SUMMARY This September, the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation elected to make a four-year, $10 million investment in the future of Girls Inc. This unprecedented grant is reflective of the Foundation s belief in our mission, the results we achieve for the girls we serve, and our vision to grow over the next five years and beyond. And it is a tribute to the hard work that each of you do every day to make that vision a reality. Our national Board of Directors and other longtime supporters have committed to match the Foundation s full $10M investment. With this support, we enter into our new Strategic Plan with much of the capital secured for the key investments we will need to bring our network to a new level. The bulk of these resources will be invested directly in affiliates, in the form of growth grants that will help you hire the staff, secure the resources, and build the partnerships we need to reach our goal of serving 100,000 girls intensively each year by 2020. Of the $20M in new investments called for in our Implementation Plan, $14M will go directly to affiliates who are prepared and committed to grow. This Request for Proposals (RFP) serves two main purposes. First, submitted proposals will be used to identify up to 20 affiliates who are currently ready to implement plans for major growth. Affiliates will be selected based on an evaluation of a) their current readiness for sustainable growth and b) the quality of their plan for growth. Grants will last for three years, from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020. Awards will total from $100,000 to $500,000, with the amount primarily to be determined by the number of additional girls to be served with impact by the third year of the award. The second purpose of this RFP is to give affiliates who are not currently ready to receive a growth grant a blueprint for success in future years. The standards outlined below for affiliate readiness and quality plans for growth provide a clear picture of areas where your affiliate can improve and develop to prepare for major growth. A second cohort of affiliates will be awarded grants in early 2018 and a third in 2019. We look forward to your participation in the RFP process and welcome your questions and feedback, and above all working together to provide many more girls with the high-quality Girls Inc. Experience! 1
KEY FACTS AND DATES Award range: $100,000 to $500,000 Award Duration: 3 years from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020 Number of Awards: Up to 20 RFP Webinars: December 8 and December 9, 2016 Proposals Due: January 31, 2017 Awards Announced: March 15, 2017 First Payment: By June 30, 2017 ELIGIBILITY: There are 4 prerequisites an affiliate must meet to be considered for a growth grant. Each qualifying affiliate must: Currently be in good standing Have Trax8 and be prepared to track attendance as of 1/1/2017, and be prepared to participate in the 2017 Strong, Smart and Bold Outcomes Survey in March - April. Deliver the comprehensive Girls Inc. Experience to the target population, offering programming across the Strong, Smart, and Bold program areas Have 100% of adult board members who made a personal gift within the last 12 months AWARD SCALE: In order to distribute grant funds equitably among affiliates, we are basing the scale of awards primarily on the growth in the number of girls each affiliate will serve comprehensively by year three of the award. Multiplying the growth number by $333 will yield the appropriate scale for your total grant request, ranging from $100,000 for 300 additional girls served up to $500,000 for 1,500 additional girls served. For example: Girls Served, 2019 Girls Served, 2016 Difference Grant Request 1000-500 = 500 x $333 = $166,500 National may make an award on a different scale than requested based on funds available. 2
PROPOSAL SCORING: Each proposal will be awarded up to 100 total points based on the below criteria for the Vision for Growth (50 points) and Affiliate Readiness (50 points). The Vision for Growth is the detailed proposal you will develop, as described below. Most scoring for criteria under Affiliate Readiness will be determined from responses to the Annual Survey and other existing documents including financials, with some short supplemental documents outlined below. VISION FOR GROWTH: Affiliates will be awarded up to 50 points for a Vision for Growth and accompanying budget and justification, according to the below criteria. Your Vision for Growth should provide a total vision for how your affiliate will expand to reach and serve the girls who need Girls Inc. the most. Successful plans will: Provide a clear and coherent roadmap to serving a target number of girls from low-income neighborhoods in your community, Demonstrate a knowledge of the market and the girls you plan to serve, the partnerships needed to accomplish this, Articulate a plan for service that incorporates all elements of the Program Framework, And provide a multi-year budget and narrative that describes the staff and other resources needed to achieve and sustain your growth goal after the funding period ends. Score will be determined as follows: KNOWLEDGE OF MARKET (10 POINTS) Market knowledge will be evaluated by the description of your target markets as described in the Vision for Growth, including the demographics of the communities you plan to reach, specific challenges facing these communities, how the target communities build on your current service population, and a knowledge of other organizations who may currently serve the girls you plan to reach. CURRENT AND PLANNED SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS (15 POINTS) Plans will be evaluated based on your description of current and planned partnerships with schools in your Vision for Growth, with points awarded for letters of support from superintendents, school board approval, formalized Memoranda of Understanding with one or more schools, the provision of dedicated space for Girls Inc. programming (and administrative activities) in partnering schools, the opportunity to deliver programming during the school day, any evaluations of the partnership by the school, and third party recommendations provided. 3
(Note: it is assumed that the majority of affiliates will expand through partnerships with schools, so that language is used here. However, if your affiliate is able to expand by partnering with other organizations, such as Ys or community centers, this is also acceptable. Please contact your Regional Director early in the process to discuss your Vision for Growth.) PROGRAM FRAMEWORK (10 POINTS) This category will assess the quality Girls Inc. Experience you plan to provide as described in the Vision for Growth, including the dosage of programming provided, and breadth of exposure across Core Essential Services, the staffing plan for paid and volunteer staff who will deliver programming, and the provision of a safe, girls only/pro-girl physical and social environment with adults who model and reinforce pro-girl messages. COHERENCE OF PLAN (5 POINTS) This will be an assessment of how well the above categories, as well as the budget and justification combine to form a clear and logical overall plan to sustainably reach more girls with a high-quality Girls Inc. Experience. Please include a timeline indicating how significant activities and milestones will unfold. BUDGET AND JUSTIFICATION (10 POINTS): The budget and justification will be assessed based on how they provide for the staff and other resources needed to fulfill the elements of the Vision for Growth, how an affiliate accounts and plans for other resources and corresponding revenue beyond the Growth Grant, and the sustainability of the plan (i.e. in most cases the share of grant revenue should decrease compared to the other funds you plan to raise for years two and three). The budget should be completed in the template provided, and the justification should be a section of your Vision for Growth. AFFILIATE READINESS: Each affiliate will be awarded a score of up to 50 points for readiness, based on Annual Survey and supplementary data. These criteria encompass an affiliate s current implementation of the Program Framework, facility with Trax, and capacity in Leadership, Fund Development, Finance, Technology, and HR. The scores will be determined as follows: OUTCOMES MEASUREMENT (5 POINTS) As noted above, to be eligible, an affiliate must be on Trax and ready to track attendance by January 1, 2017, and able to participate in the 2017 Strong, Smart, and Bold Outcomes Survey in March - April. Affiliates will receive up to 5 points for previous survey participation and experience using Trax. 4
PROGRAM FRAMEWORK (10 POINTS) Affiliate must be delivering the Girls Inc. Experience to girls in the age group(s) they are proposing to serve, providing programming in each of the core essential services, and employing a full time program director (or addressing the need for a full time program director in their proposal). EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP (5 POINTS) Affiliate executives will be scored on their overall performance in key management areas, evidence of entrepreneurial activity, participation in network activities and trainings, and the executive s engagement in their local community through participation in events and civic organizations. BOARD LEADERSHIP (5 POINTS) The board will be assessed on their process for monitoring the affiliate s performance and contributing to its success, previous participation in Girls Inc. trainings and conferences, and evidence of a commitment to board development and training. FUND DEVELOPMENT (10 POINTS) Current Fund Development practice will be assessed by the percentage of an affiliate s current revenue coming from philanthropy, submission of most recent revenue plan with monthly or quarterly tracking reports against goals, the use of a quality database to track revenue, and the Fund Development Functional Analysis which is attached. FINANCIAL HEALTH (5 POINTS) Financial Health will be evaluated based on the year-end balance of the past three fiscal years, the number of months of unrestricted cash reserves on hand, and written policies and practices regarding the annual review of revenue strategies. TECHNOLOGY (5 POINTS) An affiliate s technological readiness will be evaluated by the hardware and software resources they have available for staff and for girls use, including internet access at program sites. HUMAN RESOURCES (5 POINTS) HR capacity will be judged by the number of full-time and part-time staff currently employed, tenure of employment of key staff, number of employees hired in the past two years due to staff turnover, and training received by current staff. 5
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS: Affiliates are required to submit all of the following electronically to growthgrants@girlsinc.org by 9PM EST on January 31, 2017. (Complete or partial applications submitted after that time will not be considered.) Include the name of your affiliate in the subject line. Please send a separate email to Pat Driscoll (pdriscoll@girlsinc.org) indicating that you have submitted a proposal. You will receive a confirmation of your submission within 48 hours. Applications submitted by January 26th will be reviewed by national staff for compliance and an opportunity provided to amend any missing or incomplete documents. Please include: Completed Cover Sheet A Vision for Growth, up to 10 double spaced pages, which addresses, under clear headings, each of the sections detailed under Vision for Growth, above Project Budget, as described above, using the template provided Program Framework Assessment Tool, provided Organizational Chart indicating full-time and part-time staff Audited Financial Statements for the past three years Revenue Plan for the last complete fiscal year A full set of quarterly or monthly reports used to track revenue A gift report showing the personal contribution of each current board member between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. Fund Development Functional Analysis Chart, provided Memorandum/a with school partners Letters of support from Superintendents or other project partners 6