Request for Applications & Application Guide: Advancing Disaster Education in America

ELIGIBILITY: Applications must be submitted by Extension professionals employed by land-grant or sea-grant universities that are members of the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN). At least one individual on any proposed project must be an EDEN delegate or Point of Contact.

AWARD AMOUNT: For (2024-2025), up to six $25,000 grants are available.  

TIMELINE:

• Application Open: September 3, 2024
• Application Deadline: 11:59 pm Pacific on Friday, November 1, 2024
• Award Notification: December, 2024
• Award Period: January 1, 2025 - August 31, 2025

The purpose of the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) Development Grants Program (“Mini-Grants”) is to invest in the development of innovative educational resources and Extension initiatives that can advance the work of EDEN and support the broader land-grant and sea-grant systems across the nation in addressing the preparation for, response to, and recovery from hazards and disasters. Four focus areas were developed during EDEN’s Strategic Planning process led by the EDEN Executive Committee. This document outlines the  1) focus areas, and 2) process(es) for applying, and 3) review, award, and monitoring processes.

FOCUS AREAS: The EDEN mini-grant process is designed to generate activities and work products that contribute directly to the success of EDEN as an organization. Proposals must address one of the following broad focus areas below and include plans to present at the annual conference.

1. The production of publicly available EDEN resources and scholarship. Deliverables must increase the scope, variety, and number of disaster-related materials available on the EDEN website.
2. Professional Development of EDEN POCs and Delegates. Deliverables must include training, EDEN certificates, and related projects to enhance the personal and professional capacity of EDEN Delegates.
3. The enhancement of membership and participation. Deliverables must include efforts and activities to generate new institutional memberships, increase delegate numbers, and increase participation, particularly among underrepresented groups such as 1890 and 1994 institutions.
4. The enhancement of partnerships, relationships, and networks on behalf of EDEN. Deliverables would include outreach and engagement activities intended to build new funding relationships with agencies and organizations, including, but not limited to, USDA.

Up to six competitive $25,000 grants will be awarded. Deliverables must include activities, outputs, outcomes, impacts, and materials specific to the topic area of focus. Successful applicants are expected to submit products, processes and other deliverables that will be made available via the various EDEN platforms. Awardees are also expected to summarize their project and outcomes at the following EDEN Annual Conference.

WHERE TO APPLY

Applications should be filled out through the FADI-EDEN Application Portal provided by Extension Foundation: https://webportalapp.com/sp/eden-2. For additional information, questions, or clarifications, email brennakotar@extension.org. For a walk-through of how to set up your account in the FADI-EDEN Application Portal and how to submit your application, click here.

If you have questions about any EDEN Development Grants Program, please contact Fred Schlutt at fredschlutt@extension.org.

BUDGET AND BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS

The budget should address each of the major cost categories outlined in the Federal SF-424 Research and Related Budget form (see brief outline below).  No match of institutional funds is required. NIFA Federal Assistance Policy Guide (https://nifa.usda.gov/resource...istance-policy-guide). If you have questions or are unsure how to calculate your budget amount, please contact your institution’s finance department.

• Personnel Costs (R&R Sections A&B)
  • Compensation in the form of Salaries and Wages for the faculty, technicians, research associates and assistants, postdoctoral associates, and other technical personnel necessary to meet the project's goals, computed as either percent effort, or hourly wages.
  • Fringe Benefits typically encompass employer contributions for social security, employee life, health, unemployment, worker's compensation insurance, and pension plan costs related to the personnel charged to the project. Costs must be expressed as a percentage of salaries and wages in the proposal budget based on negotiated Federal rates applicable to each person or role.
• Equipment Costs: Capital equipment (R&R Section C) is defined as tangible personal property (including information technology systems) with a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit. Total unit cost per item includes the cost of the item, sales tax, and shipping. Requests must include item description, justification of use for equipment on the project, quote to substantiate the equipment cost, and plan for equipment disposal at the end of the performance period. Agency approval must be obtained before awarded funds may be released. Equipment is considered noncapital if both cost and useful life criteria are unmet (see Other Direct Costs below).
• Travel Costs (R&R Section D): Employee transportation, lodging, and subsistence costs directly supporting the project's aims, including presenting at the Annual EDEN Conference. In the budget justification, include the destination, number of people traveling, and dates or duration of each stay for all anticipated travel. Include rates used to calculate travel. Ie. mileage, per diem, lodging, airfare, ground transportation, etc. You may use this Travel Calculator to calculate your travel costs.
• Participant Support Costs (R&R Section E): Direct costs for items such as stipends or honoraria, subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences or training projects. NIFA considers payments to non-participants, e.g., organizers, recruiters, influencers, trainers, coaches, etc., who encourage or assist participants to be Participant Support. Payments made to defray the cost of participation, e.g., for travel and meals, are also allowed in accordance with institutional policies and documentation requirements.
• Other Direct Costs (R&R Section F):
  • Materials and Supplies: Consumables to be used in the performance of the proposed project, e.g., laboratory items and data processing supplies.
  • Non-Capital Equipment: Equipment that does not meet both capitalization criteria above. Note that such items are indistinguishable from other supplies. Include in Materials and Supplies. 
  • Consultants/Independent Contractors: Consultants who provide expertise or service to a particular project consistent with their normal course of business.
  • Subawards: A contract specifically creating a Federal assistance relationship with a subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal award received by the project applicant. A subrecipient is typically assigned responsibility for programmatic decision-making, and subsequent performance is measured concerning whether assigned project objectives were met.
  • Tuition Remission: Mandatory benefit for Graduate Research Assistants/Associates (GRAs) students that is separate and distinct from other employee fringe benefits.
  • Other Costs: Include vendor contracts for ancillary goods and services, publication, and meeting costs. It also may include items that are normally indirect, e.g., telephone long distance and photocopy costs, that are directly related and assignable with a high degree of accuracy.
• Indirect costs (R&R Section H): Whereas Direct Costs (R&R Sections A-F) can be explicitly identified  with the performance of a project, Indirect (aka Facilities and Administrative or overhead) Costs are incurred for common or joint objectives and, therefore, cannot be identified readily and specifically with any project. Indirect Costs are quantified as a percentage of a predefined Direct Cost base: Total Direct Costs (TDC), Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC), or Salaries and Wages (S&W) that may or may not include Fringe Benefits. Note that Indirect Cost rates remain unchanged for the life of the project. Applicants are limited to indirect costs at 10 percent of the total direct costs (TDC).

REPORTING

Each project will be required to submit a progress report mid-funding cycle (April 15,  2025) and a final programmatic report within 30 days of the end date of the award period (September 30, 2025). The report will outline the project and describe its outcomes/impact. It will be submitted through the FADI-EDEN Application Portal. Questions which must be addressed in each of these required project reports include:

Mid-funding reporting progress report:

• How was your experience of the application process?
• What suggestions do you have for improving the application process?
• Please  select an option that best describes How are you progressing on your project work?, What have your accomplished so far with your project?, and As described in your application, how would your describe your timeline, using the indicators below?: 
  • Ahead of Schedule
  • On Schedule
  • Slightly Delayed
  • Significantly Delayed. 
  • Please briefly explain your progress to date toward the overall goal and the rating you gave.
• How would you rate your overall progress toward the Expected Outcomes you aim to achieve by the end of the project?
  • Will Definitely Achieve Expected Outcomes
  • Will Possibly Achieve Expected Outcomes
  • May Not Achieve All Expected Outcomes
  • Will Not Achieve All Expected Outcomes
  • Please provide a short explanation for the rating you provided.
• Please indicate if your team or project has encountered any of the following barriers since receiving your award notice. Select all that apply. 
  • Delay in Project Implementation
  • Lack of Participation from External Participants
  • Personnel Issues
  • Other (Explain)
• Please describe any barriers encountered, that  impacted your project, and any adaptations you  adopted because of them.
• Considering your goals and progress to date, do you need to adjust your project scope?  If so, please provide a short explanation.
• How have you engaged with the Extension Foundation staff in the process of receiving the award and getting started on your project? Please share your experience and let us know if it was helpful or not.

Final Report

• How would you rate your overall progress toward the Expected Outcomes described in your application? 
  • Will Definitely Achieve Expected Outcomes
  • Will Possibly Achieve Expected Outcomes
  • May Not Achieve All Expected Outcomes
  • Will Not Achieve All Expected Outcomes.
  • Please provide a short explanation for the rating you provided.

• Please describe any barriers encountered, their impact on your project, and any adaptations adopted because of them.
• What impact did you realize with your project?
• Describe all the outcomes (deliverables) from your project
• How will you share/distribute the results and deliverables of your project to your partners, clients or community?
• How have you engaged with the Extension Foundation? Please share your experience and if it was helpful or not helpful.
• Based on your experience of this mini-grant, would you consider applying for another one? Why or why not?

You are required to share the deliverables, results and outputs with the EDEN network, present at the annual EDEN Conference, and submit a new or updated resource through the Resource Dashboard, if applicable.

The Extension Foundation can help promote your deliverables to EDEN. For example, here are a few ways: news item on the EDEN Website, a blog update on Connect Extension (which gets pulled into a weekly digest and distributed via email), EDEN Facebook, EDEN LinkedIn, EDEN Twitter, to Extension communication directors at your institution to distribute to media partners, internally, etc. If you are ready to get started, email ruthinman@extension.org

Each project will be required to submit a quarterly financial report due within 30 days of the end of the quarter and a final financial report due within 60 days of the end of the award period.

As referenced above, any product, material, or process developed in this funded project must be provided to EDEN for dissemination on EDEN platforms.

AWARD REVIEW PROCESS

The EDEN Development Grants Program takes seriously the need for a sound and unbiased peer-review process for all proposals submitted. Review panels will evaluate each award type and convene to identify funding selections. 

Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• The proposed project's merit and its intended impact on the Extension community.
• The proposed project's relevance in addressing one or more of the Critical Focus Areas.
• The soundness of the methodology being proposed.
• The project’s potential contribution to the research literature is to inform policy discussions at federal, regional, state, and/or local levels and/or to improve food assistance/nutrition-related program outreach/delivery activities.
• The qualifications of the individual or team that will provide leadership to the research effort.

APPLICATION FORM FIELDS

The application form fields are meant to guide the opportunity and the resources available to frame your proposal. Although the individual questions are listed below, with space available to craft your responses, the proposal must be submitted using the FADI-EDEN Application Portal at https://webportalapp.com/sp/eden-2

1. Which of the following area(s) of focus does this proposal most closely align?
   1. The production of publicly available EDEN resources and scholarship. This effort will increase the scope, variety, and number of disaster-related materials available on the EDEN website.
   2. Professional Development of EDEN POCs and Delegates. This would include training, EDEN certificates, and related projects to enhance the personal and professional capacity of EDEN Delegates.
   3. The enhanced membership and participation. These efforts would generate new institutional memberships, increase delegate numbers, and increase participation, particularly among underrepresented groups such as 1890 and 1994 institutions.
   4. The enhancement of partnerships, relationships, and networks on behalf of EDEN. Efforts under this focus area could include building new funding relationships with agencies and organizations, including, but not limited to, USDA.
2. Upload a Director/Administrator letter of support.

PROJECT TEAM CONTACT INFORMATION

1. Project Team Leader/Principal Investigator Name
2. Project Team Leader/Principal Investigator Email Address
3. Project Team Leader/Principal Investigator Phone Number  
4. Briefly highlight the past activities that the Project Team Leader/Principal Investigator has been engaged in that are relevant to the proposed project. This could include listing relevant publications, reports, and contributed papers.
5. Upload the Project Team Leader/Principal Investigator Biographical Sketch (maximum of 3 pages).  List the name and institutional affiliation of each team member.

PROJECT INFORMATION

1. Project Summary (250-word summary of your proposal)
2. Introduction and Problem Statement (150-word maximum)
3. Methods (250-word maximum)
4. Data Analysis Procedures (250-word maximum)
5. What are the project’s anticipated outputs and shareable deliverables to the network? Include all content you plan to create and share with the network, and what you plan to present at the annual EDEN Conference.
6. Project Timeline: Provide a timeline specifying the activities to be completed over the grant period. Download the timeline template HERE.
7. What are the project's anticipated outcomes/impacts, and how will they be measured? (250-word maximum)

INSTITUTION INFORMATION

If your project is funded, Attachment 3B is needed to prepare your subaward agreement.  Work with your Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) if you need assistance.  Many Institutions have this information available on their public website.

1. Upload Attachment 3B here.

BUDGET & BUDGET JUSTIFICATION

1. Budgets will be completed alongside your application in the submission portal. For your convenience, a copy of the budget and budget justification form fields can be found at this link.

• To complete the budget template using Google Sheets, go to File > Make a Copy.
• To complete the budget template using Microsoft Excel, go to File > Download > Microsoft Excel.

Upload the following documents in the submission portal:

1. Your institution’s latest federal Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA).
2. The Institution’s most recent audit report. 
3. A Letter of Commitment (LOC) from your Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) here.   A sample letter may be found HERE.