Responsive Grants Guidelines

MMT uses GrantIS, an online application and grants management system it developed, for applications to this program.

The step-by-step instructions for using GrantIS to apply for a Responsive Grant are listed below.

Step 1

• Register your organization with MMT.
• Verify that your organization meets MMT's eligibility requirements.
• If you have not already registered your organization with MMT, go to the registration form, where you will supply your organization name, contact email address, requested password, and EIN. (The EIN or Employer Identification Number, also known as the Federal Tax Identification Number, is assigned to your organization by the Internal Revenue Service. It is the nine-digit number found on your tax-exemption letter from the IRS.)
• MMT will confirm your registration and issue you a username, usually within two business days. SAVE your username and password. You will use your username and password to access GrantIS for all future applications.

Step 2

After you receive your registration information, log into GrantIS. Go to the Organization Profile section and complete (or update) your organization profile, including contact information and your board list.

Step 3

Complete and submit the online Responsive Grants Initial Inquiry in the "Submit an Application" section of GrantIS. The Initial Inquiry questions are shown below. Initial Inquiries are limited to a total of 1,500 words; applicants determine how to allocate the 1,500 words among the four questions.

Organization Information

• 1a. Summarize your organization, its purpose, history, and major programs and activities. Provide the number, ethnicity, age, income levels, and geographic area of the people you serve.
• 1b. Provide the amount of your organization's annual operating budget, current surplus/deficit, and total income and expenses for the prior three years.
• 1c. Has your organization experienced an operating deficit in any of the last three years? If yes, please explain. If not, please type "not applicable."

Project Summary

• 2a. Provide a short project description, length of project in months, and project start date.
• 2b. Summarize the project for which funds are requested. Briefly explain the need for the project in the local context, why your organization decided to address it as you propose, and your expected outcomes.
• 2c. What counties will your project serve and/or take place in?

Project Budget Summary

• 3a. Provide a summary overview of the project budget. Briefly describe the project expenditures and the sources and amounts of committed and projected revenue. Indicate the amount requested from MMT and how funds would be expended over time. If requesting funding for staff positions, please indicate whether it is for existing and/or new staff/positions. (If your organization is invited to submit a full proposal, you will have an opportunity to submit detailed budget information. Please do not include tables and charts here, as formatted data will not display properly.)
• 3b. If you are requesting a Program-Related Investment (PRI), please provide the following information: the loan duration, the proposed interest rate, collateral (if any), and repayment strategies (preferably primary and secondary strategies).

Project Sustainability

• 4. Briefly explain how the project will be sustained after the grant or PRI period ends.

There are no deadlines for Initial Inquiries. Initial Inquiries are received continuously and reviewed monthly. Applicants who submit Initial Inquiries by the 15th of the month will generally be notified by email within 60 days whether or not they are invited to submit a full proposal. Notification of approval or decline of a Full Proposal generally takes three to four more months.

Step 4

Applicants invited to submit a Full Proposal will generally have six weeks from the date of invitation to complete the online Full Proposal application, which asks the questions listed below. While there is no word limit for a Full Proposal, applicants are encouraged to be concise, and to use quantitative, as well as qualitative, information to help us understand your organization and proposal.

• Explain the need for the project, and why it is important. If appropriate, comment on past or present attempts by the applicant and others to address this need.
• Describe the project, including its goals and specific objectives. Explain how the project will be implemented over time. Explain why your organization decided to address it as you propose.
• Describe the people, groups and/or places expected to benefit from the project, and the ways they would benefit. Include demographic information (e.g., number, ethnicity, age, income levels, geographic area, etc.) for beneficiaries. Outline the effects of the proposed project by providing a series of "before" and "after" snapshots in the spaces provided. In each box on the left, briefly summarize existing conditions for that category. On the right, briefly describe the changed circumstances you anticipate after the grant period has ended. Please give specific numbers and projections where appropriate. If a category does not apply, write NA.
  • Effect on organization size, FTE, structure
  • Effect on organization's programs
  • Effect on organization's operating expenses
  • Effect on organization's ability to generate income
  • Effect on the issue or need the project addresses

• Describe how the project's effectiveness will be determined.
• Describe the qualifications of up to three people with primary responsibility for implementing the project.
• Applicants are also asked to include a fiscal year budget and a detailed project budget. If requesting multi-year funding, the project budget should include projected revenue and expenses covering all MMT grant years, plus one additional year without MMT funding.
• GrantIS includes instructions for selectively submitting supplementary pertinent information that helps us understand your proposal.

Go to GrantIS now.