The grant application is a four part process.

Phase I — Print, fill out and mail to Raising Austin. P.O. Box 10047 Austin, Texas 78766 a letter of intent application from a collaboration of two or more organizations. The Letter of Intent describes your project idea; partners and proposed funding amount. Letter of Intents are accepted year-round.

Phase II — The Board of Directors for Raising Austin will review the Letter of Intent, successful applicants will be invited to continue to Phase II. In Phase II, applicants will develop and submit a full proposal with more specific details on their project.

Phase III — Phase III is the review period. Phase III may include on-site meetings or interviews with applicants.

Phase IV — The final phase is award of the grant and implementation of the project.

Purpose of the Grant

Projects must address infants and toddlers(birth-36 months), and should be designed to address one or more of the following objectives:

• Challenges in the recruitment and retention of qualified early childhood program staff;
• Access to professional development opportunities for all early childhood program staff;
• Financial incentives and teacher training for early childhood program.
  

A successful Letter of Intent will include:

• collaborations of two or more groups, with the Fiscal Agent being a non-profit organization;
• commitment to high-quality, developmentally appropriate child care and education;
• strategies for creating professional development opportunities that can be successfully completed by staff with the least amount of previous training;
• specific activities to support the emotional and social well-being (mental health) of the early childhood staff and the children they serve;
• improvements in the quality of programs serving at risk and low to moderate income children in the Austin area;
• strategies for making the public awareness of the project and how it will improve the quality of early childhood care and education;
• strategies for connecting with existing resources and programs available in the Austin area.
  
  

What do we mean by collaboration?

We define collaboration as follows: Collaboration is a formal process by which two or more organizations commit to working together on common goals. This working relationship allows the organizations to blend their strengths as well as negotiate their differences with an underlying attitude of trust and mutual respect. The structure allows partners to share decision-making, resources, power and authority and to establish formal and informal communication links.

Who can submit a Letter of Intent?

A Letter of Intent should be submitted by a collaboration of two or more groups. The only restriction is that the Fiscal Agent must be registered as a non-profit organization. Letters of Intent will be accepted from organizations, centers, or agencies that serve young children, directly or indirectly. The idea behind requiring collaborations is to allow as many groups as possible to both benefit and be involved in creating positive improvements in the early childhood care and education field.

What is the Proposed Funding?

The proposed funding cycle shall be one year with a possible renewal. This grant is not intended to fund capital improvements, center start-ups or children’s tuition.