Durham Youth Leadership Fund FAQs

QUESTIONS WE’VE GOTTEN ABOUT THE FUND, AND OUR RESPONSES

When is the “Interest Form” due and is there also an “application”?

The Interest Form (English and Spanish) is due on May 2, 2021 at 11:59pm. Selected applicants will be invited to a virtual pitch session. There is no other “application” that needs to be submitted.

Can we do a one-time project, or does the proposed project have to span a whole year?

You can propose a one-time project or event, and/or something that spans the entire year. All the proposed work should take place between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. You can schedule activities and events at any time during the year.

Can we request funds to compensate adults who will be working with the young people?

Yes, if the adults have a role in facilitating youth engagement, the fund could cover compensation for their time. For focus areas 1 and 2, the review team will be looking for projects that create opportunities for youth leadership, and we acknowledge that youth-adult partnerships are important and often needed in this work.

Share any guidelines for compensating youth.

We believe in compensating young people for their time, and believe their perspectives are just as valuable as adults, if not more so when planning programs for young people.

For work on projects: we encourage paying young people at the same rate as adults if they are doing the same type of work. You could choose a stipend approach, or an hourly rate, depending on the nature of the work. For example, an artist might price out the design and painting of a mural as one total amount (including labor and materials, and other expenses), and someone who is serving as a consultant, might use an hourly rate. We’d like to see an hourly rate be at least the City’s minimum wage of $15.46/hour.

For limited engagements, such as at a town hall or listening session with young people, we usually provide gift cards to incentivize attendance, and provide meals when safe to do so. For a 2-hour engagement, a $25-50 gift card is appropriate, depending on what is being asked of participants.

What are the measures being taken in your selection process to ensure equity in the selected grantees?

Our youth-adult grant team will use the same scoring sheet to review all the proposals. The sheet will be based on the selection criteria outlined in the guidelines document (English and Spanish). As detailed there, extra points will be given to proposals that: are submitted by young people; show collaboration between groups; and use creative and innovative approaches.

We will review the plans presented with an eye towards accountability to the community and engagement approaches. For example, what relationships, connections, and trust already exist with community members and young people? We will also review with an eye towards impact. For example, who’s lives will be better as a result of this proposal, and will those identities we’ve prioritized benefit in meaningful/substantial ways?

How do we fix the racial wealth gap?

We acknowledge this grant program will not fix the racial wealth gap. We recognize the racial wealth gap is the result of institutional and systemic racism, compounded over generations. We know there needs to be a substantial national and local investment into Black households and communities, plus nation-wide policy change on multiple fronts that gets at the root causes of this gap. Applicants are welcome to propose projects they believe will address the racial wealth gap.

Tell us about the virtual pitch sessions - what is expected?

Following an initial round of reviewing interest forms, the grant team will invite selected applicants to pitch their ideas in a virtual session. The session details are still being finalized, and will likely involve a combination of a prepared presentation in any format, and a question and answer discussion session.

The Interest Form is intended to provide the grant team with some of the basic information and overall spirit of the proposal, and the pitch session will allow applicants to get into the nitty-gritty details (e.g., a more detailed budget and project plan) and be in conversation with the review team about their idea.

Specific prompts will be sent to selected applicants before the pitch sessions, and we can support applicants as they prepare for their session. There is a question in the Interest Form that allows applicants to share ways we might be able to support.

Will all applicants who submit an Interest Form move on to the next step of virtual pitch sessions?

Probably not. The grant team will review the Interest Forms using a scoring sheet that is based on the selection criteria outlined in the guidelines document (English and Spanish). This will be like the first cut. The team will then make decisions about who will move on to the next round of virtual pitch sessions.

What definitely won’t be funded?

The Leadership Fund cannot fund things like: fines and penalties; utility fees (electricity, gas, water, etc); equipment with a value of more than $2,000 (like laptops and video cameras); food costs over $1,000; and structures that need to be built. This isn’t an all-inclusive list, and there may be other things we haven’t thought of that will come up in our review process.

What type of reporting will be expected?

Awarded grantees will participate in a few meetings throughout the year with the Office on Youth team and also other grantees to share progress updates. A final report will be due by June 2022 summarizing the project’s activities. We will rely on applicants to tell us what success looks like for you, and we will use that to help guide what progress reports will include.

Will any preference be given to proposals with a certain ratio of overhead to personnel?

We currently do not have any criteria that will favor one application over another based on type of funds being requested. Each proposal will be reviewed by the grant team using a scoring sheet that is based on the selection criteria outlined in the guidelines document (English and Spanish).

Could applicants be awarded a lower amount than what they are requesting, versus being considered for “all or none” funding?

During the review process, the grant team will consider this as an option. We will have to consider the specifics of all the proposals eligible for funding, and the funding available. We would discuss this as an option with potential grantees if we decided to award for a lower amount than what is being requested.

Are you encouraging organizations to apply for multiple funding areas or to focus in on one?

Organizations are welcome to apply for funds that address more than one focus area. We recognize that a lot of this work is interconnected. Applicants will not be scored based on the number of focus areas they are addressing.

Are you prioritizing longevity in projects?

Not necessarily. All project funding will end on or around June 30, 2022. Projects can continue past that date if there is other funding to support them.

Each proposal will be reviewed by the grant team using a scoring sheet that is based on the selection criteria outlined in the guidelines document (English and Spanish). As detailed there, extra points will be given to proposals that: are submitted by young people; show collaboration between groups; and use creative and innovative approaches.