Process

The Grants Clearinghouse for the 2013 cycle will open on May 21, 2012. Please download the RFA for a full explanation of the Grants Clearinghouse process.

Overview:

Through the Grants Clearinghouse, organizations working in California and parts of Nevada can apply online for some National Fire Plan grants for eligible projects by writing one application. The application form can be found on the Fire Safe California Grants Clearinghouse, www.grants.firesafecouncil.org.

The Grants Clearinghouse is made possible by California Fire Alliance member agencies. Grant funding is provided by the USDA Forest Service (FS).

2013 Timeline:

Call for Grant Applications and Issuance of Request for Applications (RFA)        May 21, 2012
Application deadline                                                                               July 31, 202 MIDNIGHT
Letters of Commitment and Fiscal Sponsor Agreement POSTMARK deadline    July 31, 2012
Notification of funding decisions                                                                          June 17, 2011

For full details on how to submit an application and minimum eligibility criteria, please read the RFA.

Letters of Commitment and Fiscal Sponsor Agreement Letter:

  • Submit letters of commitment from all organizations providing matching funds to the project. Each letter of commitment must be on the organization's letterhead providing the match and signed by the organization's official representative.
  • The applicant organization must also provide a letter indicating the amount of match and a description of the personnel and/or services to be provided.
  • Fiscal sponsors must submit a letter on their letterhead certifying they have agreed to serve as the fiscal sponsor for the applicant.
  • For identification purposes, each letter must include the project’s name and the name of the applicant organization as they appear in the grant proposal. Each letter of commitment must describe what the organization will provide and the value of what they will provide. Note: all matching contribution amounts reflected in the letters of commitment must match your application.
  • Send all of your letters of commitment in one envelope, including a cover letter listing all of the organizations and their match amounts, to the appropriate Grant Manager below:

The letters must be POSTMARKED by the grant application deadline of July 31, 2012 for your project to be considered for funding.

  • If you would like confirmation that your letters were received by the California Fire Safe Council, please use a Return Receipt/Delivery Confirmation from the U.S. Postal Service or send your letters via UPS or FedEx with a delivery tracking number. The California Fire Safe Council will not notify you that your letters were received.
  • You may not submit the letters via E-mail or fax.

Re-Submitting Applications from last cycle:

If you have submitted applications in the past and they weren't funded, you will be able to access those applications on your home page and resubmit them for consideration in the new application format. You need to resubmit them for funding consideration by the deadline noted above because, on the clearinghouse end, some application questions have changed. In addition, on your end, you may find that your budget needs updating or you'd like to update the scope of your project.

To resubmit in the new format, transfer the information from your old application into the new application format by clicking in the status box where it says, "Click here to copy this application to the current cycle." Since questions have changed, you will likely have to do some editing of the information in the new format.

Grant Writing Workshops:

Don't forget to register to attend a grant writing workshop at one of seven (7 locations throughout California this year. You can find the link for registration here. At the workshop you'll learn how to write and submit an application, to navigate the Clearinghouse and details on the grant programs for 2013 cycle. Attendance at the workshops is highly recommended for previous grantees and mandatory if you have never received grant funds through the California Fire Safe Council.

How to submit an application

How to get started

Setting up an account with the Grants Clearinghouse is easy! Simply click on the link to Register as a New User  and choose a User Name and Password. You will be asked to enter information about your organization (sorry- we don’t give grants to individuals) and contact information.  We highly recommend creating one account per organization as accounts cannot be combined.

Request for Applications (RFA)

After you setup your account, please download and read the Request for Applications here. This document will provide an overview of funding information, eligibility details, how to submit a grant application and evaluation criteria. Once you are ready to begin to write your grant application, check out the Grant Application Planning Tool.

Grant Application Planning Tools

Ready to take the next step and write your grant application? We offer several suggestions for getting started:

  1. Attend a Grant Writing Workshop .Locations and dates vary, please see the online registration form. New applicants are highly recommended to attend.
  2. Call your regional Grant Manager. Grants managers are available to discuss project details, review grant applications and provide valuable advice on competitive grant writing.
  3. Download the grant application planning tool. This resource allows the user to write a sample application and share it with members of your grant writing team. Once your ideas are fleshed out, you are ready to log in and write up the final version of your grant application.