Selection process
Objectives: Establish a thorough, equitable, and measurable process for evaluating grants, while being conscious of the time requirements for applicants and volunteers. Create a quantitative and qualitative review process for applications that will establish trust in SEF and how we select proposals and distribute funds.
REVIEW PHASE I
Grant Committee Chairs conduct an initial check of each application to ensure completeness.
Additionally:
Calculate and score impact ratio (community members directly impacted/grant amount requested) . Score to be added to “blind review” - use quartile-based scores top 25/26-75/76+ using all applications scores as range.
If follow-up with applicant is needed, assigned to School/Community Liaison.
REVIEW PHASE II (Runs concurrently with PHASE III)
Members of the Voting Body complete independent assessments of each application using the scoring rubric. The “impact ratio” score calculated in PHASE I is then added to determine each application’s TOTAL QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT SCORE.
PHASE III (Runs concurrently with Phase II)
With a goal of gathering additional information that may benefit SEF’s qualitative evaluation of competing applications, SEF will engage leaders from SPS and community organizations that have applied for grants in a dialogue.
PHASE IV
Members of the Voting Body will meet to review all scored applications and to make final selections for grants to be funded by SEF for the current grant award cycle.
PHASE V
Upon completion of the Voting Body meeting, all applicants will be notified by email the final decision on each application. Funded applicants receive a hard copy letter that will indicate next steps for projects to proceed.
PHASE VI
To conclude the grant process, the Grant Committee Chair(s) will oversee a review of internal processes, as well as an assessment of the quantity and quality of grant applications received. In September, the Grant Committee Chair(s) will present a summary report of the Grant Process to the Board of Directors, including successes and recommendations for process changes.