Insight Grants

2016 PEP Grant Application Period Now Open

The application period for the Carol M. White Physical Education Program grants, or PEP grants, opened today. Applications are due 5/20/2016. You can access the application package and instructions via grants.gov here. Click on the Funding Opportunity Number (ED-GRANTS-032116-001) to go to the grant summary page. Then click on the “Package” tab to download the grants.gov package and the RFP. You can also access the RFP directly by clicking here. Good luck!

-Rosalie

2016 Carol M. White PEP grants due 5/20/2016!

Although the docket indicated Monday, the Federal Register Notice for the 2016 Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant competition was published very early this morning. The Notice shows the application will be available/application period will open Monday, 3/21/2016. The deadline for all applications is 4:30 pm Washington DC time on 5/20/2016.

Grants.gov submission is required. If you’d like to apply and your organization does not already have an active grants.gov account with an approved AOR Role, go to grants.gov to establish (or reactivate) an account as soon as possible beginning on Monday. (The system is down this weekend for maintenance.) Grants.gov account establishment requires your organization to have an active sam.gov account first. If this is your organization’s first time establishing a grants.gov account, and/or if your organization’s sam.gov account is expired, you will need a high-level administrator to work on the sam.gov account. Note that the US Department of Education (ED) has done a really nice of job of including detailed information about grants.gov this year in the PEP grant Federal Register Notice. Use that resource as well as the information available on the grants.gov and sam.gov sites and their respective helpdesks. Establishment of these accounts can take a few minutes or a more than a month depending on your organization’s situation. Begin work preparing your accounts ASAP to ensure they are ready well in advance of when you need to submit the grant. Extensions are not granted for organizations that miss the deadline because their accounts are not ready to submit in time.

Good luck!

-Rosalie

Carol M. White PEP grant competition opens Monday, 3/21/2016!

The Federal Register Notice that will officially open the 2016 PEP grant competition will  be posted MONDAY, 3/21/2016. This is very likely to be the final PEP grant competition ever, so this is particularly exciting.

 

The grant deadline will be 60 days from the Notice publication date and will be listed in the final publication on Monday.

The full RFP may be available Monday, or it may take a few days. The release is not always immediate. Grants.gov submission is required, and the grants.gov application package will be available for download by Tuesday.

A few quick notes:

  • Recommended award range is now $200,000 – $800,000 per year, with average size expected to be $500,000 per year.
  • Total amount available for new awards is $23 Million.
  • Awards are still for 1, 2, or 3 years. Forward funding will apply as anticipated. This means funds for all years of each awardee’s grant will come out of this year’s $23 Million since this is the last year of funding.
  • Anticipated number of awards is 15—this could go up or down some depending on the size of the requests of the applicants chosen for awards.
  • There are three opportunities for bonus points via Competitive Preference Priorities. The first involves partnerships. The other two are related to student achievement.
  • There is an Invitational Priority (not required and not attached to any additional points) for discussion of Evidence of Promise–research showing program elements are proven to work.

If you’d like assistance, please contact us today. Good luck to all applying!

2016 Carol M. White PEP grants coming soon!

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program–also know as the PEP grant–will be holding what is almost certain to be its last competition this spring. This is because the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which goes into effect in 2017, did not include PEP as an authorized program. Congress did, however, appropriate $47 Million to PEP for 2016, and PEP is still authorized for this year. Insight was able to confirm with US ED PEP Program Manager Carlette KyserPegram a little over a month ago that US ED does plan to hold a PEP grant competition in 2016.

For months now the US Department of Education’s Forecast of Funding Opportunities has indicated PEP may open on or around 3/15/2016 with applications due on or around 5/13/2016. While those dates could change at any time, and we won’t know for certain when the application period will be until the actual RFP is released, this information suggests the application period could open as soon as this coming Tuesday. Therefore, organizations interested in applying should begin preparing immediately, if they aren’t already doing so.

PEP is always very competitive, with just 5-18% of applicants nationwide receiving awards depending on the competition year. Here are a few reasons why PEP is expected to be even more competitive than usual in 2016:

  • Due to PEP not being included as an authorized program under ESSA, 2016 will almost certainly be the last time ever that PEP will be funded. Many districts will be looking to apply this year since it will be their last chance.
  • Since PEP cannot receive funding after 2016, US ED was considering applying a forward funding approach to this year’s awards. If that happens, that would mean that the applicants selected through the competition would have all of their grant years funded out of the 2016 appropriation, rather than just the first year which is the usual approach. This means each award would cost the 2016 PEP appropriation the full project period cost rather than the just the first year cost. Ultimately, this would mean fewer total awards could be made.
  • Fewer funds are available in total than in previous years because the Congressional appropriation was lower than in most PEP years at $47 Million total compared to the $70-80 Million total for most of the program’s past years.
  • The last PEP competition was held 3 years ago in 2013. The last set of new awards were made 2 years ago in 2014, but only high-scoring but non-winning applicants from the 2013 were eligible for consideration. Many districts have literally waited years for a chance to apply, and some of them have been preparing for most of that time.

Preparation will be critical to applications being highly competitive!

If you’re not too familiar with PEP, here are the basics:

PEP exists to support physical activity and nutrition education programs that help K-12 students meet or exceed state PE standards.

As of the most recently concluded competition, PEP grants could be 1, 2, or 3 years in length with award sizes of up to $750,000 per year. Matching is required at 10% of the total project cost in Year 1, and 25% of the total project cost per year in Years 2 and 3. Matching may be inkind and/or cash. PEP grants must adhere to a supplement not supplant rule.

 

Will your district be applying for PEP this year? Don’t miss out! For 16 years, PEP has been the biggest and best-fit funding source for PE, physical activity, and nutrition programming for schools and community-based organizations serving school-age kids. While the competition will be tough, this year’s competition is your “last chance” opportunity to obtain a PEP grant. So start preparing now to submit a stellar application.

If you’re interested in grant writing or editing-only assistance, please contact us. Insight has a strong track record with PEP. The Insight Team includes several writers who have each won many PEP grants over the years. I myself have written 24 and edited an additional 46 winning PEP grants (70 total) for districts around the country.

Good luck!

-Rosalie Mangino-Crandall

Featured Grant Opportunity: Be Healthy Schools Grant Program/BCBS of Alabama

This funding competition is available to school across the state of Alabama, serving grades K-6, who plan to implement school-based health and wellness programs. Public and private schools are eligible. Programs should emphasize increased levels of physical activity, nutrition education, and parental involvement during the school year. A total of $250,000 is available in 2016, and schools may apply for grants up to $10,000 each. Applications are currently being accepted online and the application period will close March 18, 2016. For more information, visit the BCBS Alabama website at https://www.bcbsal.org/web/be-healthy-school-grants.html or contact them at CommunityRelations@bcbsal.org.

 

By Jen Adams

Featured Grant Opportunity: The Highmark Foundation’s Creating a Healthy School Environment Grants

The Highmark Foundation is building lasting change in schools through their Creating a Healthy School Environment grant program.  The grants are available to schools in central and western Pennsylvania and in West Virginia who present programs within three categories in order to improve health and wellness in their schools: Building Sustainable and Lasting Changes in Schools; Advancing Excellence in School Nursing Awards; and Meeting Health Needs Through Supportive Services. Creating a Healthy School Environment grants fall under the Building Sustainable and Lasting Changes in Schools focus area. Priority Areas for the grant program are Bullying Prevention, Child Injury Prevention, Healthy Eating and Physical Activity, and Environmental Health. Applicants must select one and only one priority area on which to focus their funding requests.

In Pennsylvania, grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to 20 districts implementing programs that improve access to quality school-based health and wellness programs. Mini-grants up to $5,000 will also be awarded to 20 non-public (private, parochial and charter) schools in Pennsylvania. Schools in West Virginia are only eligible to apply for $5,000 mini-grants; awards will be granted to 15 schools.

Applications due Friday, March 18, 2016.  You can find more information at the Highmark website www.Highmarkfoundation.org or follow this link for complete program guidelines:  http://www.highmarkfoundation.org/pdf/2016 CreatingHealthySchoolEnvironmentGrant.pdf.

By Jen Adams

Featured Grant Opportunity: Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Healthy Kids, Healthy Families Grants

Organizations with the goal of improving the health and wellness of children and their families through nutrition, physical activity, disease prevention and management, or supporting safe environments, are invited to apply online for a Healthy Kids, Healthy Families grant offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield. Grants are offered in the following states with the following application periods: Illinois (TBA), Montana (April 1-May 31, 2016), New Mexico (August 1-September 9, 2016), Oklahoma (May 2-September 2, 2016), and Texas (March 1-April 1, 2016). Links to program details and contact information for each state can be accessed here: http://www.hcsc.com/grants.html. Award ranges vary by state, and that information is often not available until the specific state’s application window opens. Your requested amount must reflect the scope of your outcomes and impact. For complete information and examples of funded projects, visit www.hcsc.com/grants.html.

By Jen Adams

Grant Opportunity: Saucony Run for Good Grants

Saucony Run for Good Grants are an amazing way to initiate, expand, or improve running programs for children and/or teens. The Foundation is “committed to reversing obesity rates by offering children the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of running and a healthier lifestyle.” Applicants must provide proof of tax exempt status, serve participants 18 of age or younger, and demonstrate that programs will increase participation in running in order to positively impact the lives of participants.

The upcoming grant deadline is February 1st, 2016 with maximum award size being $10,000. For complete details visit the Saucony Run for Good Grants application here.

Grant Opportunity: Healthy Kids-Healthy Schools Grants (State of Washington)

In Washington (state), the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction recently released the Healthy Kids-Healthy Schools grants. These grants are specifically equipment and/or facilities upgrades for existing schools. Grants are available for Nutrition (kitchen, cafeteria, gardens, greenhouses), Physical Activity and Physical Education (indoor and outdoor equipment, covered play structures, playground equipment), and/or Access to and Appeal of Water (water bottle filling stations).

Applicants can apply for funding for one or more topic areas. Free/reduced lunch rate is one of the factors considered, so highest-need schools as defined by free/reduce lunch rate are likely to have some competitive advantage.

Award Amounts: Grants are available for up to $200,000 per district.

Application Deadline: Applications are due 2/19/2016.

For complete information visit the Healthy Kids-Healthy School grants page.

Featured Grant Opportunity: NYSED Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention Program

The New York State Education Department has announced a new grant competition, the NYSED Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention Program. The program’s primary purpose is “to provide support to students through extended school day activities and/or school safety programs which promote violence prevention.”

Extended School Day (ESD) programs must serve students in grades PreK-12, and a total of at least 50 students must be served. ESD programming may take place before or after school, Saturdays, Sundays, and/or during the summer. ESD programs must operate at least 3 days per week for at least 2 hours per day. The RFP states ESD programs must, “Provide extracurricular enrichment activities including but not limited to athletics, academic enrichment, art, music, drama, academic tutoring, mentoring, community services and related programs that will increase student achievement and contribute to school violence prevention.”

The RFP indicates, “School safety activities include goods and services to provide safe corridors, diversity programs, collaboration with law enforcement agencies or community-based organizations, metal detectors, intercom systems and other intra-school communication devices, devices to increase the security and safety of program personnel and students. School safety activities may also include comprehensive school-based intervention models that reduce violence and improve school safety.”

Additional Details:

  • Applications are due January 8th, 2016.
  • Public school districts and not-for-profit organizations working in collaboration with a public school district(s) are eligible to apply.
  • Maximum annual request is $350,000.00 per year.  There is a per-student cap on Extended School Day activities that could reduce the individual applicant’s maximum request amount. There is no per-student cap on violence prevention activities.
  • The grant period is 5 years – from July 1st, 2016 to June 30th, 2021.
  • A total of $24.3 Million is available per year.
  • Funds will be allocated to geographic areas across NYS at: 55% to NYC, 15% to Buffalo/Rochester/Syracuse/Yonkers, and 30% to the rest of the state.
  • Applications must be submitted electronically through the new FluidReview portal at https://nysed-esdsvp.fluidreview.com/and hardcopies must also be submitted.

For complete details and grant documents visit the NYSED Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention Program page.

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