Technical Assistance for Community Food Projects Grants

Posted by on January 15, 2007

COMMUNITY FOOD PROJECTS (CFP) GRANTS ? The Request for Applications for 2007 is out!

PROPOSALS WILL NEED TO BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY

The Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program is a major funding source for community-based food and agriculture projects in the U.S. Approximately $4.6 million in funds will be available in 2007. The Request for Applications (RFA) was released on January 12. Initial letters of intent are due by February 13 (by email). Based on a review of these letters, some applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal, due by April 13. The procedures are detailed in the CFP Request for Applications, which is available at the grants.gov website as follows: http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=12255&mode=VIEW.

The initial Letters of Intent (LOI) will be submitted by regular email, but those invited to submit a full proposal will need to go through a complicated electronic submission process. Because this process can take up to two months or more and will soon be required for all federal grants, applicants not already registered are strongly encouraged to start the registration process as soon as possible at http://www.grants.gov.

More information and technical support contacts are available online at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm. Basic tips also will be available on the CFSC website soon.

The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) Offers Free Assistance to CFP Applicants

CFSC?s technical assistance (TA) specialists can help you decide whether or not to apply, clarify CFP program guidelines, address technical questions, provide feedback on program plans or proposal drafts, and help you develop an evaluation plan. CFSC will sponsor up to 75 minutes of one-on-one assistance per grant applicant at no cost. Additional time may be available at an hourly rate.

If you would like to use this service, please begin by reviewing the written guidance described below, and then contact the TA provider by email. See http://www.foodsecurity.org/cfp_help.html for details. Starting early is important to ensure that you will be able to receive timely assistance.

Community Food Projects Planning Guide and Other Materials

CFSC also offers a CFP Planning Guide with a wealth of information about CFP program guidelines and how to develop a strong proposal. It is available for free at http://www.foodsecurity.org/cfp_help.html (scroll down to bottom of page). The CFSC website also includes guides to developing a letter of intent and planning proposals, examples of successful CFP grant proposals, and other information helpful to CFP applicants.

The 2007 guides will be developed and posted soon, but in the meantime the 2006 guides can be used for planning since much of the information will be the same. Note: There are significant modifications to the project narrative specifications this year.

Community Food Projects Program Goals

The CFP Program supports projects that:

-Help meet the food needs of low-income people,
-Increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs,
-Promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues, and
-Meet specific state, local, or neighborhood food and agriculture needs for infrastructure improvement and development, long-term planning, or the creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers