Technical Assistance ToolkitIncreasing Grant Program Accessibility

Implementation Tips

• Be intentional about language in your program guidelines to ensure that the guidelines are clear and concise and avoids need for additional support in understanding requirements.
• Create a one-pager on your grant program to help prospective applicants understand important program information at-a-glance.
• Provide a summary of changes between guideline updates.
• Consider the user experience in writing your application materials, for example, when possible, try organizing requirement information by applicant type for ease of navigation for prospective applicants.

Examples

• The Regional Climate Collaboratives (RCC) program at SGC has worked on creating clearer program guidelines each round. Between Rounds 1 and 2, the program guidelines were simplified and condensed from 43 to 32 pages.
• In order to create more concise guidelines, program staff focused on removing duplicative language, rewording sections for plain language, and examining what information wasn't as helpful to understanding the nuts and bolts of the program.

Implementation Tips

• Not all communities are at a level of project readiness to receive implementation funds. Where possible, creating funding eligibility for planning and pre-development can provide more communities the necessary capacity to develop eligible projects and establish a pipeline of projects for subsequent funding rounds.
• By investing in this phase of project development, programs can help increase the quality and geographic distribution of projects they fund through implementation grants.

Examples

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research’s Regional Resilience Grant Program offered both planning and implementation grants for their first round. The planning grant ranged from a minimum of $150,000 to a maximum of $650,000.

Implementation Tips

Engage with prospective applicants through listening sessions and key informant interviews to understand what their needs are related to program goals.

For example, if the program prioritizes community engagement; it may be appropriate for grant funds to be used for compensation for community members’ time in the engagement process. Asking community members from under-resourced communities to volunteer their time and expertise for free can cause an undue burden and reduce the success of public participation efforts.

Examples

Many programs across SGC outline in their guidelines how community costs and outreach are considered eligible costs for grant activities.

An example of how to frame this cost in guidelines language can be seen in the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program’s Round 5 Guidelines on page 38.

Implementation Tips

• Work with grantees to determine invoicing protocols and timelines that are convenient for all parties.
• When possible, allow for advance payment of funds. Advanced pay to under-resourced grantees can minimize the burden of large upfront costs associated with new projects and programming.

Examples

• Assembly Bill 156 and Assembly Bill 211 provide additional authority for advanced payment as a strategy to increase access to funding for lower-resourced organizations and communities.
• The Caltrans Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) is an up front (advance pay) program that is specific to eligible transit operators. This program’s language on expending funds upfront can be found in the 2022-2023 guidelines.

Implementation Tips

• Develop an early outreach strategy.
• Learn about existing networks and events where you can share about your program to potential applicants.
• Build relationships with prospective and previous unsuccessful applicants.
• Promote your program on grant inventories like the State Grant portal, Empower Innovation, and the Civic Well Funding Resource.

Examples

• California Air Resources Board (CARB) Access Clean California is a statewide project that connects income-qualified residents with California’s clean energy and transportation equity programs, including grants and rebates
• One of the keys focuses of this program is funding grassroots community-based organizations (CBOs) in priority populations to help community members learn, apply, and participate in this grants and rebates.

Implementation Tips

• Build relationships with other agencies and programs to help ensure that program staff at other agencies can help direct applicants to your program and vice versa.
• Help applicants understand how different programs align across your agency and, where possible, create consistency across program requirements and application processes.

Examples

Housing and Community Development (HCD) Multi-Finance Super-NOFA streamlines four of HCD's rental housing programs to align eligibility criteria, scoring, and release of funds allowing for a coordinated single application and award process.

Implementation Tips

• Enabling pre-proposal and full application phases allows applicants to receive initial feedback from grant or TA staff on whether a project would be a good fit before spending the time and resources to develop a full proposal. In many cases, applications to state programs can be costly for applicants.
• This feedback can help applicants better coordinate and communicate about elements of their projects with potential partners and refine projects in a way that ultimately produces more successful funded projects.
• If you are looking to increase awareness of a new program, you may consider a timeline that allows for more engagement with eligible communities prior to the application phase.
• Ensure applicants have a long enough application window for both the pre-proposal and full proposal processes.

Examples

Applicants to the Department of Conservation’s 2022 California Farmland Conservancy Program were required to submit a pre-proposal prior to applying. This allowed program staff to verify project eligibility and connect applicants with technical assistance for the full proposal.

Implementation Tips

• Limit the number of application questions and avoid duplicative requests.
• Limit response length for application questions.
• Prioritize requesting information that will help reviewers with selection in the application process, and where possible, save other questions that do not impact scoring for the post-award process.

Examples

• The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Justice Small Grants program provides a strong example of a concise set of program guidelines and application materials. In 2021, guidelines for this program were 19 pages long (including sample budget tables and work plans).
• Items requested in the application were a brief executive summary, background on partners involved, project need, work plan, budget sheet, and narrative on evaluation component.

Implementation Tips

• Create detailed and easy-to-navigate FAQs.
• Host accessible webinars.
• Host office hours with the grant program staff and/or TA providers.
• Translate materials and offer live interpretation at workshops.
• Share examples of successful grantee applications to help applicants better prepare their materials.

Examples

The Caltrans Active Transportation Resource Center which was created to support the Active Transportation Program (ATP) provides a suite of resources, technical assistance, and training to communities across California to increase opportunity for the success of active transportation projects.

Implementation Tips

• Create simple templates for reporting.
• Avoid asking repetitive questions and be intentional about the data you request. Make sure that each data point will be relevant to the evaluation questions you track and report on.
• Consider alternative reporting methods such as phone call check ins, video, images, etc.
• Develop strategies to utilize qualitative reporting
• Phone call check-ins with grantees can help provide a more informal reporting processes and help to build stronger relationships with grantees.
• Support grantees with third party assistance to collect project data, enabling grantees to utilize more of their budget for project implementation.

Examples

The CalFire ReLeaf program has a simple final reporting process for its grantees – consisting of straightforward questions and request for quality photos that captured events that were funded by the grant.

Implementation Tips

• Set selection criteria for your TA providers to prioritize those who have experience working with diverse groups relevant to your program, including cultural, racial, geographic, and subject matter diversity.
• Consider offering regionally specific TA and selecting providers who have experience working in their designated regions.

Examples

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) CUSP Program prioritizes TA providers who can provide assistance in languages other than English, and organizations who have experience and trusted relationships with small-scale and medium-scale socially disadvantaged producers.

Implementation Tips

Prioritizing depth or breadth: Depending on the needs of your applicants and your program priorities, your agency may decide to prioritize depth or breath given limited resources

• Depth: Offering high-touch assistance to a small number of TA recipients.
• Breadth: Offering light touch assistance to many TA recipients.

Examples

• The Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) only provided TA for specific regions because they identified a lack of applications from those areas in a gap analysis.
• The California Air Resources Board’s Sustainable Transportation Equity Program offered TA to all of their applicants, considering that the program’s eligibility criteria were limited to applicants from “Disadvantaged Communities.

Implementation Tips

• Offer an in-depth program orientation to the selected TA providers at the beginning of the contract term and at the beginning of each funding cycle to ensure that they have a deep understanding of the program, and changes to guidelines, and clarity on your goals and intentions with the TA.
• Hold regular check-ins with TA providers to respond to their questions and keep them updated on program guidance.

Examples

At the beginning of SGC’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program TA, program staff offered robust orientation sessions to TA providers that included an overview of the program, greenhouse gas quantification methodology, and other key program components to ensure that all of the TA providers were fully up to speed on the program before meeting with TA recipients.

Implementation Tips

• Organize regular meetings with TA providers and incorporate TA provider feedback into program design, the application process, and program materials to remove barriers for applicants and clarify commonly misunderstood program elements.
• Explore opportunities to offer multiple kinds of TA (office hours, direct support, resources hub).
• Create straightforward feedback forms or public comment processes for TA recipients before, during, and after the grant period. See the Developing a Feedback Loop section for more information about incorporating feedback into your program design, delivery and implementation.

Examples

The California Department of Public Heath (CDPH) Office of Health Equity, through its California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) emphasized robust and community-engaged evaluation. They were able to do this by collecting feedback in two ways:

• Program staff released an anonymous TA Satisfaction Survey every six months to measure TA recipients’ satisfaction with TA services.
• The program also measured organization capacity growth over the course of the initiative, which was collected using a modified version of the Marguerite-Casey Foundation’s Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool administered at the start and end of the grant period.