Deadline:

Jul 8, 2008 - Closed

Program Area:

Vulnerable Populations

Purpose:

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships (LFP) forge relationships between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and local grantmakers to fund promising, original projects that can significantly improve the health of vulnerable people in their communities.

Program Information:

• Call for Proposals


• Overview (PDF)

Eligibility & Selection Criteria:

• Projects must be new, innovative, collaborative and community-based. Significant program expansions—into new regions or to new populations—may also be considered. Please note that this program does not fund existing projects.
• Projects must be nominated by a local grantmaker interested in participating as one of the funding partners.
• Local funding partners must be willing to work with grantees to obtain sufficient dollar-for-dollar matching funds throughout the grant period. These funders may include independent and private foundations, family and community foundations, and corporate and other philanthropies.
• Matching funds must represent new funding specifically designated to support the proposed project. In-kind services may not be used to match foundation funds.
• Applicants may be either public entities or nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Private foundations as defined under Section 509(a) are not eligible to apply.

Criteria used to assess projects include:

• Description of the specific vulnerable population to be served and numbers of people to be served by the project.
• Clarity of the health problem to be addressed and how it can be addressed in the context of specific social factors.
• Innovation and effectiveness of the proposed strategy and how it would change any current system.
• Evidence of community involvement that includes new or nontraditional partners and members of the population to be served.
• Active engagement of local grantmakers including how they became involved and what their role has been.
• The organization’s capacity to implement the proposed project and manage grant funds.
• Evidence of a plan to assess the project’s impact with measurable project outcomes.
• A reasonable and cost-efficient budget.
• A realistic plan to sustain funding after the LFP grant is completed.
• Potential for the project to become a national model.

In addition to the criteria listed above, our goal is to fund projects comprising a group of grantees diverse in location and type of organization.

Important details about eligible projects, matching funds and selection criteria are available on the Local Funding Partnerships Web site.

Key Dates:

• May 13 and May 20, 2008 —Optional conference calls for potential applicants. Visit http://www.localfundingpartnerships.org for details.
• June 2, 2008 —NPO begins accepting Stage 1 brief proposals.
• July 8, 2008 (5 p.m. ET)—Deadline for receipt of Stage 1 brief proposals.
• September 10, 2008 —Applicants notified if invited to submit a full proposal.
• November 12, 2008 —Deadline for receipt of Stage 2 full proposals.
• January 27, 2009 —Applicants notified if they will receive a site visit.
• March–April 2009 —Site visits to selected applicants.
• July 1, 2009 —Start of grants.

Total Award:

• Up to $6 million is available for the 2009 grant cycle.
• Up to 14 matching grants of between $200,000 and $500,000 each per project will be awarded.

Related Materials:

• View National Program Office


• View Program FAQs


• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships (Grant Results Reports)