Regional Suicide Prevention Coalition Grants
About the Application
The Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide (the Alliance), in partnership with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), is announcing one-time grants of up to $20,000 to build up infrastructure of our state’s regional suicide prevention coalitions. Strong applications will demonstrate: alignment with Oregon’s Suicide Prevention Framework (Framework); alignment with the Alliance’s focus on hope, help, and healing; connection to reducing health inequity; and strong rootedness in local community needs and strengths.
What’s a Coalition?
A regional suicide prevention coalition is made up of multiple local organizations who are working together with a shared region-specific focus on suicide prevention. Membership will most often include people with lived experience and local leaders from multiple sectors. Most coalitions are county-based.
Project Ideas
Creativity is encouraged! Please see Attachment 1 for Framework Pillars with a few examples of projects and how each fit within the Framework. Attachment 2 is a list of all Pathways found within the Framework for reference. This worksheet is not a required part of the application but meant to serve as a tool to help you figure out how your project fits the Framework – and will help you answer question 6 of the application.
Next round of applications due September 16th by 5:00 PM PST.
Webinar Monday, March 13th materials and recording:
Overview of application
Q&A about grants
Webinar Wednesday, April 12th materials and recording: Review of Application, Materials, and where to find information on the website
Q&A about application and project ideas
Question:
Can you tell me more about how a fiscal sponsor works?
Answer:
Here is how the Nonprofit Association of Oregon describes it:
Fiscal Sponsorship is an agreement through which a project or organization without tax exempt status partners with an existing tax-exempt organization in order to receive donations and grants. Any nonprofit that the IRS recognizes as exempt under section 501(c)(3) can be a fiscal sponsor. If you are already working closely with a 501(c)(3) organization, you may want to consider asking them to be your organization’s fiscal sponsor. It is important for sponsoree organizations to find a fiscal sponsor that have a similar mission or area of interest, as the fiscally sponsored program is technically a “program” of the fiscal sponsor.
Funds earmarked for the project must be properly controlled and overseen by the fiscal sponsor: they must have the capacity to properly steward the funds, have mission alignment, and a willingness to maintain good communication with the project. It should also be noted that the fiscal sponsor will usually take an administrative fee (typically between 7% and 10% of the sponsored organization’s funds) to cover the costs of administering the sponsored organization’s financial reporting and banking fees.
Question:
Is it okay to ask for funding for just one project? We are considering dedicating the funding all to training. Is that okay?
Answer:
It is fine to apply for one or more projects. Training is certainly a valid way to use the funds. All projects should be linked to the suicide prevention framework, your coalition’s work and help you to strengthen your local coalition.
Question:
This question pertains to the sample project idea and how it connects to the YSIPP Framework: 3.4.1 “Equipped & Resourced Communities” Oregon communities are equipped to provide trauma informed postvention care for those impacted by a suicide death. Project Example: Stipend for Suicide Loss Support Group Facilitators and Trainings.
A coalition would like to pursue this as one of their projects and is encountering a barrier with their sponsorship organization who is a Local Mental Health Agency (LMHA). They are unable to pay facilitators that are not employees due to liability concerns. Is it possible to propose and pursue multiple projects through this grant and divide where the grant money goes? Funding for the facilitator stipends would go through a different fiscal sponsor and the rest of the grant funds would go to our sponsor organization.
Answer:
Funding ultimately is from OHA. They say that, while it will be messier on the coalition side of things, there is not a barrier on OHA’s end to this plan.
Question:
This question pertains to a specific application question: Section 2 Question 1C – 1. Provide a summary of the project(s) you will support with this funding. What is the need or problem of focus that this/these project(s) address(es)?
How detailed and in the weeds do you need our response to be?
Answer:
The purpose of this question is for your Coalition to think about what the need(s) are in your community and how can you address it. Answers can be bullet point in length. You don’t need data or to cite research. It’s very much “here is the problem and here is how we are going to fix it.” Example: Suicide attempt survivors have requested to have support groups. We would like to pay for interested coalition members to attend a training around how to safely hold this space so that we can start to offer support groups in our county.
Question:
What expenses are not allowed, if any?
Answer:
No Medicaid billable activities are allowed with this funding.
Question:
What will we do if there are fewer applications than the available funding?
Answer:
First round priorities were given. If the amount of funding is greater than we receive applications for the three listed priority applications types, OHA and the Alliance will decide on next steps (after June 10, 2023).
Question:
Will applications require a proposed budget?
Answer:
Yes, a simple one.