The objective of this program is that no conference has to deny a request simply for lack of funds. Adequate Funding Grants (AFG) are intended for conferences with continuing shortages of funds, and let you apply once and receive quarterly funding for up to 2 years. In April 2013, the Council voted to require that conferences seeking Adequate Funding Grants meet best practices requirements before getting funding.
Adequate Funding Grant Application and Review
- Contact the Conference Support Team. Conference will be reminded that they must be in compliance with National Minimum Requirements and King County Best Practices in order to receive Adequate Funding grants.
- Adequate Funding Grant Application (PDF) and Adequate Funding Grant Application (Word)
- Conferences fill in the application form. Contact the Conference Support Team if you have any questions.
- Conferences submit applications to the Conference Support Team. We’ll contact you to schedule a time to walk through it with you to see if we or you have any questions, and to help you fill in gaps, if any.
Adequate Funding Grant Application Review
- The Conference Support Team will forward your application and the team’s recommendation to the Board.
- The Board schedules it for discussion at an upcoming Board meeting. If they have any questions, we’ll contact you.
The Board will do one of the following:
- Approve a two year grant.
- Approve a provisional grant for six months, with a possibility to extend it.
- Decline the grant, but give reasons and an indication of what you could do differently to have your grant request approved in the future.
Distribution of Funds
Once an application is approved, funds will be sent to the conference by check from the Central Office in Seattle. A conference president may also elect to have the check picked up at the Central Office for quicker delivery.
Additional Guidelines for Renewal of Adequate Funding Grants
Conferences who have received Adequate Funding Grants (AFG) from Seattle/King County Council may apply as early as the final quarter of their existing grant to renew the grant. As with initial requests, renewal applications must be developed in consultation with the appropriate Council conference support staff. It is understood that the renewal amount may be less, the same, or more than the original as long as there is evidence that the amount is clearly needed beyond what the best local efforts of the conference will be able to provide. The conference president must be present at the meeting at which the renewal request is considered by the Board of Directors.
In general, the process and grant content should follow the same process as when they previously applied but with additional attention to the following:
- Renewal requests must show evidence that any conditions attached to the initial grant have been satisfied.
- Renewal requests must clearly show that all National minimum standards and Seattle/King County Best Practices are currently being met. For initial applications, the board approved waiving some standards as long as a commitment to soon meet them was made. No waivers will be allowed for renewals except under extraordinary circumstances, e.g., when a conference has functionally collapsed and is now being rebuilt.
- Renewal applications must describe in some detail how the initial grant enabled the conference to expand its service to the poor.
- Similarly, renewal applications must specifically define what services to the poor will be made due to the grant.
- Finally, for renewal the conference should describe efforts it has made during the initial grant period to raise additional money locally to better serve the poor. This should include a specific justification for the amount of money being requested in the renewal application.
