FAQ’s
THE 2024 GRANT PROGRAM HAS NOT BEEN OPENED FOR APPLICATIONS.
PLEASE CHECK BACK PERIODICALLY FOR INFORMATION ON THE OPENING OF 2024 GRANT PROGRAM.
Are the District’s funding priorities the same as in previous years?
The Board of Directors makes some changes to the funding priorities each year. With input from the community, health advocates and the Alameda County Public Health Department, the District developed a new needs assessment and has set its priorities based on those health needs. Please carefully review the Community Health Fund requirements to ensure that your program and organization qualify for the grant.
Grant Review and Procedures
The deadline for Grant Application submissions for 2022 grants was September 30, 2022 by noon.
Proposals will be reviewed by the Eden Health District Ad Hoc Grant Policy Committee and designated staff. During the review process, the District may require additional information from applicants. This information may be obtained through oral or written clarification of a proposal and/or site visits.
Eden Health District maintains a grant selection process which is fair and equitable to all applicants. All applications are reviewed carefully by the District’s Ad Hoc Grants Policy Committee and staff, and voted on by the Board of Directors in public sessions. Funding decisions are final and not subject to an appeals or grievance process.
Not all project proposals received by the District can be funded. Since the District receives funding requests far in excess of available grant funds, only a small portion of the requests can be approved. A decision not to fund a proposal does not reflect on the merits of the applicant or the value of the proposal, but rather results from limited resources.
Grant proposals are reviewed by staff and the District’s Ad Hoc Grant Policy and designated staff to ensure all required components have been received and basic qualifications are met. In addition, the District’s Ad Hoc Grant Policy Committee will make a recommendation to the District Board of Directors, based upon a District criteria evaluation tool, to determine an appropriate fit with District priorities, valid outcome measures, reasonableness of budget, and feasibility of success, among other things.
Yes. The Board places the greatest emphasis on programs that closely match the District’s priorities established for the year. Particular emphasis is placed on programs that have clearly identified and measurable goals and objectives, that demonstrate a need for the program or service, and that establish a new or creative approach to a health care problem.
Because funding is conditional based upon the Grant Agreement (a contract between the District and the funded agency), this will vary slightly with each grant. Following approval, the District will develop a Grant Agreement, specific to each agency, which specifies the terms and amount of funding. The Grant Agreement will then be sent to the successful applicants soon after they are notified of the District’s decisions. Once agreed to and received, the funding will proceed according to the schedule.
Yes, but there are no guarantees that the District will fund a program every year. The goal of the District is not to become a routine funding source, but to foster the development of programs that meet health needs. A component of your grant application should outline how the program will sustain itself over time.
An organization is eligible for funding only once in a fiscal year. Once a grant has been issued for an organization, no other grants from that same organization will be considered during the same year.
The funds are not separated. Large and small grants are made from the same fund.
In general, unused funds are required to be returned. Organizations may apply in writing to the District to keep unspent funds, if there is a compelling reason. Written consent of the District is required to keep unspent funds.
Funding Considerations
No capital projects will be funded during this year. This may change in future years. The District will decide annually and make its decision known.
For this fiscal year, the cap on grants will be $25,000.
If the research does not currently exist and it meets the District priorities, a research program may be considered for funding. Given the volumes of research available, the District may refer your organization to the appropriate State, County or local agency for your research needs.
All proposals are expected to have a certain amount of infrastructure or overhead associated, and this is acceptable whether collaborative or from a single organization. However, no proposal to support only infrastructure will be considered eligible for funding.
No. The District’s priority is to fund direct services and not solely overhead or indirect costs.
No.
Yes.
The project/service must demonstrate that it serves a majority, meaning a minimum of 51%, of clients from the District (San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Hayward, Castro Valley and all unincorporated areas within the District).
A specific proposal. The District will not fund operating expenses (continuation of an existing service or project) alone.
“Bricks and mortar” are specifically excluded at this time. Equipment may be included in a project or service proposal that includes the need to have certain equipment to carry out its work. Requests to solely fund equipment without a service component identified would be considered a capital project.
Yes, there are times when many worthy agencies are competing for the funds, but we do not have enough to give everyone. The Board carefully reviews each agency’s budget to determine if a lesser grant could benefit the agency and, if so, may grant less than the amount originally requested.
Written Grant Proposals
Most documents used to establish our priorities are available through Alameda County Public Health. These are available to your agency and the general public if requested. Grant applications made to the District are also public documents and may be reviewed by appointment in our offices.
Only the lead organization needs to submit data, but the collaborative agency or organization must be identified. The proposal should specify how the collaborating entity will participate. The District will contract with the lead organization and therefore hold that entity responsible for the terms of the agreement.
Budget Issues
Yes.
No. The District intentionally decided not to identify a cap at this point. However, this means it will be assessed without constraint and a judgment made as to its appropriateness. If the program has merit and meets all requirements and priorities, the District may decide to fund all or just a portion of a project.
Yes. This would be needed to assess the ability of the program to succeed.
Still Have Questions?
If the FAQ chapter of our website did not have the information you were looking for, then you can submit your question through our contact us form or contact Barbara Adranly at (510) 538-2031 ext. 201 or by email at badranly@ethd.org.