Bringing The Basics to Communities in Georgia


2021 Collective Impact Grant Initiative

Overview and Guidelines
The Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy and the Get Georgia Reading Campaign are pleased to release the grant application for the 2021 Collective Impact Grant initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to improve the early language and literacy skills of Georgia’s children, by creating community coalitions to increase early language and literacy access, professional learning, awareness, and education. The Deal Center will invest in communities that use the collective impact framework to address at least three of the four pillars of the Get Georgia Reading Campaign: Language Nutrition, Access, Positive Learning Climate, and Teacher Preparation and Effectiveness by using The Basics principles and strategies to support social, emotional, and cognitive development of children from birth to age 3.

The vision of the 2021 Collective Impact Grant initiative is that all children growing up in communities in Georgia have access to strong systems of family, community, and educational support in early language and literacy development so that they can be successful in school, the workforce, and life. The purpose of this grant is to bolster the educational and developmental outcomes of Georgia’s children in our most distressed communities and enhance community capacity by providing funding for community organizations to join The Basics Learning Network and implement The Basics principles and strategies to support social, emotional, and cognitive development of children from birth to age 3.

Funding
Systemic change requires collective impact with cross-sector collaboration, so we are providing an opportunity for community-based, cross-sector teams to apply for funding to enroll their community in The Basics Learning Network and use The Basics principles and strategies to support social, emotional, and cognitive development of children from birth to age 3. Up to $25,000.00 will be awarded to up to ten (10) individual community applications who successfully demonstrate the ability to implement and sustain the use of The Basics principles and strategies. The $25,000 award should be considered seed money to get the program up and running in each community, rather than a comprehensive source of funding. As such, awardees should consider early on ways to sustain the initiative and membership in The Basics Learning Network.

Eligibility
The collective impact grant application is open only to organizations that submitted letters of intent by March 1, 2021. Only one application will be accepted per organization. It is unlikely that $25,000 will be sufficient for continued implementation of The Basics principles and strategies; therefore, applicants must develop a plan ahead of time for sustaining and leveraging the work and sustaining the initiative and membership in The Basics Learning Network beyond the initial investment.

Eligible applications must exhibit the following characteristics:

  • Partnership of at least three (3) cross-sector organizations
  • Address at least 3 pillars of the Get Georgia Reading Campaign
  • 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations or working with a fiscal sponsor
  • Submit the fiscal agency’s most recent audit and/or audited financial statements
  • Have a plan for sustaining and leveraging the work beyond the initial investment

Preferred attributes:

  • The agency serving as the Backbone Support is the lead agency with the dedicated lead person for implementing The Basics principles and strategies
  • Community or nonprofit agency serves as the fiscal sponsor
  • A Get Georgia Reading Campaign Community
  • Member of a community team that attended the 2017, 2018 and/or 2019 Annual Governor’s Summit on Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College
  • The majority of the awarded funds used for implementation of strategies
  • Funding can be used for part-time staffing
  • Demonstrate broad and established community support and partner engagement
  • Have a plan for sustaining and leveraging the work beyond the initial investment
  • Uses data to demonstrate community need and build a strategy for community transformation.

Ineligible applicants include:

  • For-profit business
  • Event sponsorship, lobbying, or strictly religious programming

How to Apply
Applications will only be accepted from those who have submitted a Letter of Intent to Apply by March 1, 2021. Please submit your Letter of Intent to Apply to galiteracy@gcsu.org. Completed application should be submitted to the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy no later than 5pm on March 17, 2021. Applications will be completed and submitted via Qualtrics. Please click on this link to access the application.

The application questions are attached to this Overview and Guidelines document to help you prepare for the Qualtrics application.

Timeline
Application Distribution          February 15, 2021
Letter of Intent to Apply          March 1, 2021
Application Due Date               March 17, 2021
Award Notifications                  April 15, 2021
Grant Project Period                May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022

Application Review Process
Members of the grant review team will evaluate each application to make funding recommendations. Answers to application questions will be scored using this scale:

  • Excellent–applicant explicitly responds to each component of the question and the overall response is descriptive, clear, and coherent, 4 points
  • Good—applicant responds to each component of the question; the overall response is clear and understood but lacks descriptive information to gain full understanding, 3 points
  • Average—applicant includes required information but the overall response lacks description, clarity, and coherence, 2 points
  • Poor—applicant does not respond to all required components of the question; the overall response does not provide adequate information to gain an understanding, 1 point
  • Response is missing or response does not provide the required information, 0 points

Use of Funds
The following list of items are not allowable expenditures for this grant:

  • Construction or repair of buildings
  • Purchase or repair of vehicles
  • Food
  • Travel for conferences or professional meetings, with the exception of Deal Center-sponsored activities
  • Purchase of equipment
  • Items not directly related to grant activities

Grantee Requirements

  • Fiscal agency will be required to engage in a contract with Board of Regents of The University System of Georgia by and on behalf of Georgia College & State University and the
    Deal Center
  • Each partner agency attends a virtual introductory workshop/kickoff to learn about The Basics and award deliverables in May 2021
  • Each partner will receive technical support and participate in professional training with The Basics personnel through the Deal Center throughout the term of the award period
  • Report mid-term and final progress toward goals/metrics, partnerships, and leverage
    o Specifics will be forthcoming in the final contract
  • Periodically asked to attend meetings related to the project and other Deal Center events
  • Communities not participating in the Get Georgia Reading Campaign will be onboarded with a successful application
  • This is a cost reimbursable grant, meaning awardees will be required to submitted invoices with supporting documentation for payment
  • Measuring Impact: An important part of collective impact is agreeing on how success will be measured across organizations and throughout the community using shared measures. Awardees will need to demonstrate how they will develop a process and capacity to show measurable improvement on a continual basis. There should be alignment between the goals, measurable indicators of success, goal measurements, and data collection strategies and schedules.

Resources
To learn more about joining The Basics Learning Network and The Basics principles and strategies, the Get Georgia Reading Campaign, and the Deal Center please visit the following sites:
https://thebasics.org/
https://unitedwayofthecv.org/the-basics/
https://agi.harvard.edu/projects/First%20Report%20on%20The%20Basics%20Campaign.pdf
https://getgeorgiareading.org/
https://galiteracycenter.org/

Questions
For questions, please contact:
Dr. Theresa Magpuri-Lavell, Executive Director of the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy, at 478-445-8500 or theresa.magpurilavell@gcsu.edu
Akia Lewis, Strategic Innovation and GGR Project Manager, at 470-366-1431 or akia@gafcp.org