Pre-Award Grants PortalProcess DocumentsWhat is the process for developing and submitting a grant at FCPS?

What is the process for developing and submitting a grant at FCPS?

Owned by Susan Davis
Last updated: 30Jul2019 by Billy Buchanan

If you've never submitted a grant at FCPS before, this document will give you an overview of what the process looks like.

An Overview

  The District has established procedures for developing and submitting grant proposals. All grants, regardless of funding amount, must be approved prior to submission. The Pre-Award Grants Intent to Apply Portal will take you from the beginning of the grant process through to the notification of award status. The pre-award grants team in the Department of Grants, Research, Accountability, & Data (GRAD) will facilitate the process and provide assistance along the way.

This multiple-part process begins with the Seeker, the person who wants a grant. 

There are eight primary components of the grant development process, some of which take place outside of the Pre-Award portal. They are:

  1. Finding a funding opportunity/grant 
  2. Seeker Initiation of Request - Intent to Apply process
  3. Principal/Supervisor approval
  4. Eligibility review
  5. Proposal development
  6. Proposal approval, 
  7. Proposal submission, and
  8. Notification of award status.

An overview of these components is below. For more detail regarding each component, please go to the FCPS Grants Knowledge Base  and review the Process Documents articles.

  1. Finding a funding opportunity/grant: Multiple funding opportunities exist.  However, the key is finding an opportunity that is a) a good fit for your idea, and b) one in which the school/district is eligible to apply.  The pre-award grants team has a limited amount of time to devote to researching opportunities.  Because of this, the FCPS Funding Opportunities Database was developed. There are many other ways to find funding opportunities. Please see the articles in the Knowledge Base for additional assistance. Upon finding a possible funding source, proceed with the intent to apply process. 
  2. Seeker Initiation of Request - Intent to Apply Process: When you have found a suitable grant opportunity, please open the Pre-Award Grants Portal and complete the Intent to Apply form. You will need to respond to each item in the form and include the name of your principal/supervisor before you submit the request. Best practice tip: Discuss your project with your principal/supervisor BEFORE you submit the Intent to Apply form. There are helpful articles in the Knowledge Base linked at this site. 
  3. Principal/Supervisor Approval: When you submit your Intent to Apply request, your principal/supervisor is notified. This person MUST go to the link in the notification email and approve the request for the process to continue. Until that approval is obtained, the project is stopped. As most grants have firm deadlines, with no extensions granted, obtaining this approval ASAP can be critical to the success of the project. \
  4. Eligibility Review: After your principal/supervisor approves the project, the pre-award grants team will review for eligibility. This step in the process is critical for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes only one proposal per district can be submitted; sometimes schools and/or the district are not eligible.  If there are matching requirements or positions created, the Board of Education must approve prior to submission. The team will respond to let you know whether to proceed with proposal development. Once you have permission to proceed, proposal development may begin.
  5. Proposal Development: The pre-award grants team cannot write every proposal in the district.  However, the team can provide technical assistance to those developing proposals.  Please do not hesitate to contact either Angela Roberts (angela.roberts@fayette.kyschools.us) or Susan Decker Davis (susan.davis@fayette.kyschools) with questions. 
  6. Proposal Review: When your proposal is almost complete, please return to the Pre-Award Grants Portal to upload your proposal to begin the process of getting your proposal approved for submission. The pre-award grants team facilitates this process that culminates with the official approval to submit.  This process takes time and involves multiple departments; please allow at least five (5) business days for this part of the process. 
  7. Proposal Submission: Please assume that you are responsible for submitting your proposal to the funding source. The details of this can be discussed with the pre-award grants team. 
  8. Grant Award/Non-award Notification: Please notify the pre-award grants team when you find out whether or not your proposal has been selected for an award.

GOOD LUCK!

Hurrah! You received funding!  Congratulations and welcome to the post-award world of program implementation. Please notify the pre-award grants team so they can help begin the transition process from pre-award to post-award.

IMPORTANT! You may NOT hire any personnel, set up a budget in MUNIS, or allocate any funds until ALL of the legal paperwork is complete.

Better luck next time. You didn’t get funded.  Keep trying. There are many reasons that a proposal may not be funded, not the least of which is that there were many more great applications (like yours) than the funder had money to support. Perseverance is the key. Contact the pre-award grants team to discuss your options.