2016.
Grant Sponsor/Advocate Responsibilities
Each organizational applicant for a Jones Partnership grant is required to have a Sponsor from First Parish Waltham. There are several reasons for this:
1. A key relationship is formed for the Parish committee to keep in touch with the organization that may or not be otherwise connected.
2. The Sponsor assists the organization in connecting to the Parish as a whole and its activities.
3. The Sponsor can assist in creating the partnership that the Jones Grants aspire to having with the community.
The Guidelines for Sponsors:
1. A Sponsor is a member of First Parish Waltham who understands the Parish’s values, purpose, and goals.
2. A Parish member who decides to become a Sponsor selects an organization in which s/he has an interest - in the people involved or in the mission expressed.
3. The Sponsor will be the contact for writing the organization’s grant and answering questions that arise along the way. The Sponsor is a guide for the application stage, and helps the applicant have an appropriate, clear, and timely application.
4. After the Jones Partnership committee reviews the grants and makes decisions about the amounts of money or requests further explanations, both the Sponsor and the grantee organization are informed.
5. The Sponsor checks in with the organization periodically to ensure that the grant money is being used as planned.
6. The Sponsor collaborates with the organization to devise ways in which a particular partnership with The First Parish can be achieved.
7. The Sponsor assists the organization in preparing a summary of how the grant money was used at the end of the calendar year.
When First Parish is designated as the financial agent, the Sponsor is responsible for keeping records of expenditures and requesting funds from the church Bookkeeper as expenses are incurred using the church’s standard requisition forms. (N.B.:these requisition forms must be signed by a Jones Partnership member. The Sponsor is responsible for ensuring that requests are properly documented and keeping a detailed record for submission to the Jones Partnership Committee as part of the project’s Final Report.
Where some partner other than the church has been designated as financial agent by the Jones Partnership Committee, the Sponsor needs to see only that the Final Report is submitted within two months after the project is completed or by December 31 of the year for which the grant was approved.
PLEASE NOTE:
1)A church member may sponsor only one proposal each year. A Sponsor must be at least 18 years old and have been a church member for at least one year.
2)We will acknowledge receipt of your proposal in a timely fashion. If you do not hear from us within a reasonable amount of time, please e-mail us at .
[1]1 Person responsible for this project/program who will serve as contact for Jones Partnership.
[2]Please describe your objectives in measurable terms.